Tuesday, February 07, 2017

An Arab News TV Station which lasted a full 24-hours

Years ago, Prince Al-Walid bin Talal announced with great fanfare that he will be launching a new Arab news TV channel, called Al-`Arab.  He put Saudi regime loyal advocate, Jamal Kashuqji, as its head.  After years of preparation and study, it was launched in 2015 from Bahrain and it lasted 24 hours, exactly.  The Bahrain government protested that it interviewed an opposition person.  The station then decided to move to Qatar but had disagreement with the Emir, and then settled on Cyprus and staff were moved into the island. But a few months ago, Kashuqji himself was banned by Saudi regime from tweeting or writing or even speaking.  Two days ago, the entire staff of Al-`Arab received an email notifying them that the station has been closed down.  But for the 24 hours it aired, it was a success, I presume.