Syria Introduces Two New Satellite Channels

Source : Al Akhbar English

On Syria TV’s morning talk shows, the topics range from the day’s weather to segments highlighting the latest fashion trends. At night, the news programs depict countless convoys of martyrs inside coffins.

In either broadcast scenario, the Syrian media live an isolated existence. The boundaries of their coverage are firmly set, their realities constructed with the aim of insulating Syrians from any outside realities.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) specializes in singing the praises of the government and its achievements. It publicizes the statements of ministers on job opportunities, temporary housing for the displaced, and securing medication.

This, in a nutshell, is the state of Syrian media today, but the General Organization of Radio and TV has announced that change is on the way. Two new channels are in the works. The “Uruba” and “Talaqi” channels are supposed to be fundamentally different than the current options.

Talaqi began its experimental broadcast a while back. The channel shaped its identity as being broadcast from Damascus, the oldest capital in the world. Its programs focused on the possibility of different groups of Syrians co-existing, no matter how far apart they’ve been driven.

The Uruba, or Arabism, station harkens Baath Party slogans. Sources within the station said that it is meant to address the whole Arab world. It was initially designed to be the government’s back-up station, meaning, if the regime was isolated and Syrian stations dropped by Arab satellite companies, the new channel would take the place of the Syrian Satellite Channel.

When the Syrian Satellite Channel was dropped, Syrian authorities got it back up and running on the grounds of its contracts with the private company Nilesat. As such, Uruba came to fulfill a different purpose.

Sources say that $18 million has been allocated to rehabilitate the Syrian Satellite Channel. The station might go off the air for two months for studio renovation and a reconsideration of media strategy.