Funding cuts to Palestinians take toll on independent media
Independent Palestinian media outlets, especially TV channels, are folding due to financial difficulties stemming from reduced or canceled funding typically received by Palestinian nongovernmental organizations.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The shuttering of Alfalstiniah TV on April 1 has highlighted the financial crisis plaguing Palestinian media outlets, in particular satellite TV channels. The immediate cause of Alfastiniah's demise was its inability to pay the monthly fees it owed to obtain satellite broadcasting services. Other outlets are finding themselves in similar situations due to reduced foreign aid to nongovernmental organizations and a lack of government support.
Palsat, a private company established by presidential decree in April 2015, collects monthly fees from Palestinian channels in return for satellite broadcasting services. The channels pay Palsat between $24,000 and $28,000 per month, depending on the level of the broadcast quality.
On the day Alfalstiniah TV ceased operations, it aired an interview with its director general, Maher Shalabi, who said that the channel had received notification from Palsat on March 20 that it would cease broadcasting due to the debt it had accumulated. Shalabi accused the government, as represented by the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (PBC), as being behind the crisis facing the channel.
Alfalstiniah TV launched in 2012 as a private satellite channel owned by a holding company. The Siraj Fund Management Company withdrew from the holding company in 2013, after which the PBC bought Siraj's 49% of the shares, valued at $2.6 million. The PBC pledged to invest $900,000 for Alfalstiniah's development. According to Shalabi, the investment never materialized, and the channel’s total debt rose to $3.2 million, including interest.
