Joaquin F. Blaya
By Trends • Aug 5th, 2009Governor Joaquin F. Blaya is a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), a US Federal Agency charged with all non-military international broadcasting services to promote democracy worldwide. He talks to Jonathan Howell-Jones about the new direction BBG’s Arabic-language television station Alhurra is taking.
What sort of new channels are you moving into, especially here in the Middle East?
Well, to be honest, the one that has seen an explosion here is television. The whole region has basically moved from, in a decade, from one, maybe two channels, state-owned and operated, to this diversity of 300 channels today. And in that respect, it’s a pretty free region. … There are many societies on earth where you cannot own a satellite dish. Iran comes to mind, certainly China.
So who do you see as your competition?
We have two operations for the region. One is radio Sawa, and the other one is the Alhurra TV channel. Who do you compete with when you are in the mass media business? Everybody. Who is specifically in your category? It’s obviously Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and now there are many others joining the parade. You know, BBC has an Arabic service, France has announced its own, Russia has announced its own.
So you see these other national broadcasters as your direct competition?
No, I don’t see the other broadcasters as our competition. No. I was just describing the landscape of the people that are in the business of news and information, and that includes Al Jazeera and Al Arabia. And in that respect, you could say that the main competitors, if you were to define it in commercial terms, which you can’t, would be Al Jazeera and Al Arabia. But we think we have a niche and we have a role to play that is different to what they do.
Pages: 1 2
