LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS CHANNELS: JUST HOW DIFFERENT ARE THEY?

Founded in 2003, Al Arabiya TV is the leading Arabic Satellite television news channel that broadcasts the latest news, current affairs, business and financial markets, sports news, talk shows and documentaries.  According to IPSOS recent pan Arab media research it is considered to be among the top pan Arab stations by Middle East audiences. In comparison to other TV news broadcasters, Al Arabiya TV uses neutral, objective language when commenting on regional events unlike other biased news networks in the region as well as offering a different perspective. In addition, Al Arabiya TV was the first channel to broadcast the President of the United States Barak Obama in January 2009 in his first formal interview on a Middle East TV Network.  In terms of feature interviews with international leaders, what is surprising is the similarity between Al Arabiya’s Etha’at and Besaraha and CNN’s Larry King Live. However in terms of differences, whereas CNN has more international news, Al Arabiya covers less international stories but focuses on regional events in more depth.  Al Arabiya understands its target audience and strives to present to its viewers more in-depth, multi-angle stories. It’s true that CNN has caught on the need to diversify storylines but at the end of the day perhaps they should do so on a bigger scale.