Mouafac Harb is Executive Vice President of the US-funded Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc., which operates the Alhurra Television and Radio Sawa.

 A graduate of George Washington University, Harb, 39, joined Radio Sawa in 2002 as News Director of the radio networks. Prior to joining Radio Sawa and Alhurra, Harb served as Washington Bureau Chief for Al-Hayat newspaper. A long-time journalist, Harb worked in several broadcast outlets in Lebanon, including several years as the General Manager of Lebanon's national radio and television networks. He was interviewed by MEB Journal Chief Editor Ramez Maluf

How do you respond to the argument that Alhurra TV is funded by the US to promote a certain vision of the news? How can a station that is funded by a government call itself the ‘Free One’?
I approach it from a commercial point of view. I’m not aware of any Arab media outlet today that is not funded by a government, whether through immediate direct funding, or by what people call unconventional revenues.
The advertising market in the Middle East is not big enough to support all of its media outlets.  
Why are we so unique? It has to do with the political system in the United States, the government that funds this project. We are not under the control of any ministry of information. Our funding is not coming from a regime whereby we have to act as spokespersons for that president or king or prince. Our budget is approved by Congress which is elected by the American people directly and it is made up of two parties, Republican and Democrats, so we’re not funded by who’s in charge or who’s in control. We are not funded by the White House.

Who has final say on Alhurra’s stylebook?I am responsible for approving it.

In other words, you decide when and  how to use words such as  insurgent, martyr, suicide bomber or homicide bomber.
Yes, I have to approve it, but it’s a kind of process whereby the newsroom will get together, and we’ll sit down and try to make sure that we use terms that enhance our credibility and make us keep up with our professional look and our professional way of reporting.

What is the size of your audience?
We can say that we have a weekly audience of 20 million people. Some people would say 225 million Arabs refuse to watch Alhurra (chuckles).
I would say: 20 million viewers is not bad.

What about interviewing people as talk show guests? I haven’t seen any one from Hamas on your programs.
This is an editorial decision that we‘ve made which is to cover their news; they’re in the news but we don’t allow any terrorist organization on our shows.

But you’ve had Hezballah members, haven’t you?
No. Just in the news.

Do you feel comfortable doing that? In Lebanon, Hezballah is a political party - their members are ministers of state. How do you explain that?
We have a unique situation. We are funded by the American public and the State Department has a list of terrorist organizations. Maybe I couldn’t justify it if we were a commercial TV channel. I’d have a member of a terrorist organization because I need to make sure I have an explosive show so I can generate money. However, in my case, I’m funded by the American public.

Are you personally comfortable with that?
In my situation, yes I’m very comfortable actually. We do not ignore their news, we cover their news, we cover their events. However, we are a channel that has to do with promoting freedom and democracy, so our talk shows should be a platform to those who believe in freedom and democracy and moderation. There are other channels that are dedicated to jihad. However, the democrats in the Middle East don’t have their own channels.  Hamas, Hezballah, the Taliban and Al Qaeda are considered terrorist organizations by the US, and to some extent by the international community, so we cannot offer them a platform.  But it’s very important that the readers of your magazine realize that we cover their news fairly. When Hamas won the elections in the Palestinian Territories, that news was covered extensively and was discussed all the time in talk shows and debates.

What are some of your future plans?
We just turned two years old. We are right now two television channels, Alhurra Iraq and Alhurra and by the end of this summer there will be Alhurra Europe which will be available to our Arabic-speaking audiences in Europe. It will be a kind of hybrid of what’s showing on Alhurra and Alhurra Iraq and some shows which will be tailored to our Arab audience in Europe.

Are you producing programs specifically for Alhurra?
We’re doing a lot of our own documentaries. We did something on Salafist Jihadists in Morocco. We did shows on the genocide in Darfur and we just completed a show on virtual terrorism, so we’re doing at least once a month a special documentary.
We also did some investigative reporting on the massacres that took place under Saddam Hussein in Iraq. What the other channels cannot do because of editorial control, you will see on Alhurra.

Are you free or predisposed to criticize a US ally, such as Egyptian President Husni Mubarak?
Actually, I can say one thing, even in Al Quds Al Arabi there was an article praising us during the Egyptian elections. For Al Quds Al Arabi to praise Alhurra that was remarkable. We have an obligation to report the news and we also have an obligation to be faithful to our mission.
If you go back to the first days following the arrest of (Egyptian presidential candidate) Ayman Nour, one of the charges against him, as reported in Newsweek, was what he said on Alhurra. These are the kinds of issues where there is no compromise. When (Egyptian dissident) Saadeddine Ibrahim was jailed, this was one of our issues.

If Alhurra is promoting democracy, how do you feel about the fact that it is illegal to broadcast the station within the United States?
 This is a 50 year old bill, dating to WWII (the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 forbids direct broadcast to American citizens of any state-funded media). Maybe because in the US, the private sector is very vibrant, and there is a competitive market. And maybe some legislators don’t see a need for a government to fund a television channel for its own market. We have a lot of channels here. If the American sector would find in the Middle East a feasible market to start an Arabic language channel I would argue against keeping Alhurra. I prefer privately owned media.
Today the Arab media are a tool of ruling. When there used to be a coup d’etat in any Arab country, the first thing the rebels would do would be to seek control of the media.
Our goal is not to attack the Arab indigenous media. Our goal is not to be number one or number two. Hopefully by interacting and by being part of the local media scene we can improve its standards.
If Hezballah can have a channel, why can’t the United States have
one too?