Not Your Father's Islamist TV: Changing Programming on Hizbullah's al-Manar
Al-Manar's audience increased dramatically during the 2006 war, and the station was viewed as presenting the most up to the minute information on that war. The television moved from 83rd to 10th watched in the Arab world during the war, according to Israeli sources.[44] A 2008 Zogby poll puts the viewership of al-Manar at 2% of the Arab world, which translates to about $10 million. By comparison, al-Arabiya had 9% and one of the most popular Lebanese stations, Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, 3%.[45]
Still, the television is reportedly limited in its regional appeal during normal times due to its perceived character as a Shi’a station. Al-Manar’s has achieved some recognition, winning the 2007 Inquirer Award from the Thompson Foundation and the British Embassy in Amman for best investigative television report, for a piece on environmental pollution in Lebanon.[46] Further, the station is credited with spurring Arabs to demand accountability, performance, and transparency from their own militaries,[47] and forcing a reversal in foreign policy in the Gulf states during the 2006 war.[48]
Funding for the station comes overwhelmingly from Hizbullah, whose main revenue is through such sources as labor remittances, donations, tithes, funding from Iran, and other income.[49] Al-Manar operates on $15 million annually.[50] Al-Manar relies little on advertising, similar to many other Arab and Lebanese media, although commercials are increasing. The station reportedly turned down 90% of potential advertisers due to their violation of its standards.[51] Until 2004, ads were broadcast only on the land-based station, not the satellite. Among their advertisers were big American and European companies. A scandal brought this to the attention of the U.S. Congress, which accused the companies of aiding terrorism. American and European advertisers subsequently withdrew their commercials.[52] Currently, ads on al-Manar are few but increasing, and these local-based ads airing mainly in prime time with a long infomercial program in the mid-morning.
Current programming on al-Manar is of two types, one concerned with military and regional enemies and the other local and multi-communal. Both are participatory, with programs designed to allow the expression of views, dialogue and interaction. Distinct from al-Jazeera style debates that pit polar opposite positions against each other and encourage verbal fighting, on al-Manar the forums entail learning and searching for solutions, not fights for the sake of drama. The first type of program is consistent with the ideological worldview of Hizbullah. It promotes pride in Islam, Islamic history, Shi'ism, the Islamic resistance (Hizbullah's militia activities), resistance against hegemonic powers, and highlights injustices done to Arabs. This programming directly connects with movement goals, and resembles the coverage discussed exclusively in previous writings on the station. Military campaigns, the conflict with Israel, and the threatening role of the United States in the Arab region are all included in this segment of programming.[53] During a crisis in Lebanon or the Palestinian territories, the station switches to a programming mode familiar to the West as 24-7 coverage, as al-Manar focuses the vast majority of news and programming on the crisis. Other programs are sidelined until the crisis ends, and audience call-in participation programs increase dramatically as viewers express their frustration and opinions. In normal times, the station's programming, including the news, is overwhelmingly geared toward the local Lebanese audience and its issues, far removed from war, Israel, and the United States.
The second type of programming deals with particular population groups and their problems, generally unrelated to the grand vision traditionally attributed to Hizbullah. This programming focuses on youth, women, middle class issues mainly but also those of the struggling ordinary, lower class person, what in Arabic is called tabaqa al-dunya (the phrase implies a lack of means). The bulk of programs focus on the educated middle class. Individual and sub-group issues and rights are emphasized, validated and discussed, and options for solutions provided. No one solution is given; this is not a directed lecture but participation, a two-way conversation. Experts, knowledge, opinion polls, scientific findings, and audiences are all remarkably mixed and divorced from an "Islamic" context. Often only the hosts--or more often, hostesses--of the programs are dressed in line with Islamic norms. Experts are often Christian, many expressions are specifically American ("quality time," thinking "outside the box"), and audiences are heavily female, unveiled, young, and from all Lebanese sects. Other programs are popular entertainment series similar to soap operas, nature and history programs, game shows and children’s programs. Together, these form the bulk of al-Manar’s airtime.
In general, al-Manar's news communicates the political point of view held by Hizbullah. Its news, spots, and some documentaries emphasize the mistakes and threatening actions of Israel and the United States, clearly depicting the enemy as Israel sometimes including the United States as Israel's enabler. Yet outside of these instances, programs concentrate on domestic issues of concern to Lebanese in general, and women and youth in particular. Religion is not emphasized except on religious programs, a few songs, some episodes of children's shows, and during religious occasions such as the holy month of Ramadan or Ashura. Statements and speeches by Hizbullah's leader Hassan Nasrallah are covered. Apart from news highlighting events pertinent to the Shi'a community, the main difference setting the station apart from others is their spots of varying length celebrating the Islamic Resistance, Hizbullah's militia fighting Israel, and the overt denunciation in these spots of US and Israeli hegemony. In comparison with overall Arab media environment, al-Manar’s views may not be extremely out of step.[54]
Al-Manar daily schedule begins in the morning with a program on the Quran and morning prayers, together one and a half hours. The station broadcasts an hour news bulletin followed by sabah al-manar (Manar's morning) at 9am, an hour and a half program devoted to family, health, and other issues of concern to women or the primary caretaker. A news talk show follows, then an infomercial type program (Amana Care), the news, and a news talk show are aired between 10am and 4:30pm. In the late afternoon, a program for children is broadcast, then a program on health, the news, and the evening's programs. A brief news bulletin (about four minutes) is aired about every half hour. Programs for the evening change by day and as new programs are introduced. Travel, historical, science and nature programs, and soap operas are fillers. Many programs are re-broadcast at night. Many programs are live, averaging four or five hours daily, including the morning program for women. Women host thirteen out of 24 programs, including news talk shows, in addition to two more that have both male and female hosts. The female hosts are hard-hitting and assertive, interrupting and cutting off guests and callers, including sheikhs. In addition, the face of Hizbullah's international English language program is female.
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[1] This view is most polemically portrayed by Mark Dubowitz, "Watching Al-Manar: Violence in the Media," National Review Online, no. 17 July (2006). On Islamist television of the Salafi variety, fitting much of this description, see Nath Field and Ahmed Hamam, "Salafi Satellite Tv in Egypt," Arab Media & Society, no. 8 (2009).
[2] Hizbullah and al-Manar maintain that they are separate entities, but Hizbullah almost wholly finances the television, and the ties between the two are not seriously disputed. The question of journalistic and professional independence of the station, and goals unique to media (audience share) remain to be investigated.
[3] Assessing how audiences receive and process programs is a complicated and multi-faceted issue; I do not deal with it here but instead depict the media presentation of interaction with other communities on the station.
[4] By non-political I refer to the human-interest programs distinct from news, political talk shows, religious programs, documentaries and spots overtly promoting Hizbullah and its military. These human interest programs form a significant percentage of all programming and air on prime time, including the prized Thursday night spot. To date, there has been scant academic analysis of these programs; writing has focused on overtly political programs, not common concerns, or what some would view as everyday politics. This bias reflects one common in social science. As I argue below, by neglecting this realm, analysts remain ignorant to the future that Hizbullah views for itself and that is projecting to viewers, including its constituency.
[5] This article is the beginning of a larger project on al-Manar's multi-communal public sphere and the influence of political constituencies and audiences in Hizbullah. Al-Manar over the internet can be found at http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/ManarLive.aspx, accessed through the home page of almanar.com.lb. Alternative portals also provide access to the station over the web.
[6] Joseph Elie Alagha, The Shifts in Hizbullah's Ideology: Religious Ideology, Political Ideology, and Political Program, Isim Dissertations (Amsterdam: ISIM/Amsterdam University Press, 2006), Augustus Richard Norton, Hezbollah: A Short History (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007).
[7] Mona Harb and Reinoud Leenders, "Know Thy Enemy: Hizbullah, 'Terrorism' and the Politics of Perception," Third World Quarterly 26, no. 1 (2005).
[8] Walid Charara and Frédéric Domont, Le Hezbollah : Un Mouvement Islamo-Nationaliste (Paris: Editions Fayard, 2004), 170.
[9] Hugh Dellios, "With an Eye toward Politics, Hezbollah Recasting Its Image; Savvy Tv Campaign Credited in Group's Battle with Israel," Chicago Tribune, 13 April 2000.
[10] Ahmad Nizar Hamzeh, In the Path of Hizbullah (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2004), 59.
[11] For academic accounts of the early al-Manar see Frederic M. Wehrey, "Hizbullah's Psychological Campaign against Israel in South Lebanon," Small Wars and Insurgencies 13, no. 3 (2002), Ron Schleifer, "Psychological Operations: A New Variation on an Age Old Art: Hezbollah Versus Israel," Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 29, no. 1 (2006).
[12] Hamzeh, In the Path of Hizbullah, 60.
[13] Robert Fisk, “Television news is secret weapon of the intifada,” The Independent (London), 2 December 2000.
[14] Avi Jorisch, Beacon of Hatred: Inside Hizballah's al-Manar Television. Washington, DC: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2004. While based on research, Jorisch’s work is also directly tied to a political goal, that of banning al-Manar, and lacks an understanding of context. As an example, the lack of context is apparent in the interpretation of a phrase used by the station, “Jerusalem, we are coming,” as a threat. The line actually comes from a well-known song by the Lebanese (Christian) singer Fairouz, about religious unity, worshiping in Jerusalem by all religions, and Jerusalem as a city of peace. The viewing audience would know this song and tie the phrase to it. Avi Jorisch, Beacon of Hatred: Inside Hizballah's Al-Manar Television (Washington, DC: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2004), 67, 85. See Fairouz's song in Arabic at http://www.fairouz.com/fairouz/special/poem.html#arabic.
[15] One of the chief programs substantiating the claim that al-Manar is anti-Semitic was a Syrian-made drama that the station said it purchased quickly without viewing the entire series in advance (the Diaspora). The series repeated stereotypical myths about Jews. When this came to light, al-Manar reportedly stopped airing the series. Whether this version of events is true or not is arguably less important than the station’s realization and public statement that airing the series was a mistake. Charara and Domont, Le Hezbollah, 171.
[16] Avi J. Jorisch, "Al-Manar and the War in Iraq," Middle East Intelligence Bulletin 5, no. 4 (2003), Jorisch, Beacon of Hatred, ch. 5.
[17] Caroline Drees, “Manar TV as ‘Terrorist,” www.washingtonpost.com (Reuters), 17 December 2004; “Al-Manar TV to go off Dutch platform,” aljazeera.net, 17 March 2005.
[18] U.S. Department of the Treasury, "U.S. Designates Al-Manar as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Entity; Television Station Is Arm of Hizballah Terrorist Network," ed. Department of the Treasury (2006). Two men were arrested for installing al-Manar in the United States. Pincus, Walter, "New Yorker Arrested for Providing Hezbollah TV Channel," The Washington Post, 25 August 2006; p. A10. Available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/24/AR2006082401461.html. One, a businessman providing access to a wide range of stations including pornography, was sentenced to six years in prison. Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Writer, April 24, 2009, “6 years in prison for airing Hezbollah TV in NYC,” posted, among other locations, at http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=251&sid=1659031.
[19] For example, Daniel J. Wakin, “Hezbollah Seen Making Subtle Changes After War in Iraq,” New York Times, 11 May 2003.
[20] Dellios, "With an Eye toward Politics, Hezbollah Recasting Its Image."
[21] Qasim Qusayr, "Hizbullah Rearranges Its Information Organization to Confront Changes in Lebanon and the Region (in Arabic)," al-Mustaqbal, 9 March 2006.
[22] Daily Star, "Hizbullah’s Broadcasting Arms Garner Awards," 12 July 2002.
[23] Juhayna Khalidiyya, “Is this another step toward Lebanizing al-Manar? "Word to the nation": the opinions of prominent personalities regarding the maintenance of the resistance's arms...not its removal (in Arabic)." al-Safir, 17 August 2005.
[24] Lebanese Ministry of Information, 24 June 2005, Shameem Rassam, 19 November 2008.
[25] John Lancaster, “Hezbollah Tunes In On Profits; Party’s TV Station Airing U.S. Movies,” Washington Post, 19 June 2005.
[26] Madouna Sama'an, "'al-salam 'alaykum wa rahma allah wa barakatuhu' min kaneesa ghazeer waraqa al-tafahum taftah khataan askariyyan amam 'al-manar' fi fatouh kasrawan," al-Safir, 4 April 2006.
[27] Whether this is due solely to Hizbullah’s new direction or to a parallel professionalization of the media in its search for an audience has yet to be determined.
[28] Firmo-Fontan, Victoria. "Power, NGOs, and Lebanese Television: a Case Study of Al-Manar TV and the Hezbollah Women's Association." In Women and Media in the Middle East: Power through Self-Expression, edited by Naomi Sakr, 162-79. London: I.B. Tauris, 2004.
[29] Over 50 random street interviews were conducted in Lebanon and Jordan on al-Manar in June 2005, in addition to intermittent interviews with Lebanese and other Arabs watching regarding al-Manar in 2006-present.
[30] Author interviews with Lebanese of Aoun’s party.
[31] Conway, Maura. "Terror TV? An exploration of Hizbullah's al-Manar television." In Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century, edited by James F. Forest, 401-19. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007.
[32] Eli Lake, "Israel War Effort Extends Even to Hezbollah Tv," The Sun, 2 August 2006.
[33] Matthias Gebauer, "Broadcasting from the Bunker: Hezbollah's Al-Manar," Spiegel Online, no. 8 August (2006).
[34] "IDF broadcasts Hizbullah's dead on al-Manar," ynetnews.com, 8 August 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3288442,00.html
[35] Hasan M. Al-Rizzo, "The Undeclared Cyberspace War between Hezbollah and Israel," Contemporary Arab Affairs 1, no. 3 (2008): 400.Marwan Kraidy, "Hizbollywood. Hizbullah's Information War Viewed from Lebanon," The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 17 October 2006, http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1426&fuseaction=topics.event_summary&event_id=201758.
[36] Abu-Fadil, Magda. "Hezbollah TV Claims Credit for Ousting Israelis." IPI Global Journalist, www.globaljournalist.org/archive/Magazine/Al%29Manar-2004q.html, Marvin Kalb and Carol Saivetz, "The Israeli-Hezbollah War of 2006: The Media as a Weapon in Asymmetrical Conflict," Press/Politics 12, no. 3 (2007).
[37] Saad-Ghorayeb, Amal. "People say no." Al-Ahram Weekly On-line, 3-9 August 2006, Saad-Ghorayeb, Amal, and Marina Ottaway. "Hizbollah and Its Changing Identities." Policy Outlook (Democracy & Rule of Law Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) 2007.
[38] For coverage on al-Manar after the assassination of Imad Mughniyah, black ops and guerilla warfare leader in Hizbullah, see Ajemian, Peter. "Resistance beyond time and space: Hezbollah's media campaigns." Arab Media & Society, no. 5 (Spring) (2008).
[39] Estimating viewership is difficult, due to the channel-flipping characteristics of the Arab audience and concomitant lack of reliance on advertising for funding. Paul Cochrane, "Bombs and Broadcasts: Al Manar's Battle to Stay on Air," Arab Media & Society, no. Feburary (2007). A Zogby poll puts the viewership of al-Manar at 2% of the Arab world, which translates to about $10 million. See Pro Publica’s Arabic Language Regional Television News comparison chart at http://www.propublica.org/special/arabic-language-regional-television-news. Al-Arabiya had 9% and one of the most popular Lebanese stations, LBC, 3%.
[40] Marwan M. Kraidy, "Arab Media and Us Policy: A Public Diplomacy Reset," in Policy Analysis Brief (The Stanley Foundation, 2008), 4.
[41] Hisham Sharabi, "Arab Satellite Channels and Their Political Impact after the Iraq War," al-Hayat, 18 July 2003.
[42] West Bank and Gaza Presidential Elections, Final Report, European Union Election Observation Mission, 9 January 2005. Available from www.amin.org/eng/uncat/2005/mar/mar002.html.
[43] Jorisch, Beacon of Hatred.
[44] Cochrane, "Bombs and Broadcasts." Goldman, Dudi, "War soars al-Manar popularity," ynetnews.com, 24 August 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3295190,00.html;
Mizroch, Amir. "Al-Manar TV soars into ratings 'Top 10,'" Jerusalem Post, 25 August 2006, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1154525941045
[45] See Pro Publica’s Arabic Language Regional Television News comparison chart at http://www.propublica.org/special/arabic-language-regional-television-news.
[46] Petra News Agency, "Winners of the Inquirer Award 2007 Announced," Open Source Center, GMP20080302966007 (2 March 2008).
[47] Assaf David and Oren Barak, "How the New Arab Media Challenges the Arab Militaries: The Case of the War between Israel and Hizbullah in 2006," The Middle East Institute Policy Brief, no. 20 (2008).
[48] Lawrence Pintak, "Reporting a Revolution: The Changing Arab Media Landscape," Arab Media & Society, no. February (2007).
[49] As a religious party, Hizbullah receives tithes from the Shi’a community, which in Islam constitute one-fifth of individual income. Iranian funding of Hizbullah dropped dramatically in the 1990s.
[50] Pro Publica, Arabic Language Regional Television News comparison chart, op cit.
[51] Magda Abu-Fadil, "Hezbollah Tv Claims Credit for Ousting Israelis," IPI Global Journalist, www.globaljournalist.org/archive/Magazine/Al%29Manar-2004q.html.
[52] Avi Jorisch, "Al-Manar: Hizbullah Tv, 24/7," Middle East Quarterly XI, no. 1 (2004).
[53] For examples of recent media campaigns see Peter Ajemian, "Resistance Beyond Time and Space: Hezbollah's Media Campaigns," Arab Media & Society, no. 5 (Spring) (2008).
[54] Interview with Rassam.
[55] Kraidy, "Arab Media and Us Policy," 4-5.
[56] On Hizbullah’s modernity that is mixed with the practice of piety, see Lara Deeb, An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi'i Lebanon (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006). Deeb also highlights the prominent role of women in Hizbullah, corresponding to evidence from al-Manar.
[57] I have left out the entertainment series, discovery-type programs, games and children’s shows.
[58] French education and speech even at home is characteristic of segments of the Christian community in Lebanon.
[59] On Lebanon’s media sectarianism, see Paul Cochrane, "Are Lebanon's Media Fanning the Flames of Sectariansim?," Arab Media & Society, no. May (2007), Nabil Dajani, "The Re-Feudalization of the Public Sphere: Lebanese Television News Coverage and the Lebanese Political Process," Transnational Broadcasting Studies, no. 16 (2006).
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