February 3, 2016—“One of two Egyptian music idols has just returned from Dubai, the other from Germany, to shoot a video for a duet sung in praise of a Cairo that they cannot actually stand living in,” wrote a young Egyptian dentist in a Facebook post that was shared more than 7,600 times and liked by 26,000 people as of Wednesday.

A heated debate rages within public diplomacy circles over who is watching Alhurra and how the channel is perceived by Arab audiences. Polls commissioned by Alhurra indicate much higher viewership numbers and credibility ratings than those reported in independent surveys conducted by academics and Arab research organizations. In an effort …