Saudi prince launches TV news network with Fox

The Kingdom Holding company, headed by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal (inset) says it plans to launch a new Arabic television news channel in partnership with the Fox network. In a statement, Prince Alwaleed says the 24-hour broadcast channel "will be an addition and alternative" to Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera. Those in the present field all make earnest pledges of impartiality. Here is what Wiki says regarding the other Saudi linked channel Al Arabiya and its competition. "Al Arabiya was created to be a direct competitor of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera. According to a 2008 New York Times profile of Al Arabiya director Abdul Rahman al-Rashed, the station was founded "to cure Arab television of its penchant for radical politics and violence," with Al Jazeera as its main target. Mr. Rashed said that Arab television's coverage of militant groups was overly friendly. "You have to remember, it was television that made bin Laden into a celebrity," Rashed said. "That made Al Qaeda, and its recruiting, and this is how violence spread throughout the region." Rashed said Al Arabiya works to describe incidents of Islamist violence with neutral, non-supportive language. He also said the station had pushed Al Jazeera to be more critical of the insurgency in Iraq. "Now Jazeera is a very soft, reasonable station when it comes to the Iraqis," he said. Al Arabiya has, in turn, drawn accusations of pro-American or pro-Saudi bias, in part due to MBC's Saudi ownership."