NOTE ON ARABIC NEWS SOURCES

On this blog I frequently quote from Arabic-language media sources which may be unfamiliar to many readers. This post is intended as a guide to some of the more important ones which readers may want to bear in mind when considering the potential for source bias. When quoting other sources, I'll describe any relevant affiliation at that point, but will otherwise not do so for these primary sources.

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Al-Alam: Iran's Arabic language satellite channel, based out of Beirut and Tehran. Mainly useful for decoding Iranian foreign policy in the Arab world.

Al-Arabiya: Saudi-owned satellite television channel run out of the United Arab Emirates. Strongly anti-terrorist; primary competitor to the more well-known al-Jazeera.

BBC Arabic: Despite being British-owned, tends to play to its audience in terms of bias, like the radio version, although the TV version has a higher hard-news content. Sleek and well-run, it will likely be a strong competitor to the Arab channels.

Al-Hayat: International daily based in London owned by the son of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Sultan bin Abd al-Aziz. Secular, Arab nationalist orientation. Coverage focus is Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Al-Ittihad: Highly sophisticated UAE daily with strong coverage of economic and local issues important to the government.

Al-Jarida al-Jadida: Kuwaiti daily news paper. Government-aligned.

Al-Jazeera: Qatar-based satellite television channel; the most widely watched Arabic-language news source in the world. Strongly Arab nationalist with heavy coverage of Palestinian issues.

Al-Riyadh: Major domestic Saudi daily. One of about a half dozen domestic Saudi newspapers which although privately-owned are carefully watched by the government. Since they are all essentially identical in coverage and highly dependent on the Saudi Press Agency for news, it is only necessary to read one of them.

Al-Sharq al-Awsat: International daily based in London, owned by the son of Riyadh Governor Salmon bin Abd al-Aziz. The most prominent "liberal" Arab daily, with the most neutral coverage of the U.S.

Al-Qabas: Kuwaiti daily newspaper. Primary focus is Kuwaiti and Persian Gulf issues.

Al-Quds al-Arabi: Palestinian-owned international daily based in London. Strongly anti-American, provides generally reliable coverage with a bias in favor of movements hostile to the U.S. and Israel across the board, both secular and Islamic, from the Baath to Hamas and al-Qaeda. Topically, focuses most heavily on Palestinian news, with broad coverage across the Arab world.

Voices of Iraq News Service: Independent and non-partisan Iraqi news service.

Al-Watan: Domestic Saudi daily owned by the son of former Saudi King Faisal bin Abd al-Aziz; considered the country's daily "liberal" newspaper.