Al Arabiya

Al Arabiya satellite TV station, based in Dubai Media City, was established in March 2003 as Saudi Arabia’s response to Al Jazeera, the global news channel based in Qatar. The move was an attempt to regain what used to be Saudi dominance acquired through funding Arab media outside Saudi Arabia. An examination of its programming during the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump (2017-2021) suggests that, with some exceptions, Al Arabiya has come to represent the point of view of conservative Arab monarchies, rather than the populist vision of Al Jazeera. The lavish spending on the station to acquire the latest technology and to hire professionals make it a worthy competitor to Al Jazeera. However, Al Arabiya has not overtaken the popularity of Al Jazeera except ...