Unfriendly Views on U.S.-Backed Arabic TV

UNFRIENDLY VIEWS O US-BACKED ARABIC TV
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Helene Cooper]
In recent weeks both conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats have attacked Al Hurra -- United States-financed Middle East television channel -- for, in the words of The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page last week, providing “friendly coverage of camera-ready extremists from Al Qaeda, Hamas and other terrorist groups.” But blaming the network might be a little like shooting the messenger. The State Department has devoted many resources lately to public diplomacy, including taking Muslim students to the World Cup games in Germany, serving as host for Arab journalists at training seminars in Washington, and dispatching the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, Karen Hughes, to talk to Muslim women around the world. But those efforts do little to counter the rising anger among Arabs over the American role in Iraq and the Bush administration’s refusal to shut down the military prison at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/17/washington/17hurra.html
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