Al-Alam () is an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

news channel broadcasting from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and owned by the state-owned media corporation Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). The network's political coverage tends to be the most popular; however, other subjects, such as commentaries, analysis,

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

and

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

also get a share of the audience. Programs are broadcast to over 300 million

Arab people Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

around the world, with large audiences in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

regions. The

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

channel can be received on five continents. Al-Alam has news bureaus in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

and

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. Unlike many other channels, it can be viewed in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

without the use of a satellite receiver, as it is able to use a terrestrial transmitter close to the Iran-Iraq border.

History

An English-language website, known as Alalam News, was launched on August 15, 2006. According to the ''

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its original purpose was "to assess the performance ...

'', the channel's mission is to "help Iran emerge as the region's top power" by exploting Arab anger toward U.S. foreign policy, emphasizing Arabs and Iranians common Islamic faith, and capitalizing on the rift between Arabs and their governments. In February 2003 ahead of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, Al-Alam began terrestrially broadcasting from Iran into Iraq. The channel's studios were located in Tehran, but the channel used a relay station on a hill near the Iran-Iraq border to broadcast into Iraq. Al-Alam is presented in Arabic, but all the anchors and newscasters are Iranian. The channel's primary target audience was at first Iraq's Shiite majority. Al-Alam launched an Arabic-language website in 2004 and an English-language website in 2006. The Arabic and English sites do not mirror the other's content. Alalam News Network launched its Persian website in April 2007 in order to cover news exclusively in the Persian language.

Capturing of British nationals by the Iranian Navy

Al-Alam was the first network to air videos of

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

personnel captured by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy in 2007. During the 2007 Iranian seizure of Royal Navy personnel al-Alam reported with regard to British soldiers’ confessions about the infringement of Iran's maritime sovereignty, Al-Alam news channel had an important portion in covering that incident. It was the forerunner in transmitting the soldiers’ confessions, and was the main and prime source for media coverage in this respect.

2011 Bahraini protests

During the Shiite anti-government protests in Bahrain, the Al-Alam signal was repeatedly jammed. Allegations all point to the fact that Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah, the Saudi Intelligence Agency, was traced back to for evidence of this crime. The jamming attacks were reportedly caused by installations capable of interfering with Al-Alam's frequencies on the Badr satellite from a Saudi transmitter. This act of sabotage and illegal interference with free media has yet to be addressed in an international case.

Geographical coverage

Al-Alam news channel covers all parts of the globe, with the exception of the southern part of African continent, using the following satellites: Hot Bird 8, Eutelsat 7 West A and Galaxy 19. It is also broadcast terrestrially on VHF channel E4 from high ground near the Iraqi border.

Controversies

Due to the fact that the channel has linked with the Islamic Republic, it is accused of being an arming channel/tool for the Iranian Government and its propaganda. Critics in the Arab World consider it to have encouraged Shia extremism in the Arab World.

Potential designation as a 'terrorist entity'

On June 26, 2008, the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

has proposed to declare Al-Alam, the English-language Press TV, and several IRIB-affiliated channels as a " Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity" sponsored by Florida congressman

Gus Bilirakis Gus Michael Bilirakis ( ; born February 8, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 2013. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, ...

. The proposed resolution calls the broadcast of 'incitement to violence' against Americans in Middle Eastern media while Bilirakis claimed that as Iranian state-run TV channels broadcast 'the coverage of rallies and speeches in which Iranian leaders, clerics, children, and mass audience have declared 'Death to America!' due to broadcasting incitement of violence against Americans. In June 2021, the U.S. government seized the websites of several Iranian state-linked news websites including Al-Alam's Arabic-language channel that were linked to Iranian disinformation efforts.

Conviction of correspondents in Israel

On June 14, 2009, a Jerusalem court sentenced a correspondent of Al-Alam, Khodr Shahine, and his assistant, Mohammed Sarhan, to two months imprisonment for reporting on the Israeli land offensive against the Gaza Strip on January 3 prior to the lifting of Israeli military press censorship.

References

Iran TV channel targets Iraq
article on the BBC website
Iran's leaders harness media power
article on the BBC website

External links

Official website (Arabic)Official website (English)Official website (Persian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Al Alam News Network Television channels and stations established in 2003 International broadcasters 24-hour television news channels in Iran Arab mass media Arabic-language television stations Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Domain name seizures by United States