A new Arabic news channel being set up in Bahrain to rival some of the region's biggest names in broadcasting will begin transmission on February 1.

Al Arab News Channel was due to commence operations by the end of this year, but sources said the launch had been pushed back by over a month to complete final training, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

The independent channel is privately owned by Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who was ranked by Forbes as the 26th richest person in the world last year with a fortune of $20 billion.

"We wanted to give the viewers a new option as some channels continue to portray their agendas without focusing on real news," Al Arab News Channel general manager Jamal Khashoggi told a press conference at the Sheraton Hotel yesterday (December 15).

"There are channels backed by governments or with other agendas, which ignore lots of issues facing the GCC and Arab world."

The channel is being set up in Bahrain due to licensing restrictions in Saudi Arabia, which prevent independent news stations operating from within its borders.

It is headquartered at the Bahrain World Trade Centre and hopes to provide competition to existing channels such as Qatar's Al Jazeera, the UAE's Al Arabiya, Russia's Arabic station RT, Sky News Arabia, France 24 and BBC Arabic.

"We will stick to the classic rules of journalism which includes being objective, verify facts and present both sides of the stories," said Khashoggi.

"This channel is an independent voice in the region to have discussions with different people.

"If we invite (Al Wefaq secretary general) Shaikh Ali Salman for an interview then we will present views from other parties.

"It will be a test and challenge for us, but we are ready with our qualified staff."

Al Arab News Channel comes under the banner of the Arab TV News Company and the latter's chairman and chief executive officer, Fahad Al Sukait, said more than 280 staff had been recruited for the project.

"A majority of the staff recruited are from Bahrain, followed by Saudi and other countries," said Al Sukait.

News staff, presenters, producers, journalists and reporters have been trained by Academie France International and Bloomberg.

Al Sukait said the channel would broadcast Arabic talk shows and programmes highlighting issues such as unemployment, child abuse, the environment, power and energy, among other issues the region faces.

"We will be providing news not for the elite, but the masses," he said.

Both officials said their editorial decisions would be taken independently and would not be influenced by Prince Al Waleed, stating they had clear instructions to cover the region's most serious issues and challenges. - TradeArabia News Service