Friday, August 13, 2010

Waves in the web

Western state backed news outfits are struggling to keep their influence in the developing world

As a child growing up in Afghanistan, Saad Mohseni watched his father listening to the BBC World Service and Voice of America: they were almost the only way of obtaining reliable domestic, let alone foreign news. No longer. Last month Mr Mohseni launched a satellite news channel broadcasting round the clock in Dari and Pashto. He hopes to distribute it on terrestrial television soon. Such upstarts are one reason Western governments are losing their voices in the places where they most want to be heard.
Additional story at: The Economist: http://www.economist.com/node/16791638
(Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India)