Schleifer: How would you describe the particular challenge (as the leading global TV news agency) of providing coverage of this Gulf War? Ritchie: With this one you need to be live or very close to live. The broadcasters expect to see pictures immediately and our biggest investment before the conflict was in …

BBC journalists covering the Gulf crisis are being equipped with the latest technology for transmitting TV reports over satellite phones. The technology is the result of a partnership between TVZ Ltd - a company with strong links to the television newsgathering business - and Fourth Broadcast Network Ltd. (4BN), specialists …

Big Media and the War When it comes to media choices for information about the war in Iraq, Turkey is luckier than a lot of other countries of equal size and equal level of economic development. At least 21 national daily newspapers circulate about four million copies, and a reported …

When the US and its allies first attacked Iraq in 1991, the Turkish electronic media field was on the brink of a major transformation. The first private television channel, Star, had already begun beaming its signals from Germany on 1 March 1990 thanks to transnational satellite broadcasting. It was said …

It was difficult to have more than a fleeting moment with Saleh Negm, Al Arabiya's head of news, during the first week of the war. He was dashing about, massaging into effective function a new, untried 24/7 broadcast news organization, and working 18 hours a day at it. And if …

Nart Bouran is one of the most strikingly professional people in the Arab satellite television news business. He joined Abu Dhabi TV six months ago after a two-year stint as DG at Jordan TV. Before that Bouran was with APTN in London as regional executive for the Middle East and …

Although CNN blazed the path, Arab satellite channels emulated it with pioneering Desert Storm Gulf war coverage and many viewers in Egypt say they are now tuning in to Qatar-based Al Jazeera and tuning out CNN for Iraq war telecasts. Al Jazeera seems to be winning TV credibility and ratings …

The last two times I met Ali Al Ahmed he was an important executive at E-Vision, Ittesalat's cable network, which to a great degree had to struggle from within a telecom rather than competitive broadcasting culture. I was struck at the time by his vision and obvious energy that I …

Like people everywhere, Palestinians are watching the news of the war on their television sets. However, unlike many others, Palestinians, while watching, analyze every single future implication this war could have for their own national cause. Adding to the intensity with which Palestinians are watching their televisions these days is …

In a rapidly changing world of satellite television news there is one constant - Ibrahim Helal the chief editor (news director in American parlance) of Al Jazeera, who never seems to leave the News Center and must have secretly married the channel in some arcane ceremony half a decade ago, …