The Middle East Radio Network (MERN), broadcasting as Radio Sawa, the Arabic word for "together", is America's response to Al-Jazeera. The Washington-inspired international broadcasting offensive was born largely out of the attacks on the United States and supported by generous US congressional approval.
Washington's policy shapers, the US Congress and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) — the independent federal entity responsible for all US government and government-sponsored international broadcasting — unanimously agreed that the US needed to wage a specific and untraditional media effort to reach the "Arab population" — not merely the political leadership.
The official program was designated by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as "Initiative 911" before the final congressional budget approval. This plan's charter is simple: reach the Islamic populations and counter perceived misinformation and anti-American sentiment. Such media campaigns have been most evident on Al-Jazeera, the CNN-like Qatar-based Arab satellite-television broadcast network viewed by more than 12 million Muslims scattered across the Middle East.
The BBG had been lobbying Congress to obtain funding even before September 11 for a strong and effective media presence in the Middle East. Edward Kaufman, a founding BBG board member, in a policy paper published in the spring edition of The Washington Quarterly, wrote persuasively about the need to develop an offensive media war: "In many places around the world simply clarifying US purpose and policy, not combating hate media, requires new initiatives." The US learned from its experiences in Kosovo that a single consolidated international broadcasting authority, the BBG, enables effective coordination and communication with the departments of state and defense. This media offensive quickly became a strong and equal partner in winning the battle for Kosovo.
While oil riches and Western technology have flowed freely into the Middle East, enabling impactful media such as Al-Jazeera to inflame the passions of Arabs and feed disturbing images to the US, the White House was seriously entertaining even Madison Avenue-fed ideas to battle this Arab-sponsored media barrage.
A major component of the George W Bush administration's foreign-policy efforts is built around this newest brand of Madison Avenue packaging. Charlotte Beers, former chairwoman of two of the leading worldwide advertising agencies — J Walter Thompson and Ogilvy & Mather — now serves as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. This week in Washington, Beers has been outlining efforts to improve US-Muslim relations through the use of select media tools for public diplomacy or improved cultural relations.
With the demise of the United States Information Agency, some senior officials had even suggested the creation of an Office of Strategic Influence as an effective tool to brand and sell the American message overseas and along the way plant, when needed, misinformation. Within days of that premature announcement in March, the office was disbanded, paving the way for MERN to sell the American way to the Arabic communities.
According to an internal memorandum sent to Asia Times Online by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "MERN's target audience is the mass of people in the Islamic world who, while not sympathetic to US policies, are nonetheless drawn to US ideas of freedom and democracy and diverse aspects of US culture."
The Arabic-language network, which went on the air in late March, is currently heard on FM radio stations in Amman (FM 98.1) and Kuwait City (FM 95.7). It is also available on Nilesat, Arabsat and Eutelsat Hotbird. The radio network, when fully operational, will be beamed to all the Arab countries in the region and in North Africa, operating seven days a week, 24 hours a day, and all delivered in regional Arabic dialects.
Following on the footsteps of Voice of America's pioneering efforts, broadcasting in local languages since 1943, MERN's programming will emphasize Arab and American pop music aimed at listeners under the age of 30 — an important and not overlooked demographic, since nearly 75 percent of the Arab world is under the age of 35.
Besides regular news headlines and five-minute news summaries, Radio Sawa has special programs, such as broadcasting, in Arabic, President Bush's 18-minute speech on the Middle East, spiked with news bulletins and plenty of American pop. "We are committed to news that is accurate, objective and comprehensive," said Norman J Pattiz, a member of the BBG. The BBG is assisted by a seven-member advisory council of leading US media executives and foreign affairs experts.
The BBG also oversees Radio Free Asia (RFA), TV Marti and Radio Afghanistan. RFA's primary mandate is to provide information in the form of radio broadcasts to China, Tibet, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Korea and Vietnam. Programming originates from their headquarters in Washington, DC, and incorporate reports from correspondents and participants throughout Asia and the world.
Of course, some Washington media observers acknowledge that all these technological advances, including the use of the Internet, satellite TV and special transmission broadcasts may on the surface appear to wire the world together, but they also contribute to a large degree to one huge geopolitical disconnect.
In a recent issue of the New York Times magazine, George Packer wrote, "In some ways, global satellite TV and the Internet access have actually made the world a less understanding, less tolerant place." Pattiz, the founder and chairman of Westwood One, America's largest radio network, is regarded as the primary driving force behind MERN. His Westwood One owns, manages or distributes the NBC Radio Network, CBS Radio Network, the Mutual Broadcasting System, CNN Radio, Fox Radio Network, Metro Networks, Metro Traffic and Shadow Traffic. As chairman of the BBG's Middle East subcommittee, the globetrotting executive recently led a delegation to the Middle East and signed agreements on behalf of the BBG in Bahrain and Qatar for FM radio transmission, and also received commitments from Abu Dhabi and Dubai in addition to Amman and Kuwait City.
Additionally, the US Congress approved MERN's first year budget of US$35 million, including $16.4 million for one-time costs for transmitters. The entire US international broadcasting budget for Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Worlnet and Radio-TV Marti now exceeds $500 million.
This US international broadcasting campaign is not cheap, but the US fight to spread the word of democracy often comes at a huge price.
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