Libya Alhurra TV
| File:Libyaalhurra.png | |
| Type | Online streaming via Livestream LLC |
|---|---|
| Country | |
First air date | 17 February 2011 |
| Availability | Worldwide |
| Headquarters | Benghazi, Libya |
Launch date | 17 February 2011 |
Official website | http://www.livestream.com/libya17feb |
| Language | Arabic and English |
Libya Alhurra TV (Arabic: قناة ليبيا الحرة) is a TV station founded by Mohammed Nabbous on 17 February 2011. The station is the the first private television station established in Benghazi, Libya. Although Libya Alhurra TV is technically "private," it receives substantial funding from the US government, through the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which is a U.S. Agency overseeing U.S. strategic communications. Accordingly, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former director of Radio Free Europe S. Enders Wimbush sit on the Board of Directors for Alhurra TV's parent company, Middle East Broadcasting Company. [1]
The channel's purpose is to provide the world with news, and exclusive on-ground footage from Benghazi during the strong 2011 Libyan uprising. Libya Alhurra TV was the only broadcast coming out of Benghazi when Muammar Gaddafi shut down internet lines when the February 2011 uprising began.[2] Alhurra TV was able to bypass government blocks on internet in order to broadcast live images from Benghazi across the world. On March 10, 2011, the Washington Post reported that the US Broadcasting Board of Governors (which includes Hillary Clinton) and the US State Department were funding tech firms that helped political dissidents in Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia communicate through the internet, while evading government censors. [3]
On March 19, 2011, Nabbous was killed by pro-Gaddafi troops during the Second Battle of Benghazi. His wife Perdita, announcing his death on the same day, vowed to continue with the channel in his stead, and requested original contributions of raw footage from pro-opposition individuals both inside and outside the country.[4]
References
- ^ "March 19 - 4:43pm". AlHussa About Us Page. AlHussa. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
- ^ "A Courthouse in Benghazi: The Nerve Center of the Libyan Revolution - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International". Spiegel.de. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ "US Funding Tech Firms That Help Dissidents Evade Government Censors". Washington Post. Washington Post. 10 March 2011. Retrieved 22 March 2011.
- ^ "Online journalist Mohammed Nabbous killed in Libya". The Spy Report. Media Spy. 20 March 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2011.