US embassy cable - 05MANAMA446

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000446 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/PI AROMANOWSKI, NEA/ARPI DBERNS, R, 
NEA/PPD MQUINN AND CWHITTLESEY, IIP/G/NEA 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, PREL, KPAO, KMPI, BA 
SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE TO IMPROVE BAHRAIN SATELLITE 
TELEVISION AND RADIO 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY 
 
1.  This is an action paragraph, please see para 6. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Summary:  Bahrain's new Minister of Information 
and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Muhammad Abdul 
Ghaffar, has requested assistance from MEPI to improve 
Bahrain satellite television and radio.  The Ambassador and 
NEA/PI Director Alina Romanowski met with the Minister March 
9 to discuss the range of possible assistance from MEPI. 
Dr. Abdul Ghaffar requested MEPI funding for a needs 
assessment for Bahrain television and radio, a strategic 
plan, and three long term on-site consultants to implement 
the strategic plan for up to two years. 
 
3.  (SBU)  The Ambassador, NEA/PI Director Alina Romanowski, 
and PAO met with Minister of Information and Minister of 
State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Muhammad Abdul Ghaffar 
Wednesday, March 9, 2005, to discuss the Minister's request 
for assistance from MEPI for the Bahrain Radio and 
Television Corporation, which is owned and operated by the 
GOB.  Dr. Abdul Ghaffar, who was appointed Minister of 
Information in January, 2005, stated that one of his top 
priorities as Minister of Information is to "reinvent" 
Bahrain Satellite television and radio from scratch, using 
U.S. expertise.  Referring to widespread public criticism 
that Bahrain television is out of date and not worth 
watching, the Minister stated several times that he was 
under real time pressure to reform Bahrain's broadcast 
media.  He stated, "I have a window of opportunity here and 
if I don't act fast, we will lose momentum for change." 
(Comment: A reinvigorated Bahrain satellite channel could 
potentially win Bahraini viewers back from the more 
currently viewed Al Manar and Al Jazeera satellite stations. 
Bahrain Satellite Television can be viewed from Morocco to 
the Gulf on Arabsat and Nilesat.) 
 
4.  (SBU)  The Minister requested MEPI support for the 
following: 
 
A.  A needs assessment on the current state of Bahrain TV 
and radio.  The Ministry has already contracted with the 
Middle East Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) to rebuild the 
newsroom's physical and human resources infrastructure, and 
this project is near completion.  The needs assessment 
requested by the Minister would assess the management of all 
elements of Bahrain TV and radio including the news, family 
programming, religious programming, entertainment, public 
information programs, and talk shows. 
 
B.  Development of a detailed strategic plan on how to 
improve Bahrain TV and radio, including recommendations on 
restructuring the organization and top and middle 
management, standardizing human resources management, 
identifying and implementing staffing objectives, and 
developing and implementing a plan for meeting current and 
ongoing training needs. 
 
C.  Assistance to identify and fund three long-term 
consultants: 1) a media expert who would work in tandem with 
the Director of Bahrain TV and radio as a senior advisor for 
up to two years; 2) an expert on media/broadcast training 
who would build from scratch a training office at Bahrain 
TV/Radio; and 3) an expert on producing and directing 
original programming for Bahrain TV.  The Minister requested 
that the senior advisor be equipped to oversee all Bahrain 
TV and radio programming from news programs to talk shows 
and entertainment. 
 
5.  (SBU) NEA/PI Director Romanowski advised the Minister 
that MEPI would review his request and may be able to assist 
with the needs assessment phase of the project.  She added 
that a request for proposals might need to be issued to 
identify an appropriate implementer, and that this process 
would take some time.  Romanowski drew the Minister's 
attention to the fact that MEPI had already funded several 
media-related projects in Bahrain including Internews 
training for print journalists, the University of 
Bahrain/DePaul University linkage in Mass Communications in 
2003, and a MEPI small grant for equipment and training for 
the University of Bahrain student radio station.  Romanowski 
also pointed out the importance of building up an indigenous 
capability to support strong and qualified media experts and 
ensure that the Ministry of Information integrates these new 
initiatives in their long term strategic planning. 
 
6.  (SBU) Action request for NEA/PI:  Post seeks follow-up 
to the Romanowski visit with the Minister of Information. 
Please advise the next steps in responding to the Minister's 
request. 
7.  This cable has been cleared by Ms. Romanowski. 
Monroe