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Radio Sawa

Development and Mission
Radio Sawa and its sister-network Al Hurra TV are part of U.S. public diplomacy efforts in the Middle East. Their mission is to "improve America’s image in the Middle East and win the hearts and minds of the Arab people.”

Radio Sawa replaced Voice of America’s Arabic service, which had not been successful in attracting large audiences.The initiator of radio Sawa is American media mogul Norman Pattiz. He found that more than 60% of the Arab population was under the age of 30, which is why he decided to develop programming that would target the younger generation. Pattiz believed that the best way to reach the young people was with music. This is why the majority of the radio’s programming consists of American and Arab pop music.

Radio Sawa is controlled by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the Federal agency responsible for all U.S. international civilian broadcasting. The BBG founded the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), a non-profit news and information organization, to run Radio Sawa and Al Hurra TV.

Content
Radio Sawa’s programming consists of roughly 20-25% news and 75-80% pop music. The station's playlist includes popular Arabic, English and Spanish songs so as to attract the Arabic listener. Most non-music content is presented in the rubric “The World Now,” which includes news, interviews, sports and so forth. There are also occasional specials.

Criticism
Radio Sawa has been subject to criticism from various observers, who question its effectiveness in conveying America’s message to the Arab world.

A 2004 draft report prepared by the State Department's inspector general was severely critical of the station. Experts cited in the report concluded that “Radio Sawa failed to present America to its audience.”

A study published in 2006, which surveyed college students at universities in five Arab countries, found that the students’ attitudes towards U.S. foreign policy had actually worsened since they started listening to Radio Sawa and watching Al Hurra TV

The station’s emphasis on popular music has led critics to question if music alone is enough to convey America’s message. Some critics point out that what matters is “not just how many people are tuning in, but how many people are affected by a broadcast’s content.”

Radio Sawa has also been criticized for its poor quality control and for its resistance to any outside review of its programming.