The Weekly Standard reports that Al-Qaida has it’s own 24-hour TV station, Al-Zawraa TV. And Egypt’s government-controlled Nilesat is beaming Al-Zawraa to the wider Arab world:
Based at a secret studio in Syria, its signal is broadcast to the entire Arab world from a satellite owned by the Egyptian government. This development highlights al Qaeda’s increasingly sophisticated propaganda efforts….
Al Qaeda’s previous attempts at setting up propaganda outlets have been limited to satellite radio and the Internet. Al-Zawraa, however, appears to be well financed and may find a much broader audience. The channel is broadcast on Nilesat, a powerful satellite administered by the Egyptian government. Through Nilesat, Al-Zawraa’s signal blankets the Middle East and North Africa, thus ensuring that the insurgents’ message reaches every corner of the Arab world….
Al-Zawraa’s value to the enemy is clear. The visual medium is extremely powerful, particularly in a part of the world with high illiteracy rates.
