Question time

"We had two solutions available to us. We could either offer no service at all in China or we could reach an agreement. Google did not concede anything to the Chinese government. If the authorities in any territory tell us that certain content is prohibited, we respect that," noted Khuffash.

The number of foreign Arabic-language news channels in the region is increasing. Most recently, we have seen the expansion of France 24's Arabic language service to ten hours with the intention of launching a 24 hour service in the next year.

Representatives from the US-funded Al Hurra station as well as from Rusya al-Yaum, BBC Arabic and France 24 were grilled regarding the aims and intentions of their respective channels

"Foreign news channels add no value to the Arab world," says Khalid al Dakhil, professor of political sociology at King Saud university in Saudi Arabia.

"Firstly, these foreign channels are connected to their governments and face a strong lobby from them regarding editorial. Secondly, Arab governments do not give information to channels of their own let alone those owned by foreign governments so how informative can they be?"

Al Dakhil also accused the foreign channels of arriving "late" to the market and copying the established Arabic language channels Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya.

"The foreign channels must bring something new," he adds.

Former Kuwaiti Minister of Information Mohammed Al Sanousi disagrees.

"This is not at all a cultural invasion from the West. These channels make a positive contribution to the Arabic media as long as there are good intentions behind their establishment," says Al Sanousi.

The reason behind the recent flood of foreign new channels into the Arabic language market has been attributed to a variety of reasons including the rise of the region's economy and the importance of the Middle East on the global news agenda.

"These channels are not all here for the same reasons," says Hosam El Sokkari.

"Some of these channels represent the position of the people or government of their nation. BBC Arabic does not convey news about Britain or of British policy. We are simply a public service."

Rusya al-Youm director Aydar Aganin claims the incentive for the launch of Russia's Arabic channel was to improve a "longstanding connection".

While many in the audience maintained that the channels are merely serving the will of the governments that fund them, Al Sanousi suggested that this was the motivation of all media organisations.

"The people in charge will always try to convey a message, so all information resources are trying to push an agenda. The Russians wanted to spread news and information about its news and culture. There is no harm and after all, we do have the choice to simply not watch them," Al Sanousi adds.

Commercially, foreign news channels rarely have any objectives. France 24 sells advertising space but receives its funding from the French taxpayer. For these reasons they represent little commercial threat to those Arabic news stations that are rooted in the Middle East.

By the end of the forum much consensus had been reached on the shortfalls of the region's media. The challenge now is too ensure that these issues are not ignored during a period when finances are undoubtedly at the top of most agendas.

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