Mosaic: World News from the Middle East
Encyclopedia
Mosaic: World News from The Middle East is a daily news program offered by the free American satellite channel, LinkTV. Mosaic features selections from television news programs produced by broadcast outlets throughout the Middle East
. The news reports are presented unedited, translated into English when necessary. The show's producer is Jamal Dajani
, a Palestinian American
and co-produced by David Michaelis, an Israeli Jew.
, a free informational channel available on DirecTV
, Dish Network
and some US cable TV systems; and is archived by the Internet Archive
, from which it can be viewed.
, Nile TV
(Egypt
), IRIB 2 (Iran
), Al-Alam News Network
(Iran
), Iraq State Television (defunct since the US war in Iraq
. Replaced by Al-Iraqiyah), Israel Broadcasting Authority
: Arabic Channel (Israel
), Jordan Satellite TV (Jordan
), Future TV (Lebanon
), National Broadcasting Network
Lebanon
), 2M-TV (Morocco
), Palestinian Satellite Channel
(Palestinian territories
), Syria Satellite TV (Syria
), Yemen State Television (Yemen
), Abu Dhabi Television (UAE
), Dubai Television (UAE
), Arab News Network
(Based in London
, United Kingdom
), Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Manar
(Hezbollah's TV station. Dropped from Mosaic in 2005.)
, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
, the Firedoll Foundation, and Link TV viewers.
cable TV channel of Newton, Massachusetts
. Opponents of its airing argued that the program provides a distorted view of Arab broadcasts, and a venue for antisemitism, anti-Americanism
, and "terrorist propaganda". Supporters of the program, while conceding that the broadcasts may on occasion contain "anti-Semitic and anti-American content" argued that they "give Americans a diverse array of information about how the country is portrayed in the Middle East", and that their broadcast is a free speech issue.
Mosaic has also been criticized by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America
, which claims it "whitewashes terrorism and promotes extremism".
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. The news reports are presented unedited, translated into English when necessary. The show's producer is Jamal Dajani
Jamal Dajani
Jamal Dajani is a Palestinian-American journalist, and an award-winning producer. He currently holds the position of Vice President for Middle East & North Africa at...
, a 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...
and co-produced by David Michaelis, an Israeli Jew.
Distribution
Mosaic is broadcast on Link TVLink TV
Link TV is a non-commercial American satellite television network providing "diverse perspectives on world and national issues." It is carried nationally on DirecTV and Dish Network. Link TV was launched as a daily, 24-hour non-commercial network in 1999...
, a free informational channel available on DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
, Dish Network
Dish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
and some US cable TV systems; and is archived by the Internet Archive
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
, from which it can be viewed.
Sources
Mosaic broadcasts news programs from Al JazeeraAl Jazeera
Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
, Nile TV
Nile TV
Nile TV International is a state-owned Egyptian television channel. It is the second Egyptian satellite television news network in Egypt, and the first Arab satellite channel to broadcast its programs in foreign languages: English, French, and Hebrew....
(Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
), IRIB 2 (Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
), Al-Alam News Network
Al-Alam News Network
Al-Alam is an Iranian Arabic satellite TV station.The network's political coverage tends to be the most popular; however, other subjects, such as commentaries, analysis, business and sports also get a share of the audience. Programs are broadcast for over 300 million Arabic-speaking people around...
(Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
), Iraq State Television (defunct since the US war in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Replaced by Al-Iraqiyah), Israel Broadcasting Authority
Israel Broadcasting Authority
Israel Broadcasting Authority is Israel's state broadcasting network.It grew out of the radio station Kol Yisrael, which made its first broadcast as an independent station on . The name of the organisation operating Kol Yisrael was changed to Israel Broadcasting Service in 1951...
: Arabic Channel (Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
), Jordan Satellite TV (Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
), Future TV (Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
), National Broadcasting Network
National Broadcasting Network
People's Television is the flagship government television network owned by the Philippine Government through People's Television Network, Inc. . Its head office, studios and transmitter are located at Broadcast Complex, Visayas Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City .-History:The country's government...
Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
), 2M-TV (Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
), Palestinian Satellite Channel
Palestinian Satellite Channel
Palestine Satellite Channel and its companion radio station, Voice of Palestine are free-to-air general entertainment channels in Arabic...
(Palestinian territories
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...
), Syria Satellite TV (Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
), Yemen State Television (Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
), Abu Dhabi Television (UAE
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
), Dubai Television (UAE
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
), Arab News Network
Arab News Network
Arab News Network is a minor Arab news channel broadcast on satellite from London.ANN is owned by Rifaat al-Assad, the former vice president of Syria, and uncle of the current President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad...
(Based in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
), Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Manar
Al-Manar
Al-Manar is a Lebanese satellite television station affiliated with Hezbollah, registered as Lebanese Media Group Company, broadcasting from Beirut, Lebanon. It has an offering a "rich menu" of high production news, commentary, and entertainment. The self-proclaimed "Station of the Resistance" ,...
(Hezbollah's TV station. Dropped from Mosaic in 2005.)
Funding
Mosaic is supported by the William and Flora Hewlett FoundationWilliam and Flora Hewlett Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is a private foundation, established by Hewlett-Packard cofounder William Reddington Hewlett and his wife Flora Lamson Hewlett in 1967. The Hewlett Foundation awards grants to support educational and cultural institutions and to advance certain social and...
, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is an American private, non-profit foundation dedicated to supporting transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts....
, the Firedoll Foundation, and Link TV viewers.
Controversy
In January, 2004, and again in January, 2005, disputes arose over the airing of Mosaic on the Public-access televisionPublic-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
cable TV channel of Newton, Massachusetts
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
. Opponents of its airing argued that the program provides a distorted view of Arab broadcasts, and a venue for antisemitism, anti-Americanism
Anti-Americanism
The term Anti-Americanism, or Anti-American Sentiment, refers to broad opposition or hostility to the people, policies, culture or government of the United States...
, and "terrorist propaganda". Supporters of the program, while conceding that the broadcasts may on occasion contain "anti-Semitic and anti-American content" argued that they "give Americans a diverse array of information about how the country is portrayed in the Middle East", and that their broadcast is a free speech issue.
Mosaic has also been criticized by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America
Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America is an American non-profit pro-Israel media watchdog group. The group says it was founded in 1982 "to respond to the Washington Post's coverage of Israel's Lebanon incursion", and to respond to what it considers the media's "general...
, which claims it "whitewashes terrorism and promotes extremism".
External links
- LinkTV site for Mosaic
- Mosaic stream archive
- Mosaic video archive at the Internet Archive Streaming video archive available.
- Mosaic Intelligence Report
- Jamal Dajani Home Page
- The New York Times