Saudi cultural channel receives mixed reviews

By Abdul Wahab Al-Saleh in Saudi Arabia
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-03-04

[BILAL QABALAN/AFP/Getty Images] Saudis have four new satellite channels to watch, including one on cultural issues

It has been three months since the launch of the Saudi Cultural Channel, and some Saudi writers who were initially excited about the idea now express a sense of frustration.

Writing about the launch of the channel, the intellectual Falih Al-Khuzaai commented, "It appears that the launch came about in a haphazard, uncalculated way. We haven't seen a strategy and a clear plan so far."

This view is shared by a group of Saudi writers and intellectuals. When Dr. Abdul Aziz Khoja was appointed Minister of Culture and Information on February 15, 2009, he expressed his interest in what Saudi TV was offering on all of its channels.

He also announced the launch of a number of channels that will compete with other Arab satellite channels. On December 18, 2009, four new channels were launched in separate categories: cultural/interreligious-interdenominational dialogue, economic, Quran and Sunnah.

Poet Mohammed Abbas told Al-Shorfa that "the existence of a cultural channel that would be the national voice has been the dream of intellectuals for a very long time. Maybe the realisation of this desire is itself an achievement in its own right."

Abbas added that "we have high expectations regarding this channel that it will hopefully do an outstanding job, offer a variety of programming, and show concern for culturally-minded viewers, across all the different tastes, staying away from 'boring rigidity', 'deadly paralysis' and superficial imitation. It is important that those who are not talented in the fields of culture and media be barred from working in it, because it is our national cultural façade. We have to support it, and ensure that its programming offers something different. It should engage and tackle cultural issues in an effective way, carry our voice to others, and promote our various cultural resources to those beyond our borders."

Mohammed Al-Harz, a literay critic, believes that the issue of cultural programming in the context of satellite media is ahead of its time. "There is very little experience in cultural matters via satellite broadcasting in our cultural scene. Things are still at an early stage when talking about expectations."

Al-Harz told Al-Shorfa that "we are still at a stage where we look at visual and media culture from a narrow perspective because of many factors. One of which is that the local culture is still in the process of opening up to this culture. Also, we do not have qualified media personnel that would present cultural topics in an open and free atmosphere, thereby gaining the trust of the culturally-minded."

Abbas admitted that his expectations about the channel "have not been met yet". He said that it is still in its early stages, and "we do not want to rush to conclusions. However, many are pessimistic and believe that it will be just another channel that will be added to the previous Saudi channels, both in terms of content and presentation. But, let us be hopeful, because the fact of its existence is in itself, in one way or another, a boost to culture."

Halima Muzaffar may be one of the pessimists that Abbas was referring to. She told Al-Shorfa that "three months after the launch of the channel, I find the 'cultural channel' without culturally-minded people in it, because of the poor quality of its content and its presentation."

Halima attributes this to the fact that "it offers a programming that is both alive and dead called 'Cultural Café', and which is void of any culture or culturally-minded people on its guests list. They are picked just to fill gaps, and it seems as though the presenters are undergoing training, because of the schoolroom questions they pose, which more often than not are full of errors, linguistically and in terms of the subject matter. Or they would talk about issues which we've moved beyond."

She added that "if this is the channel with what it is currently presenting and [this]is seen by the Arab satellite viewership as our cultural façade, with all the meaning that this word carries, this dream is out of touch with the reality of our cultural movements."

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