The question before us today is not only one of Al-Hurrah’s performance and role in improving the image of the United States in the Arab world. Inevita­bly, our discussion reveals the urgent necessity of a larger debate regarding where U.S. broadcasting efforts in the Middle East are heading.

The events of September 11 woke us up to the real­ity of growing anti-Americanism. The War on Terror­ism and the Bush Administration’s efforts to win “hearts and minds” include spreading our ideas of freedom and democracy to people deprived of them. Our public diplomacy should promote U.S. interests and security through understanding, informing, and influencing foreign publics, as well as broadening dialogue between American institutions and their counterparts abroad

[D]espite positive intentions and deeds, Al-Hurrah shares certain problematic aspects with other U.S. foreign broadcasting efforts, which we urgently need to deal with.

The work of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and Al-Hurrah television has been an impor­tant step in that direction. It is essential that we dis­cuss their activities, as well as the lessons learned, in order to progress and be as efficient as possible.

This paper looks at the need for reform of U.S. international broadcasting in reference to Al-Hurrah and the BBG, and makes suggestions for broader orga­nizational changes, as well as the need for coherence and clarity in the United States’ foreign broadcasting mission, programming, and content.

Al-Hurrah was an important initiative in responding to previous shortcomings of broadcasting toward the Middle East. Because it is operated by a non-profit cor­poration, the idea was to avoid the heavy paperwork and long processes characterizing international broadcasting bureaucracy.

The 24/7 satellite TV channel was meant to engage in a war of ideas and to combat distorted information with greater flexibility, intensity, and competitiveness. Yet despite positive intentions and deeds, Al-Hurrah shares certain problematic aspects with other U.S. foreign broadcasting efforts, which we urgently need to deal with.

The full report is found online.