Propaganda or journalism?

So is a new satellite network just another expensive project destined to fail, or an essential piece of the puzzle that will help transform attitudes toward Americans on the Arab street?

Supporters of the station say it is vital to get something on the air to counter Al-Jazeera. To American cable news junkies, Satloff's description of "crazies" running the political debate on Al-Jazeera may not sound entirely foreign -- some nights Fox, MSNBC or CNN shows could be described that way. But Pattiz says what Al-Jazeera calls news would pass for entertainment in the U.S. "Al-Jazeera likes to say they're the Arabic CNN. I like to say it's CNN meets Jerry Springer," he says. "Here, Jerry Springer gets laughs. There, that programming incites violence."

But that speaks to a larger problem for the new television product. Al-Jazeera, like Jerry Springer, is able to pander to a base element -- angry Arabs who are already predisposed to demonize the United States and Israel. It is far easier to indulge that element through television than it is to try to use the medium to alter long-held notions of what America stands for. For this new network to succeed, they will have to build an audience, and will not be able to use the techniques and stunts Arab networks use to lure viewers.

In a recent speech to House Democrats, Samer Shehata, a professor at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, criticized the nascent network, saying "the venture reflects an obsession with Al-Jazeera," that as Americans struggled with the question "Why do they hate us?" after Sept. 11, the power of Al-Jazeera has been overestimated. Shehata argues the money for the new American television station would be better spent on other forms of public diplomacy, such as more money for student and professional exchange programs, and money for education in the Middle East. "U.S.-funded classrooms in the Middle East and the Islamic world would be a highly visible and effective form of public diplomacy," Shehata said.

But advocates for the station say it would be foolish to ignore the power of television as part of a larger effort to educate 300 million people in the Middle East about American culture, values and politics. "Exchange programs are great, but when Coca-Cola wants to sell their product in a country, they don't invite professionals over to come look at the plant. They go on television," says Sherman. "That's essentially what we're doing here -- selling America."

But the details of just what that sales pitch will look like, and how it will manifest itself in terms of programming on the station, are still being worked out. Pattiz says cultural programming will be a key component of the network's initial format. Pattiz even suggests that with the proliferation of tabloid-like news on other Arabic networks, the new American venture may be able to distinguish itself with thoughtful, in-depth reporting like what is found on American public television.

But Satloff is skeptical. He points out that when American media consumers are given the choice between the thoughtful programming of public television and a more sensationalist cable news format, the latter usually wins out. "With this television network, they say we're going to attract different audiences with sports and children's shows and documentaries to which I reply, 'Have you ever watched Arabic satellite TV? Can we produce more soccer games? Can we compete with soap operas? With documentaries?' These things already exist. That's not what's going to draw people into our network.

"Sure, on the surface, you can understand it. These guys are winning the hearts and minds [of Arabs] with these crazy stations, let's put up our own and compete," he says. "There's a certain superficial logic to it, but it doesn't stand up under closer inspection."

Ransom says while access to the airwaves is important, the voices in the Arab media are at least in part a reflection of the attitudes of the Arab street. Simply changing the message is not enough, he says. American policy in the region must also change.

"We now have policies which are essentially unsellable, and there's really nothing we can do to make them more acceptable," he says. "The decision to invade Iraq without U.N. support raised an issue at the center of Arab politics -- this anti-imperialist, colonialist strain," he says. "They've only been out from under this yoke for 50 years or so, and many people think independent Arab states were the greatest advent in their lifetime. They are prepared to let those states do all sorts of dumb things under the auspices of sovereignty and independence. We violated all of that by invading and occupying Iraq."

Pattiz says that is not the mission of the new television venture, and that critics of the new program unfairly conflate the two. "As a private citizen, not as part of the administration, I can say that I think the amount of money that is spent on public diplomacy is in some ways disgraceful," he says. And though the approach of the new station will be different than that of Radio Sawa, Pattiz remains committed to the idea of the soft sell of America overseas.

"It's not [the television network's] job to win support for U.S. policy. It's our job to promote freedom and democracy, to be an example of a free press in the American tradition. I think people will be more favorably disposed toward the American form of democracy if they're exposed to a free press that covers the news fairly."

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