702 Style Radio Station for Ramallah

Primedia CEO Issie Kirsh has set up a radio station in Ramallah styled on South Africa’s Talk Radio 702.

According to Ha’aretz Kirsh believes that 702 played a key role in the transition from this country's apartheid regime to democracy and he hopes that this new radio station will provide a platform for “peaceful dialogue” between Israelis and Palestinians.

Playing a “key role in the transition” is quite a claim considering their small listenership relative to African language radio stations and the fact that during the transition period they only transmitted to Johannesburg and its environs. But any dialogue is important if it can help Israelis and Palestinians understand each other. Still, it will only be transmitted from the West Bank and most parts of Israel will have trouble picking it up - so for the short term it will presumably aim at creating inter-Palestinian dialogue.

Ha’aretz reports

"We're committed to telling both sides of the story," Andrew Bolton, the station's news editor said. "We are apolitical and will not toe any political line, other than peace." Bolton said the news program would therefore not include either terms like "martyr" or "terrorist," both of which he called "loaded."

I hope it's not an exact model of 702. Yusuf Abramjee, the 702 station manager, (and group head of news and programming for Primedia Broadcasting) is far from a neutral and objective observer when it comes to the Middle East. He has penned a number of anti-Israel articles including one which concluded in no uncertain terms that Israel is an apartheid state and should be condemned.

(That said, I have not found much wrong with their news reporting – it's their comment, opinion, and running of their Middle East talk shows that fall way off the mark.)

Their African correspondent who often hosts talk shows on the Middle East is on record as stating that "Israel's actions is a blight on humanity" and that "[it] gets up my nose when Israel is allowed for geo-political and strategic reasons to commit crimes against Palestinians."

Middle East talk-show hosts often allow unchecked hate speech from Muslim callers to hijack the discussions. Wild accusations often go unchallenged and the shows only end up further polarising local Muslims and Jews.

Comments

[Joel Pollak]

I read this story today and thought it was really interesting. I wonder if Paula Slier will be involved? I also thought: hmmm, a potentially important Palestinian institution, but created by a Jewish investor--a great idea, but what does it say about the lack of self-development by Palestinians? Also, will they be a target for terrorists--not just for the sake of violence, but for the sake of controlling the airwaves? Anyway, I have to say it sounds cool. Imagine the kind of decent programming the station could offer as a counterweight to the incitement and propaganda. Hope it works out.

[Steve]

JPOST indicates that this was not intended to be a Palestinian institution. They originally tried to get a permit for Israel...

"According to the report, the founders of the station originally tried to get a broadcasting permit in Israel, but were turned down. They then turned to the Palestinian Authority, which granted the permit."

"Their African correspondent who often hosts talk shows on the Middle East is on record as stating that "Israel's actions is a blight on humanity" and that "[it] gets up my nose when Israel is allowed for geo-political and strategic reasons to commit crimes against Palestinians."

Jean Jaques Cornish is one of the worst and has long been penning anti-Israel articles and spouting anti-Israel hate!

[Steve]

I do wish them luck and hope that they succeed in creating dialogue. It will also to the best of my knowledge be the only English radio station available.

So it will be nice for immigrants who dont yet know Hebrew.

But the moral ambivalence in equating words like 'martyr'and 'terrorist' offends me. I don't think many Israelis will buy into that after innocent civilians are killed in a terrorist attack.

And it automatically takes sides when considering the Israeli security barrier. If you deny that that it was built to combat terrorism then you have already failed your promise to bring 'both sides of the story'.

(And that's not to say that I deny it causes hardships to the Palestinians.)

[Mike]

I would like to look at this Ram radio project from a different perspective- a financial one. I think it is completely stupid. If I was a Prime Media shareholder I would be up in arms.

What is the potential listenership of an English talk show radio in Israel and the PA? There are only 10 million odd people in that region (assuming the whole area has coverage). How many of them speak English? And even if they do speak English, how many of them would want to hear their news and current affairs discussed in English when there are already Arab and Hebrew stations that do the same? I would say extremely few.

The success of a talk radio station is not only its passive listenership but also its active callers. How many Israelis or Palestinians would be comfortable debating complex socio-political problems in English? Perhaps only first language English speakers. And they are not a very big percentage of either the Israeli or Palestinian populations.

The next problem is the talk show host. I heard John Robbie interviewing John Burkes this morning he is going to be one of the presenters. Now no matter how much one may like John Burkes, he knows very little about the culture in Israel or the PA. How is going to be able to relate to his audience and (his audience to him for that matter)?

Who would possibly advertise on such a radio station?

I predict that it will be closing down in the not to distant future. And Prime Media shareholders will be footing the bill.

[Steve]

Will be interesting to listen to from the net if they stream the audio...

[gersh]

Mike, is it def a Prime Media investment or a Kirsch family investment?

As far as I know 702 is regarded as having 600k listeners. So its not really that powerfull a radio station, the listenership is very high within the Jewish and Moslem communities and hence management tends to try and have Israel/Palestine related escalations live on air.

The model was built on getting afluent visitors who want educated content rather than maximising quantity of listener. A similar idea could work. Having said that, there can;t be much purchasing power in the W.Bank.