“Neither the French nor the American elections have the greatest impact on the Arab and Gulf channels.” In this phrase, one of the correspondents of the Arab channel, who entrusted the coverage of parliamentary elections in Lebanon, summarizes the situation in the media, preparing for the event on Sunday. It is true that elections are a local merit, but the Lebanese arena is the subject of controversy in the region, making it the subject of media attention. Thus, the Gulf and international screens distributed their correspondents to all regions of Lebanon. Some of them also hired a team from abroad to do the all round coverage, despite the general agreement that Beirut would be the main theme of the event. In a brief interview with several correspondents in the Gulf and Arab, who declined to be named, they said the focus was on the capital because, in light of Saad Hariri’s departure, elections are taking place differently from those held in previous years. . Correspondents confirm that the main battle for the Sunni Voice will begin in Beirut’s first and second districts, provided the coverage consists of voters ’polling opinions, in addition to interviews with analysts and statisticians within of the studio.
Although the Russian-Ukrainian war dominates accounts of the Persian Gulf and Arab countries, the latter’s offices in Beirut are now preparing for a long day’s work. For example, the Emirati channel Sky News, with offices in Beirut, Dubai and Abu Dhabi (partnering with production companies), puts its media and technical weight to ensure comprehensive coverage, while Saudi media in particular , Al-Arabiya-Al-Hadat, mobilized its staff in Beirut to keep pace with the election.Saudi Al-Sharq News, launched about a year ago, was embarrassed to attend the event after failing to identify its name in competing channels.
As for Qatari Al Jazeera, it asked its office in Beirut to prepare reports and interviews with voters and candidates on the day. American Liberty is trying to re -establish its presence in Beirut during this period after deciding to give elections a prominent place in its publications. Al Arabi TV is trying to establish itself after strengthening its office in Beirut to enter the battle over election coverage for the first time. From foreign media, let’s mention CNBC, which sent its presenter Hadley Gamble to Beirut to accompany the elections. A UAE -based American journalist became famous for his sarcastic and biased speeches against Lebanese figures, including the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gibran Bassil, nearly two years ago. Similarly, the BBC follows the election through videos and voter speeches, and in the case of France 24, which decided to recruit its staff to Beirut for the long day. Attention will be paid to German Arabic-language channel Deutsche Welle (DW), which will join the elections after he ousted his former bureau chief, journalist Basil Al-Aridi (and a group of his colleagues) several months ago. the past, because he was a supporter of the Palestinian cause, not to mention other Arab and international channels and news agencies of various nationalities. He aims to cover events in Lebanon.
In this context, Al-Akhbar sources indicated that Al-Jazeera aims to cover the elections differently than other channels as it prepares for a long election night consisting of live dialogue from the Martyrs ‘Square, where media professionals and voters appear from all levels. of life. As for Sky News, they cover the events three days before and after the election to keep up with the event results. For its part, Al Arabiya Al Hadath relies on its correspondents in Beirut to shed light on the capital and on the Sunni streets.
The number of correspondents reached a thousand, of various nationalities (Nadim Abdel-Malik)
These Arab channels share their concerns with Lebanese channels in terms of the possibility of network delays, as the information indicated to us that in the event of any network failure, it could lead to an 80% collapse. that range. The information shows that the Persian Gulf channels treat the country as if it has no electricity. But any malfunction that could affect the Internet would be a major obstacle to the operation of these channels, as cameras, recordings, external communications, and live broadcast work on the Internet.
With Al Akhbar touring companies that rent technical equipment for television, such as cameras and cars that transmit live broadcasts, the information indicates a strong demand for renting conventional cameras that used by stations for filming, as opposed to declining demand for expensive cameras. . He said these screens are also geared towards working on a mobile phone, which is considered the most important recording and imaging tool today, as videos are leaked and constantly updated on social networking pages. and mobile websites.
But how many journalists will cover the election? The head of the election observation commission, Judge Nadeem Abdel-Malik, tells us that “the commission does not have a definite number of correspondents. But all of a sudden we were bombarded by so many reporters, asking for permission to cover the election, as well as a press card. There may be thousands, not hundreds, and they come from all nationalities. ”
