Submitted by Laura Miller on
"The U.S. government this week launched its Arabic language satellite TV
news station for Muslim Iraq. It is being produced in a studio -- Grace Digital Media -- controlled by fundamentalist Christians who are rabidly pro-Israel," Washington D.C.-based journalists Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman report. According to its web site, Grace News Network is "dedicated to transmitting the evidence of God's presence in the world today. ... Grace News Network will be reporting the current secular news, along with aggressive proclamations that will 'change the news' to reflect the Kingdom of God and its purposes."
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) -- a U.S. agency which also runs Radio Free Europe, Voice of America, and Radio Sawa -- is responsible for the Iraq TV news broadcasts.
BBG told Mokhiber and Weissman they will "broadcast accurate
and objective news about the United States and the world. ... Grace will have nothing to do with the editorial side of the news
broadcast." According to Mokhiber and Weissman, BBG couldn't say how Grace Digital was chosen as the production studio. Grace Digital Media also controls Federal News Service, a transcription news service.
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