The Middle East - Volatile, complicated, confusing and quite a challenge for the world media to explain. Violence and diplomacy, one follows the other, sometimes both taking place at the same time. For many Americans, understanding the Middle East is also a challenge. But now there’s one California –based media outlet doing its best to help educate and explain what’s going on in the Middle East. David Cohler reports.
On a relatively quiet street in San Francisco sit the modest studios of a new satellite television network that is trying to give Americans a balanced view of events in the Middle East.
NATURAL SOUND – MOSAIC SHOW GRAPHIC
In "Mosaic," a daily 30-minute program on nonprofit WorldLink Satellite TV, producers cover the day's news from many perspectives. The material is provided by 15 Arab and Israeli channels each with its own viewpoint.
NATURAL SOUND – ISRAELI TV BROADCAST
For example, an Israeli TV account of a Palestinian suicide bombing calls the perpetrators "terrorists."
NATURAL SOUND – ABU DHABI TV BROADCAST
A version from Abu Dhabi TV calls them "martyrs." Both are shown on Mosaic. The show’s Palestinian and Israeli-born producers say Mosaic gives American viewers a much fuller picture of events in the Middle East, and lately in Iraq, than they can find on other programming sources.
WorldLink has received millions of dollars in foundation grants, and its executives say all the money will go to providing Americans with views they don't see or hear elsewhere.