Bridges TV
Encyclopedia
Bridges TV is a Muslim
television network
headquartered in Buffalo, New York
. Premiering nationally in November 2004, it was the first American Muslim television network to broadcast in the English language
.
Designed to counter negative stereotype
s of Muslims, the network has received attention from publications and media venues such as Variety
, NBC News
, the Voice of America
, Columbus Dispatch, Detroit Free Press
, San Jose Mercury News
, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle The Buffalo News
and Canadian Press
.
, Bridges TV differentiates itself from such foreign language programming as Geo TV
(which broadcasts in Urdu
), Prime TV (which broadcasts in Urdu
) and Arab Radio and Television Network
(which broadcasts in Arabic
). Around the time of its inception, the network announced that it would seek to feature sitcoms that represent American Muslim family life in a positive way and identified The Cosby Show
as a model for such programming.
In late 2005, Bridges TV started airing "Current Issues", a show produced in Lafayette, Louisiana
about Palestinian
and other Middle Eastern concerns. The Palestinian American
host, Hesham Tillawi
, is known both for vocalizing criticism against Israel
's treatment of Arab
s and Muslims. The Anti-Defamation League
called his show "a megaphone for Holocaust deniers and white supremacists seeking to broadcast their hatred and anti-Semitism into American homes with a "who's who" of notable American antisemites including David Duke
, Willis Carto
, Edgar J. Steele, Mark Weber
, and Bradley Smith.
Another program shown on Bridges TV, "American Pilgrimage", featured Rabbi
Brad Hirschfield
visiting homes and mosque
s of leading imam
s and Muslim religious thinkers across North America in cities including Halifax, Detroit, San Francisco, New York City
and Washington, DC. The series has been described as "groundbreaking" and has been characterized as having a "Charlie Rose
meets Charles Kuralt
" format.
World heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali
, a subscriber and spokesperson for the network, said "Bridges TV gives American Muslims a voice of their own on the airwaves for Americans of all races and religions to hear." Network official expressed the opinion that a channel like Bridges TV was long overdue and market research
sponsored by the network revealed American Muslims' willingness to pay as much as $10 per month above and beyond their current cable television
or satellite television
fee for the channel.
, the network's primary investor, is an American
businessman and entrepreneur
born in Queens, New York to Muslim parents who had emigrated from India
. According to Amanat:
Muzzammil S. Hassan
, founder and CEO of Bridges TV, expressed belief "that moderate Muslims cannot identify with the extreme stereotype
s often depicted in Hollywood productions" and said "They think they are not accurately portrayed...Bridges TV gives American Muslims a voice and will depict them in everyday, real life situations." Hassan also said he hoped the Bridges TV network would balance negative portrayals of Muslims following the attacks on September 11, 2001.
who also worked for Bridges TV. Her decapitated body was found at the TV station. Dr. Khalid Qazi
, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council
of Western New York
and a friend of the couple, said that Hassan "was worried about the station's future...He was stressed" and added "Domestic violence
is despicable, and Islam
condones it in no way whatever." Shortly after the arrest of Muzzammil Hassan, Bridges TV posted the following notice on their website:
In the aftermath of Aasiya Zubair Hassan's death, Bridges TV shut down its news operations for three months, although it continued to present other programming. The news operation has since resumed, and the network continues to operate, although on a smaller scale than previously projected. As of May 2010, the network reported that it was carried in 4 million homes in two dozen markets. Hassan was convicted in February 2011 of second-degree murder.
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
headquartered in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. Premiering nationally in November 2004, it was the first American Muslim television network to broadcast in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Designed to counter negative stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
s of Muslims, the network has received attention from publications and media venues such as Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
, the Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
, Columbus Dispatch, Detroit Free Press
Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...
, San Jose Mercury News
San Jose Mercury News
The San Jose Mercury News is a daily newspaper in San Jose, California. On its web site, however, it calls itself Silicon Valley Mercury News. The paper is owned by MediaNews Group...
, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News is the primary newspaper of the Buffalo – Niagara Falls metropolitan area, and the area's only daily newspaper. It is the only newspaper owned by Berkshire Hathaway.-History:...
and Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Canadian Press Enterprises Inc. is the entity which "will take over the operations of the Canadian Press" according to a November 26, 2010 article in the Toronto Star...
.
Content
By focusing its content on the experiences of the estimated eight million Muslims living in North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Bridges TV differentiates itself from such foreign language programming as Geo TV
Geo TV
Geo TV or Geo Television is a Pakistani television network, founded by Mr. Mir Shakil ur Rehman in May 2002 and owned by Independent Media Corporation. The channel began test transmission on 14 August 2002, with regular transmission beginning 1 October 2002...
(which broadcasts in Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
), Prime TV (which broadcasts in Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
) and Arab Radio and Television Network
Arab Radio and Television Network
Arab Radio and Television Network is an Arabic-language television network characterized by its multitude of channels. It is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The company was founded in October 1993 by Saleh Abdullah Kamel, a Saudi businessman...
(which broadcasts in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
). Around the time of its inception, the network announced that it would seek to feature sitcoms that represent American Muslim family life in a positive way and identified The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
as a model for such programming.
In late 2005, Bridges TV started airing "Current Issues", a show produced in Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
about Palestinian
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
and other Middle Eastern concerns. The Palestinian American
Palestinian American
Palestinian Americans are Americans of Palestinian ancestry. It is difficult to say when the first Palestinian immigrants arrived at the United States; however, many of the first immigrants to arrive were Christians escaping persecution from the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th century...
host, Hesham Tillawi
Hesham Tillawi
Hesham Tillawi is a Palestinian-American writer, TV talk show host, and political analyst living in Lafayette, Louisiana. He holds a doctoral degree in international relations from Bernelli University, Hesham Tillawi is a Palestinian-American writer, TV talk show host, and political analyst living...
, is known both for vocalizing criticism against Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's treatment of Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s and Muslims. The Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
called his show "a megaphone for Holocaust deniers and white supremacists seeking to broadcast their hatred and anti-Semitism into American homes with a "who's who" of notable American antisemites including David Duke
David Duke
David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...
, Willis Carto
Willis Carto
Willis Allison Carto is a longtime figure on the American far right. He describes himself as Jeffersonian and populist, but is primarily known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial.-Influences on Carto:...
, Edgar J. Steele, Mark Weber
Mark Weber
Mark Edward Weber is the director of the Institute for Historical Review, an American Holocaust denial organization based in southern California....
, and Bradley Smith.
Another program shown on Bridges TV, "American Pilgrimage", featured Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Brad Hirschfield
Brad Hirschfield
Brad Hirschfield is a rabbi, author and the president of CLAL–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. Hirschfield was ranked three years in a row in Newsweek as one of America's "50 Most Influential Rabbis" and recognized as a leading “Preacher & Teacher” by...
visiting homes and mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s of leading imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
s and Muslim religious thinkers across North America in cities including Halifax, Detroit, San Francisco, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Washington, DC. The series has been described as "groundbreaking" and has been characterized as having a "Charlie Rose
Charlie Rose
Charles Peete "Charlie" Rose, Jr. is an American television talk show host and journalist. Since 1991 he has hosted Charlie Rose, an interview show distributed nationally by PBS since 1993...
meets Charles Kuralt
Charles Kuralt
Charles Kuralt was an American journalist. He was most widely known for his long career with CBS, first for his "On the Road" segments on The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, and later as the first anchor of CBS News Sunday Morning, a position he held for fifteen years.Kuralt's "On the Road"...
" format.
World heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
, a subscriber and spokesperson for the network, said "Bridges TV gives American Muslims a voice of their own on the airwaves for Americans of all races and religions to hear." Network official expressed the opinion that a channel like Bridges TV was long overdue and market research
Market research
Market research is any organized effort to gather information about markets or customers. It is a very important component of business strategy...
sponsored by the network revealed American Muslims' willingness to pay as much as $10 per month above and beyond their current cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
or satellite television
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
fee for the channel.
Leadership
Omar AmanatOmar Amanat
Omar S. Amanat is an American who has worked as an entrepreneur in the online trading industry and in the media industry.After graduating from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1995, he worked for a year at the online trading firm Datek Online...
, the network's primary investor, is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
born in Queens, New York to Muslim parents who had emigrated from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. According to Amanat:
I realized that the only way to undo misconceptions was to create our own media forum from which our stories and culture would be shared with the world. Other cultural groups have gained acceptance and increased understanding through the forum of media. Why can't Muslims do the same?
Muzzammil S. Hassan
Muzzammil Hassan
Muzzammil Syed Hassan, also known as Mo Steve Hassan, , is a Pakistani-American man convicted of murder. He was the CEO of Bridges TV , the first American Muslim television network broadcast in English....
, founder and CEO of Bridges TV, expressed belief "that moderate Muslims cannot identify with the extreme stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
s often depicted in Hollywood productions" and said "They think they are not accurately portrayed...Bridges TV gives American Muslims a voice and will depict them in everyday, real life situations." Hassan also said he hoped the Bridges TV network would balance negative portrayals of Muslims following the attacks on September 11, 2001.
Murder
In February 2009, Hassan was arrested and charged with beheading his estranged wife Aasiya ZubairAasiya Zubair
Aasiya Zubair, also known as Aasiya Hassan was with her husband Muzzammil Hassan, the founder and owner of Bridges TV, the first American Muslim English-language television network...
who also worked for Bridges TV. Her decapitated body was found at the TV station. Dr. Khalid Qazi
Khalid Qazi
Khalid Qazi. MD is an internist and residency program director at Sisters of Charity Hospital, Buffalo, New York and president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council of Western New York. He was among a group of Pakistani Americans who met with George W. Bush in 2001 following the September 11 attacks...
, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council
Muslim Public Affairs Council
The Muslim Public Affairs Council is a national American Muslim advocacy and public policy organization headquartered in Los Angeles and with offices in Washington D.C...
of Western New York
Western New York
Western New York is the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of the Great Lakes lowlands, the Genesee Valley, and the Southern Tier. Some historians, scholars and others...
and a friend of the couple, said that Hassan "was worried about the station's future...He was stressed" and added "Domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
is despicable, and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
condones it in no way whatever." Shortly after the arrest of Muzzammil Hassan, Bridges TV posted the following notice on their website:
Bridges TV is deeply shocked and saddened by the murderMurderMurder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
of Aasiya [Zubair] Hassan and subsequent arrest of Muzzammil Hassan. Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to the families of the victim. We request that their right to privacy be respected.
In the aftermath of Aasiya Zubair Hassan's death, Bridges TV shut down its news operations for three months, although it continued to present other programming. The news operation has since resumed, and the network continues to operate, although on a smaller scale than previously projected. As of May 2010, the network reported that it was carried in 4 million homes in two dozen markets. Hassan was convicted in February 2011 of second-degree murder.