In the wake of the unrest in some parts of the region, Middle East news channels have come under the spotlight as never before.
Correspondents have put their lives on the line to cover the uprisings, as the region’s top TV news stations Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya led coverage of events happening in their own backyard.
But while the presenters are familiar faces within the region, there is an army of employees working behind the scenes to help deliver the news 24 hours a day. The National met some of them at the studios of Al Arabiya, which is part of the Dubai-headquartered MBC Group.
10am
Quiet pervades the offices of Al Arabiya at the start of the working day. But out of necessity, given the channel's morning show Sabah Al Arabiya is filmed in the open-plan reception area of MBC's headquarters.
Eslam Adel, the floor manager, is responsible for checking the cameras and lights, but an equally pressing duty is politely instructing those arriving to work, as well as visitors, to be quiet. “Walking is no problem, but talking is,” he says.
The show, broadcast from 9am to 11am (UAE time) five days a week, focuses on lighter news and cultural issues. Previous guests have included Morgan Freeman, the Hollywood actor, and today features Marwan Rahbani, the Lebanese playwright.
10.30am
A few floors up, Sherif Shamel is working hard within what he describes as the “brain” of Al Arabiya. He is one of just 25 people who have access to the master control room (MCR), of which he is the supervisor.
The MCR is the technical hub of MBC, its walls lined with TV screens showing incoming and outgoing broadcasts. The 24-hour operation is where audiovisual feeds come in, are checked for quality, and sent on for broadcast.
It is not surprising eating and drinking at the control panel is prohibited: a coffee spill could be catastrophic for the broadcaster’s operations. “Everything would go down,” says Mr Shamel.
An overturned latte is not the only potential hazard. In March, the Libyan intelligence service allegedly jammed Al Arabiya’s satellite signal.
When screens in the control room went blank, Mr Shamel knew something was wrong. Staff in the MCR immediately boosted the power of the Al Arabiya signal, but the alleged saboteurs did the same, blocking it out again. “If we have any problem, we are the first ones to know,” says Mr Shamel.
Today, he is overseeing more mundane, yet still important matters. His team is monitoring live feeds from the Dubai Financial Market, a meeting of Syrian opposition groups in Turkey, and the listing of ports operator DP World on the London Stock Exchange.
11am
In Al Arabiya’s main studio, the hot topics of the day are beginning to emerge. While the station broadcasts around the clock, and has regular news bulletins, much of the energy is geared towards the primetime news bulletins, which are broadcast at 9pm, 10pm and 11pm in the UAE.
“Standby!” shouts a floor manager as Soheb Cherair, the presenter, is about to go live on air. The news anchor introduces a report from the station’s correspondent in Sana’a, Yemen, where a bloody battle between a tribal group and forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president, is under way.
11.30am
If the MCR is the brain of Al Arabiya, the gallery room is its heart. Here the producers and directors sit, setting the pace of the broadcast and switching between feeds. One director, who did not wish to give his name, sits in front of a control panel with upwards of 500 buttons. He switches between camera shots and live feeds with precision timing.
Despite the perfect timing, not everything goes to plan — as is inevitable at any television station. “Twice the system went down ... it started taking [feeds from] different cameras. I was cut off,” one presenter says later in the day.
Noon
Television is just one aspect of Al Arabiya’s operations. The news channel also has a website in Arabic and English, and a social media department. Reem Mouazzen is responsible for the station’s Facebook profile, as well as about 13 Twitter accounts. “We’re trying to engage our viewers more,” she says. A story flashes up on the newswires: Syrian troops have bombed a town in the south of the country. Ms Mouazzen immediately posts updates to Facebook and Twitter.
Ms Mouazzen’s job, monitoring trends from countless online sources, seems fascinating and relentless. “Social media is fast paced, dynamic and fluid. You cannot stop it. Sometimes it’s very stressful, but we have a strong team,” she says.
1pm
Nakhle el Hage, the director of news and current affairs at Al Arabiya, describes himself primarily as a journalist. Yet he must also keep a firm grasp of the complex technical aspects of the television business.
This afternoon is no exception. At 1pm he heads to a 45-minute meeting with department heads, in which he discusses a move to change Al Arabiya’s aspect ratio, or the dimensions of its on-screen broadcast, from 4:3 to 16:9. “So far we have so many issues. You need to link together the technical department, the graphics department, production department and editorial department,” he says. “The good news is that our presenters will look slimmer.”
1.30pm
Mahira Abdelaziz, a business presenter of Emirati nationality, is live on air. Working shifts of up to 12 hours, Ms Abdelaziz’s day is long, but varied. “You need to be an octopus,” she says. “You’re covering everything from 9 in the morning to when your shift ends.”
On some days, Ms Abdelaziz can present more than 10 live segments. “You have to prepare your interviews, and talk to your guests. After you’re done, we usually go and [Twitter] tweet,” she says.
2pm
MBC’s canteen, adorned with a colourful mural and oversized clock, is bustling at lunchtime. Eman el Shenawi, a business reporter for Al Arabiya’s English-language website, sits with her photographer colleague. She has been in the job for two months, reporting on business issues.
This morning’s work involved writing a story about nuclear power in Saudi Arabia, which is being uploaded by another member of the team as she enjoys a plate of pasta.
3pm
Twelve producers crowd into a boardroom for the day’s main news conference. Mr el Hage is present, but a democratic editorial spirit prevails as the team discuss the stories of the day. Fighting in Yemen and the meeting of Syrian opposition leaders are still high on the agenda; the team also chat about the alleged bribery scandal at Fifa, the governing body of world football.
4.30pm
Najib Bencherif is not happy. As the integration editor at Al Arabiya, he is responsible for boosting co-operation between the channel’s TV and internet operations. But no one from the website turned up at his 3pm news meeting, a fact he is keen to point out in a later meeting with one of the site’s managers. “I am annoyed, of course,” says Mr Bencherif. “It’s important that they attend the meeting.”
5pm
With the channel’s primetime broadcasts looming, the main studio is becoming more lively. Adila Mouaki-Benani, an assignment producer, is following up with correspondents based in Yemen and Syria about their reports. She asks for updates on the situation there, and advises on possible story angles. The more news there is, the longer her day becomes. “Maybe I have to work 12 hours or more, if there is some breaking news,” she says.
5.15pm
Nael Najdawi, an interview producer, is using a phone belonging to a neighbouring desk, its wire taut as it stretches to where he is seated.
“I am trying to call the spokesman for the army general who is backing the revolution in Yemen. But the telephone lines are blocked in Yemen, so we are trying to reach them by land or another mobile number,” says Mr Najdawi. “I have three hours, but I will continue to wait.”
Mr Najdawi sits in a purple-lit studio, in front of a wall of video screens. The difference between the working environment here and that of Al Arabiya’s correspondent in Yemen could not be more stark. “Because our correspondent was speaking the truth, they threatened to kill him,” says Mr Najdawi.
5.30pm
Given the tense regional politics, the misuse of a single word by the media can prompt strong objections.
Earlier in the day, an Al Arabiya report described “the meeting of the Syrian opposition leaders” in Turkey. That prompted other opposition leaders to call Nabil al Khatib, the executive editor, to complain. “People who did not attend [the meeting in Turkey] said this was unfair,” says Mr al Khatib. On air, this is changed to a “meeting of some Syrian opposition leaders”.
He sits at his desk, double-checking the news tickers that flash across the bottom of the screen on Al Arabiya news. While the mistake had been corrected in the broadcast script, it had not been updated on the ticker. “I just discovered that we didn’t make the change in the ticker, and I changed it,” he says.
While reports about conflict in Yemen, Syria and Libya are still hot news, Mr al Khatib says the final running order for the 9pm bulletin will not be finalised until as late as one hour before it starts.
9pm
Adil al Edan, the anchor of the 9pm bulletin, reads the news: the fighting in Yemen is, in the end, chosen as the top story. As the first primetime bulletin begins, the working day for many of the staff draws to a close. More staff will take their place overnight.
And as employees leave, they know the next breaking news story is just around the corner. It will be covered overnight, and again when they return to work – quietly, of course.
bflanagan@thenational.ae