Date: Thu, 28 May 2015 23:53:22 +0200
With the Houthi rebels having taken over Yemen's state media, the Saudi backers of the exiled government have set up doppelgangers - differing only in their version of events
As Saudi Arabia leads airstrikes over Yemen, it has also stepped its propaganda war against the Houthi rebels - with a carbon copy of Yemeni state television.
The Gulf superpower has helped equip and launch two satellite television channels that support Yemen’s exiled president Abd-Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, as well as an alternative version of the country’s official news agency. One of the channels is identical in appearance to the state broadcaster, having copied its logo and even its name, Yemen TV.
Mr Hadi fled the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, back in March, after Houthi rebels seized full control of government institutions. He now runs his government from Riyadh as its Saudi backers continue a two month-long military campaign against the Houthis.
Two opposing state TV channels are running in Yemen using the same logo
The war has claimed almost two thousand lives since March 19. Thousands more have been injured and the country’s crumbling infrastructure has all but collapsed.
State-owned Yemen TV is in the hands of the Houthis, leaving the government-in-exile - at first - little in the way of supportive coverage. But that changed rapidly after the funding boost from the Gulf. Al-Shar'iyah, which translates as ‘Legitimacy’, began test transmission on April 11, launching full operations four days later.
Then came the emergence of the imposter Yemen TV. News broadcasts carry the same logo and introductory sequence as the state channel. But that’s where the similarities end - while the original channel now publicises the Houthi version of events, its copycat focuses on Mr Hadi.
The Saba state news agency also has a doppelganger, distinguishable from the original only by its web address.
In Sanaa, residents say the Saudi-backed media is unlikely to be aimed at a domestic audience. “They can fund all the channels on [satellite] but fact is no one will watch. There’s no electricity!” said Hisham Al-Omeisy, an activist.
As Saudi Arabia has maintained an air and naval blockade on Yemeni territory, gas supplies have run perilously low. Even a five day humanitarian pause was not enough to bring in the necessary aid. Fuel prices have spiked as the casualty count mounts, and some hospitals have been forced to close altogether because they are unable to keep medical supplies refrigerated or perform operations since they can’t run backup generators.
“The electricity comes on for a maximum of two hours a day,” said Mr Omeisy. “And when it does, the last thing people think of is television.”