Duesseldorf, 25. April 2007

Transcription

1 Conference Proceedings "Strange Worlds Foreign Television in Germany" Report on the workshop of the Gemeinsame Stelle Programm, Werbung, Medienkompetenz (GSPWM) in the LfM (= Committee on Program, Advertising and Media Literacy of the Media Broadcasting Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia) Duesseldorf, 25. April 2007 Communication without borders that not only means a free exchange of information, but also puts limits on the powers of the state. After all, what is permitted in one country will not necessarily be legal in another. But in this age of satellite television, is it at all possible for a country to set up reasonable regulations that will maintain its own cultural and legal norms? The Committee on Program, Advertising and Media Literacy, under the auspices of the LfM, decided to send out invitations to take stock of the current situation at a workshop. The workshop, entitled "Strange Worlds Foreign Television in Germany", brought together researchers, regulators, media journalists and television broadcasting companies in an international plenum. Norbert Schneider, Chairman of the GSPWM and Director of the LfM, said of the meeting's objective that the cross-border media enabled by satellite technology could easily present material that is undesirable, difficult to tolerate, unspeakable or simply forbidden by German law. "The question here is: do I have to tolerate it when anti-semitic slogans, for instance, find their way to me this way and I have to stomach them merely because I'm zapping through the nearly four hundred satellite channels that the dish on my roof collects for me? And this even despite the fact that, for reasons well known, anti- Semitism is an especially objectionable attitude in Germany? What can be done against racism, or against the ideas of religious fundamentalists, who can at best be called antidemocratic?"

2 That research still needs to be done in this area was demonstrated by Michael Mangold's talk. The head of the Institute for Media, Education and Business at the Center for Art and Media Technology (ZKM) in Karlsruhe primarily concerned himself with stations in Turkey that can also be picked up in Germany. "Turkey's media are developing at a very rapid pace," said Mangold. This fact is, however, practically unknown here. Two years ago, there were already 250 stations, today there are bound to be several more. More and more Turks living in Germany are watching Turkish broadcasts thanks to the technical possibilities offered by cable, satellite or the internet. This is likely a result, for one thing, of a desire to hark back to their own culture, but Mangold thinks that another reason is the lack of appropriate alternatives, for example, on the German public broadcasting stations. However, an interesting dichotomy is apparent: "They watch information programs on Germany stations, but get their entertainment from Turkey." However, Mangold showed that entertainment means more than merely muzak by considering two popular series which take up politically taboo topics in an entertaining fashion. "Yabanci Damat" ("Foreign Groom") on the biggest station, Kanal D, is a comedy about a Turkish-Greek love affair and was such a blockbuster that it emptied the streets even in Greece. "Ayrilik" (The Separation) dramatizes the Turkish-Armenian conflict. "Both are interesting examples of how the aseptic distinction between entertainment and serious matters can be dispelled," said Mangold. He ventured the idea that Turkish television could even promote the integration of Turks in Germany. His reasoning is that religious topics tend to be underrepresented there, and that instead a very modern world view is advanced. In contrast, Mangold showed excerpts from broadcasts of the more Islamist-leaning Arabian station Al Manar (The Lighthouse). However, this Beirut-based channel is not only interested in repeatedly televising Hezbollah demonstrations, but also presents news anchors wearing a headscarf. Al Manar, prohibited in France owing to its propagation of anti-jewish sentiment and therefore no longer transmitted by Eutelsat, also

3 offers comprehensive news from Israel or scientific programs from the BBC. This station has yet to be scientifically evaluated. While foreign stations broadcasting into Germany are difficult to supervise, the foreignlanguage programs broadcast out of Germany are subject to the same regulations as are all other German private stations. Christoph Degenhardt, Director of the Institute for Broadcasting Law at the University of Leipzig, explained that these stations cannot and must not be an instrument of integration. After all, they are business enterprises. However, he believes that station advisory boards make particularly good sense here, since they can mediate between regulators and operators and resolve potential issues of conflict before they arise. But what is relatively easy to supervise inside Germany becomes a more difficult chore at the European level. As Thomas Kleist, Director of the Institute for European Media Law, explained, broadcasting is defined as a strategic factor in the service-based society. The Country of Origin Principle was introduced to avoid instances of multiple control. This means that programs are subject to the laws of the country from which they originate. However, there is also a right of self-defense which makes a second assessment possible. This is the case, for instance, if a station is suspected of broadcasting from another country to avoid the laws of the transmission area. "However, the basic tenet applies that we here in Germany will have to live with the regulatory decisions of the broadcasting countries," said Kleist. And "there is nothing anyone can do about stations received directly by satellite." The only thing that could really help would be increased cooperation and consultation between the member states and beyond the borders of the European Community. For informal cooperation to work, the various players must be

4 willing to cooperate and make an attempt to understand each other, however. Alia Rayyan, Project Manager in the Middle East Office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Ramallah, spoke in favor of not thinking in terms of stereotypes, particularly as far as Arabian stations and the Middle East conflict are concerned. Although the Arabian news stations Al Jazeera, Al-Arabiya and Abu Dhabi TV, which have been going on the air since the end of the nineties, may have put the Arabian view of affairs on the worldwide agenda, this has made no change in the frustration felt by the people in the region, she said. They feel oppressed both by the West as well as by their own governments. She is of the opinion that it would be counterproductive to prohibit Islamist stations such as Al Manar. After all, it represents the majority of Shi'ites in Lebanon. The Middle East and the problems of media control also dominated the following rounds of discussion. Laurent Amar, Director of European and International Affairs at French media regulator Conseil Supérieur de l Audiovisuel (CSA), once again explained the circumstances leading to the prohibition of Al Manar. The supreme court recommended taking this step in response to complaints by Jewish organizations. "First, however, we had to try to talk with those responsible for the broadcasts," Amar said. But this did not change the programming at all. "This was a clear case of anti-semitism." His British colleague Trevor Barnes underscored the fact that the London Office of Communications (Ofcom) was also having problems with partisanship on Arabian stations. He maintained, however, that the next big challenge would not be satellite television, but the internet. Trying to enforce national law here would be even more difficult because it is hardly possible to apprehend the providers. He saw the growing cooperation between regulators as a good sign.

5 Yigal Carmon almost imploringly advocated looking closely at Arabian stations and being aware of their content. This founder and president of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a controversial figure among Islamic studies experts, protested against being lumped together with pro-israel lobbyists merely because he is a former member of the Israeli army and employee of Ariel Sharon. He expressly cautioned against Al Jazeera, which he held to be a propaganda station. He considered Al-Arabiya in Dubai, which belongs to the biggest Arabian network, Saudi NBC, to be more moderate. Nasser Al-Sarami (Director of Media at Al-Arabiya) stressed that his station tries primarily to do professional work. Ten of his staff members have so far died in Iraq. Asked about the pictures of Saddam Hussein's hanging and a Bin Laden video, he explained that these had already been circulating for quite a while on the internet. And when asked whether he was allowed to criticize the Saudi royal family, he answered, "We do what we can." Kenan Kubilay, Managing Director of the TGRT Turkish-language radio and television group in Möhrfelden-Walldorf, emphasized, at the podium discussion moderated by Bernd Gäbler, "We see ourselves as a German station broadcasting in Turkish." The hearts of foreign workers are still in their native country, although at the same time they also have deep roots in Germany. He did not judge the fact that they watch Turkish-language television to be a sign of non-integration. He thinks a mixture of the German and the Turkish languages would be important. And he drew attention to the fact that "A German-Turkish commissioner is not relevant to Turks, but important to Germans." "I wonder if we haven't been guarding the wrong door the whole time," LfM Director Norbert Schneider said in his closing words. Whatever comes in by satellite can also be shown on the internet. This should be seen as a challenge, however. "Arabian sta-

6 tions have not been on the air here in our region for very long, and we still have to learn to deal with them." He said that it is important to perceive differences and reconsider the effect we ourselves have on others. Although it is good that there even is such a thing as the EPRA (European Platform of Regulatory Authorities), this body meets only twice a year, and then without making any binding resolutions. "Here is where progress must be made," Schneider said. Brigitte Baetz