Radio Sawa ( ar, راديو سوا) is a Middle Eastern radio station broadcasting in the
Arab world
The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...
. The station is a service of the
Middle East Broadcasting Networks
The Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) is a U.S.-government-funded American Arabic-language non-profit media organization broadcasting news and information across the Middle East and North Africa region.
MBN comprises two television networks ...
, Inc., which also operates
Alhurra
Alhurra ( ar, الحرة ' ,The pronunciation differs depending on the variety of Arabic, for example, . "the Free One") is a United States-based public Arabic-language satellite TV channel that broadcasts news and current affairs programming ...
Television and is publicly funded by the
U.S. Agency for Global Media
The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), formerly the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), is an independent agency of the United States government that broadcasts news and information. It describes its mission, "vital to US nation ...
and the U.S. Congress.
The word "sawa" (, ) means "together" in many
Arabic dialects
The varieties (or dialects or vernacular languages) of Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family originating in the Arabian Peninsula, are the linguistic systems that Arabic speakers speak natively. There are considerable varia ...
.
Preexisting attitudes and concurrent reality of opinions towards the United States led to the creation of Radio Sawa. It seeks to effectively communicate with the youthful population of Arabic-speakers in the Middle East. The station's goal is to promote pro-American attitudes to
youth in the Arab world. Radio Sawa's first broadcast was on March 23, 2002. Its newscasts are broadcast live on air from its studios in
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morg ...
and
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
. Radio Sawa also has news bureaus and reporters throughout the Middle East.
History
Radio Sawa and its sister-network,
Al Hurra TV, are part of a larger
U.S. Public Diplomacy effort in the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
. Their stated mission is to "improve America's image in the Middle East and win the hearts and minds of the
Arab people
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
."
Radio Sawa was first launched on 23 March 2002,
[ initially in ]Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Ku ...
, UAE (Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...
), Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
and Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...
and eventually in the rest of the Arab World (see below for full list).
Radio Sawa replaced Voice of America
Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the State media, state-owned news network and International broadcasting, international radio broadcaster of the United States, United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international br ...
's Arabic service, which had not been successful in attracting large audiences. The initiator of Radio Sawa is American media mogul Norman Pattiz
Norman Joel Pattiz (January 18, 1943 – December 4, 2022) was an American broadcasting entrepreneur who founded radio network Westwood One. Pattiz was a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame.
Career
Pattiz worked in the sales dept at KCO ...
. He found that more than 60% of the Arab population was under the age of 30, which is why he decided to develop programming that would target the younger generation. Pattiz believed that the best way to reach the young people was with music. This is why the majority of the radio's programming consists of American and Arab pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...
.
Radio Sawa is controlled by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the Federal agency responsible for all U.S. international civilian broadcasting. The BBG founded the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), a non-profit news and information organization, to run Radio Sawa and Al Hurra TV.
Funding
Radio Sawa is a United States Congress-funded public relations endeavor.
Programming
In contrast to the Voice of America
Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the State media, state-owned news network and International broadcasting, international radio broadcaster of the United States, United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international br ...
radio broadcasts in the region which it replaced, Radio Sawa blends news with contemporary music, arts and lifestyle and other light programming. Radio Sawa's programming consists of roughly 20–25% news and 75–80% pop songs.
News
Apart from songs, most other content is presented in the rubric "The World Now," which includes news, interviews, sports, etc.
Songs
The station's playlist includes popular Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
(Middle Eastern
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europea ...
), English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
(mostly American hits) and Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
(mostly Latin American
Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-e ...
) songs so as to attract the Arabic listener.
Special programming
There are also occasional specials.
Reception
Radio Sawa has been subject to criticism from various observers, who question its effectiveness in conveying America's message to the Arab world. Radio Sawa is commonly seen as terms of a solution to public relations crisis during the time of its launch as a form of public diplomacy, 'suggesting by implication that American media efforts do have the power to transform opinion if only implemented in a different form'.
Arab World
A study published in 2006, which surveyed college students at universities in five Arab countries, found that the students' attitudes towards U.S. foreign policy had actually worsened since they started listening to Radio Sawa and watching Al Hurra TV
Radio Sawa has also been criticized for its poor quality control and for its resistance to any outside review of its programming.
United States
A 2004 draft report prepared by the State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...
's inspector general
An inspector general is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is "inspectors general".
Australia
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia) (IGIS) is an independent statutory of ...
was severely critical of the station. Experts cited in the report concluded that "Radio Sawa failed to present America to its audience."
The station's emphasis on popular music has led critics to question if music alone is enough to convey America's message. Some critics point out that what matters is "not just how many people are tuning in, but how many people are affected by a broadcast's content."
Transmission
Radio Sawa is broadcast free across the region, using a combination of:
* 2002-2019 Medium wave
Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the dayti ...
( AM) transmitters
* FM transmitters
* Digital audio satellite broadcasting (Eutelsat
Eutelsat S.A. is a French satellite operator. Providing coverage over the entire European continent, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, it is the world's third-largest satellite operator in terms of revenues.
Eutelsat's satellite ...
, Nilesat
Nilesat (; , ''or'' ) is an Egyptian company and the name of a series of Egyptian communications satellites. It was established in 1996 with the purpose of operating Egyptian satellites and their associated mission control center and ground st ...
, Arabsat
The Arab Satellite Communications Organization (often abbreviated as Arabsat) is a communications satellite operator in the Arab World, headquartered in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Arabsat was created to deliver satellite-based, public and ...
)
* Online internet streaming
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...
(also accessible from its apps)
Alongside the mainstream Radio Sawa broadcasts, there are various regional streams targeted to specific regions/countries which are also available online:
* Radio Sawa
* Radio Sawa Iraq
* Radio Sawa Sudan
FM transmissions
Names of the cities next to them the broadcast frequency of FM in MHz.
* Amman – 98.1
* Ajloun - 107.4
* Ramallah - 94.2
* Nablus - 94.5
* Khalil - 100.2
* Jinin - 93.5
* West Bank - 98.1
* Gaza - 100.2
* Lebanon - 99.7
* Iraq - 100.5
* Khartoum - 97.5
[ ]
Former AM transmissions
* Radio Sawa on Medium Wave Egypt and the Levant – 990 kHz
* Iraq and The Persian Gulf – 1548 kHz
* Iraq – 1593 kHz
* Sudan and Yemen – 1431 kHz
See also
* Radio Farda
Radio Farda ( fa, راديو فردا, lit=Radio Tomorrow, ''Radio Farda'') is the Iranian branch of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) external broadcast service for providing "factual, objective and profession ...
, targeting Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
* Alhurra
Alhurra ( ar, الحرة ' ,The pronunciation differs depending on the variety of Arabic, for example, . "the Free One") is a United States-based public Arabic-language satellite TV channel that broadcasts news and current affairs programming ...
* Press TV
* IRIB World Service
* Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazee ...
* CCTV International Arabic
CGTN Arabic ( ar, سي جي تي أن العربية), formerly CCTV-Arabic ( ar, سي سي تي في العربية), is an Arabic language television channel owned by China Global Television Network, a subsidiary of China Central Television.
...
* Rusiya Al-Yaum
RT Arabic, formerly known as Rusiya Al-Yaum (Arabic: روسيا اليوم, meaning ''Russia Today'') is a Russian state-owned free-to-air television news channel broadcasting in Arabic and headquartered in Moscow, Russia. Rusiya Al-Yaum started ...
(روسيا اليوم)
* Al Mayadeen (الميادين)
* France 24
France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned international news television network based in Paris. Its channels broadcast in French, English, Arabic, and Spanish and are aimed at the overseas market.
Based in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Mo ...
(Monte Carlo Doualiya)
References
External links
Radio Sawa description in English
*
{{Telecommunications
Radio stations established in 2002
International broadcasters
2002 establishments in the United Arab Emirates
Arabic-language radio stations
State media