Arab TV has balanced view on US poll — unless you’re watching in Egypt

Most US voters waited until today before voting in the polls — but some Arab media outlets have already been very vocal about where their support lies.
The majority of big TV networks in the region have been fair and balanced when it comes to coverage of the US election — but there are some notable exceptions to this in the Egyptian market, media commentators say.
Stronger sentiment towards Donald Trump in that country has seen some wild accusations — and some occasionally bizarre conspiracy theories — fly on the airwaves.
Jamal Khashoggi, the prominent Saudi journalist and commentator, said mainstream networks have remained largely balanced.
“The news channels like Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, Sky [News Arabia], and Gulf official channels, they are covering to some extent the election — they are not taking sides,” Khashoggi told Arab News.
“Most channels are just being objective, discussing the elections, comparing notes. Some commentators might speak negatively about Trump – like me if I’m invited to speak.”
But some channels in Egypt have taken a different line to the pan-Arab stations, Khashoggi said.
“Egyptian channels are the ones taking sides. Interestingly, they are shifting towards Trump,” he said. “Trumpism is the prevailing kind of politics… in Egypt.”
The expert pointed toward the outspoken Egyptian TV host Ahmed Moussa as a key example of this.
The Sada Al-Balad anchor, in broadcasts late last month, declared that the US election was rigged against Donald Trump. He pointed the finger variously at Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, CNN, CBS, The New York Times and The Washington Post. He also said US opinion polls are all rigged — albeit, admittedly, before they started showing Clinton and Trump near neck-and-neck in the ratings.
“The elections are being rigged. Rigged!,” Moussa said in one clip available online.
“The media ignores Trump. Trump has one channel only, whereas 200-300 channels are supporting Clinton.”
“America keeps reinventing democracy for us. But (the media) there is not neutral.”
Khashoggi said this reflects both a trend in Egyptian media, and wider support for Trump in the country.
“The Egyptian media altogether is quite peculiar… It’s very controversial about everything. They believe in conspiracies and they throw all kinds of allegations,” he said.
Nabil Al-Sharif, Jordan’s former minister of media affairs and communications, said that he also sensed some pro-Trump sentiment in the Egyptian media.
“There is some preference for Trump among TV personalities,” he told Arab News. “But I think really this is more a sign of vindictiveness against Obama and Clinton, and the perception that they did not support [Egyptian President] Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi enough.
“These people wanted to punish them by siding with Trump. But I don’t think it reflects the reality on the street, either in Egypt or anywhere else.”
Al-Sharif said that other, pan-Arab networks often reflect government stances on political issues — a possible reason behind their more balanced tone.
“Most TV stations reflect the official viewpoint of governments; they are more careful about what they portray,” he said.
“But the real buzz of Arab media can be seen in the news websites — there you will find first the interest, then the cynicism, and the lack of hope.”
Such websites and some newspapers “show a lot of cynicism about the elections in general,” Sharif added.
“Trump in particular has been under a lot of criticism in the Arab media because of his positions vis-a-vis Arabs and Muslims. He has been portrayed in caricatures, photos and columns as a hostile person to Arabs. That does not mean that people necessarily favored Clinton, because they also felt that her policies — the Obama policies that she most likely will continue — are not also in favor of Arab interests,” he said.
Joe Khalil, associate professor in residence at the Northwestern University in Qatar and an expert on Arab television production and programming, said he also sees a distinction between pan-Arab and local media outlets.
“There is a clear distinction between the relatively independent coverage that pan-Arab channels such as Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya provides and the local coverage motivated by local political agendas,” he said.
“A handful of commentators on some local channels reflect what many consider as anti-American sentiments or conspiracy theories.”
Despite the distinction, Khashoggi said that he turns elsewhere for news of the US election showdown.
“I would rather watch it on CNN,” he said.

Source: Arab News