continued: "The Changing Scene of Lebanese Television" by Nabil H. Dajani
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Television during the civil war
During the first two years of the civil war (1975-76), the two companies faced their most difficult challenges. The war seriously reduced advertising, and both companies incurred heavy losses. While both stations managed to maintain their technical equipment and keep their transmitters operational, they could not keep their production studios functioning. New programs could not be produced and television officials were eagerly seeking programs to fill their airtime.

This situation continued until March 1976 when an unsuccessful coup d'etat resulted in the occupation of both stations by militias representing the two warring factions. Consequently, the news program in the west Beirut station was run by the "nationalist forces" (mainly Moslem) and that in the east Beirut station by the "Lebanese forces" (mainly Christian). Coordination between the two stations in presenting a common news program was severed but they maintained the coordination of scheduling their entertainment programs. The split of the broadcast media also marked a serious escalation in the war. Broadcasting installations became targets for the warring groups. Television installations were badly damaged as each station had installations in the areas occupied by opposing factions. Transmission was also badly affected by power failures, which now became acute. Power supply became irregular and rationed.

The heavy losses incurred by both companies as a result of the war moved them close to bankruptcy. The only prospect for them to continue in operation was to secure financial assistance from the government. They officially requested the interference of the government at the end of 1976. At that time a new president, Elias Sarkis, was elected and the pace of hostilities diminished. People were hopeful that the new regime would bring an end to the civil war.

The first government of the new regime was faced with a dilemma. If it refused to aid both companies, Lebanon would be without television. This would add a further blow to the already battered image of the country and would be a bad beginning for the Sarkis presidency. If it agreed to extend aid, the new regime would have to aid other institutions affected by the war. To add to the urgency for action, the license of Tele Orient was due for renewal.

To meet these developments the Council of Ministers appointed a special committee to examine the state of affairs of television in Lebanon. The committee was charged with the task of suggesting the role television should play in what was believed to be the post-war period and making recommendations to maintain the operation of this medium.

The committee's report urged the Lebanese government to take a more active role in the development of television. It recommended replacing CLT and Tele Orient with a new company, of which the government would control fifty per cent and the private sector would control the remaining half. It further recommended that the two existing companies be given the option to purchase the shares of the public sector. The Council of Ministers, which had then been given temporary legislative powers by the parliament, approved the report.

A legislative decree (11) was issued on December 30, 1977 legalizing the birth of a new television company, the Lebanese Television Company (Tele Liban). The company was formed "to manage, organize and utilize the various television transmitting installations, and to undertake all commercial and television production tasks." The new company was given monopoly over television broadcasting in Lebanon until the year 2012. Its capital was distributed equally between the government and the two then existing companies. Tele Liban was to be managed by a board of directors of twelve members: six representing the Lebanese government and the remaining six representing the two companies. The chairman of the board was to be appointed by the Lebanese Council of Ministers.

The formation of Tele Liban was, therefore, not a result of a new policy by the Sarkis regime aimed at defining the role of television in Lebanese society but simply a result of "force majeur". It was the only possible move that the government could take at the time in order to support television and maintain its service. The main contribution of the Sarkis regime to the television medium was to provide it with financial liquidity. This financial support made it possible to rebuild and improve the existing transmitters so as to cover all the Lebanese areas as well as increase the hours of transmission.

An examination of the terms of the early agreements granting television licenses, as well as the directives by the different Lebanese governments concerning the operation of this medium in Lebanon, suggests that the official Lebanese policy was mainly seeking to legalize censorship of television programs in order to keep this medium under control by limiting its political influence. Government agreements with the early television stations did nor require improvement of standards or widening the appeal of the programs (12). Similarly, the clamor made by a number of television officials seeking public support (13) to help "provide more freedom for television" was prompted more by financial interest than by public service. They did not offer a plan that would provide better alternatives.

The merger of CLT and Tele Orient could have played a more positive role in improving the conditions of broadcasting in Lebanon. The function of Tele Liban, according to an official at the Ministry of Information, was "to bring together the best of what the public sector has to offer-its primary concern for the needs of the country-and the strength of the private sector in dynamic management and profit making." However, both government and the private sector, which jointly managed television under the Tele Liban plan, continued to provide programs that were determined by their private political or economic interests more than by the public interest. Hardly was there a time when the handling of television by either the government or the private sector paid serious attention to the production of local programs, or to the selection of foreign imported programs, that were relevant to the needs of society.

Thus, one observed on Lebanese television, for example, an imported program like "Eight is Enough", which in one of its episodes showed a U.S. teen-ager approaching her father for approval to "get on the pill", which contrasted oddly with the values of a country where "honor crimes" are condoned by law (14). In the same week, on another popular local program, "Abu Milhim", the Lebanese viewer heard the program's hero telling a young girl who lost her virginity in a bicycle accident: "I wish you had lost your eye and not your virginity." Not a single local television program was produced to address the serious sectarian problem that plagues the Lebanese society was one of the main causes of the civil war. And while television, and the print media in general, give their audiences an "over-dose" of political discussions we find an almost total absence of public affairs programming and lack of investigative reporting about issues that affect the livelihood of the average Lebanese such as the shortage of water and electricity supplies (15).

The creation of Tele Liban did not improve public service. The private sector involved in television felt secure and free of the fear of losing its license since the government was now its partner. Lebanese officials were content with their control of the overall management of this medium. Their attention was focused on improving the physical aspect of broadcasting that was ruined by the war. No efforts or plans were made to tie the programs of Tele Liban to social policies and plans. Thus instead of both groups joining efforts to improve public service, they adopted a policy of "let the public be damned." continued

Next page: De facto stations are introduced
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