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by MEB Journal Staff
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State broadcaster Saudi TV is developing a fifth channel that will broadcast live transmissions of Shoura Council sessions, according to the Kingdom’s Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Madani. The new channel’s “serious programming” will include live transmissions of municipal council meetings and documentaries. Madani discussed plans for the channel during a closed- door session of the Shoura Council to which he was invited. He condemned channels that “promote tribalism and regionalism” and affirmed the media’s role in “confronting whatever threatens the country’s national unity.” Releasing his Ministry’s 2006d2007 report, Madani said it indicates that the Saudi media is weak and unable to generate patriotism to fight “deviant” thought, a comment the press has widely interpreted as a reference to terrorism. He called for urgent financial support to bolster media development in the Kingdom. |
