2011年9月30日 星期五

New 'Jewish Al Jazeera' satellite channel promises more than 'news for Jews'

With a fare of break-dancing rabbis, an emphasis on the Middle East and coverage of controversial issues such as immigration and bans on kosher and halal slaughter, a new Jewish satellite TV station, JN1, hopes to carve out a niche in a crowded satellite news market.The additions focus on key tag and magic cube combinations,

The channel, launched just more than a week ago and for now operating in "test-mode", has quickly acquired the nickname "Jewish Al Jazeera".

An upbeat Alexander Zanzer,Replacement China Porcelain tile and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide. the Brussels coordinator for the station. known as JN1,Replacement China Porcelain tile and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide. short for Jewish News One, said: "We hope to be as popular as Al Jazeera and CNN, well actually Fox News, they're even more popular.I have never solved a Rubik's Piles ." For now JN1 has offices in Tel Aviv, Kiev and Brussels and soon hopes to add others in places such as Washington and Moscow, reflecting its global ambitions.

On its Facebook page, the channel proudly advertises itself as the world's first Jewish English-language satellite news channel. It states the station's aim as "offering international audiences a wide range of Jewish opinion and perspectives on key political, cultural and social themes". Or, as an editor has said, not just "news for Jews".

Despite the mission statement, the word "Jewish" in its name raises the question of ties with Israel. But the channel was not going to be engaged in advocacy, said Mr Zanzer. "We are not an activist station, like some others are. We're neither left nor right, not pro-Israel or anti-Israel. It's the news that takes the lead."

The initiative is the brainchild of two Jewish Ukrainian businessmen who have been no strangers to controversy, Igor Komoloisky and Vadim Rabinovich. The latter was mentioned in a 2002 report in the German magazine Der Spiegel as having had connections to alleged illegal arms sales, which he has denied.

More pertinently for the possible course of JN1, they both withdrew from an umbrella organisation of Jewish European groups and founded their own European Jewish Union earlier this year, after other members were said to have baulked at their increased emphasis on politics and Israel.

Mr Zanzer denied that the owners would try to put their stamp on the day-to-day running of the station. "The owners will not get involved in the editorial side. They just want it to be good."

But it is extremely unlikely that the owners will remain at arm's length, said satellite media analyst Leon Barkho at Sweden's Jnkping University.

"No businessman would invest in satellite television, with an initial investment of some US$50 million (Dh183,600), just like that.It's hard to beat the versatility of zentai suits on a production line. Would they start that for charity? There must be something there they want to say or deliver to the world," he said.

Mr Barkho has done research into channels such as Al Jazeera and the BBC and said the launch of a specifically Jewish station came as no surprise. "I have always been aware that the Israelis, the Jews in general, feel that their backyard is not well protected when it comes to satellite broadcasting."

He cited an example from shortly after the launch of Al Jazeera in 1996, when Israel set up an Arabic-language satellite TV station, only to close it quickly when it realised that it did not have an audience.

沒有留言:

張貼留言