Wikipedia:Peer review/Al-Manar/archive1

Al-Manar

I've really been working on this article, adding information form what seems to be the only extensive non-Arabic source (the book by Avi Jorisch). I am planning on adding more info from the same source, but I thought I'd get some feedback here first. I was especially hoping for feedback on sections 1 (history), 1.1 (banning of broadcasts), 2.1 (programs), and 2.2 (religion and politics). Those are the ones I mainly worked on.--Carabinieri ^T_T^a_a^l_l^k_k 11:43, 15 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Just after a quick look at the article, I found that it faces serious POV issues. You are giving exagerate weight to Israeli or Western sources, while using very very few Lebanese or Arab sources. In general here are the views that should be equally taken into account:

A Hezbollah point of view which sees it as a news, entertaining and religious channel.
A general Lebanese (or Arab) point of view which sees it as an ordinary TV station with some remarks about its political orientation.
A general Western point of view with ambivalent opinions about the station.
A Israeli (US for some) which views it as a terrorist weapon with high level of criticism over its programs and contents.

Anyway, you won't go far using only one book over such a controversial topic. You'll have to take into account (more than half of the article) Lebanese source. CG 12:22, 15 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The problem is I don't speak Arabic and won't really be able to do much with Lebanese sources.--Carabinieri ^T_T^a_a^l_l^k_k 12:28, 15 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Where and how is this POV expressed?--Carabinieri ^T_T^a_a^l_l^k_k 12:31, 15 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Well, first of all, it is expressed by the glaring lack of Lebanese sources. Don't forget that this article is, before everything, a Lebanese topic. Imagine we write the Jerusalem article using only and only Palestinian sources and disregarding Israeli POV. Another expression: In the "Al-Manar TV (Lebanon) broadcasts" section, why did you display only the worst speech Nasrallah gave, and not the ones when he talked about Christians and Muslims understanding. Anyway this section does not belong here but in Hassan Nasrallah... and other things. I'll go over the whole article later, and make suggestions section by section. And finally, I know that the problem with these kind of articles is that most of the user speak English, however, I, and some other users, could help locating Lebanese sources. And with some search you could find Arab sources. For example, Al-Jazeera and the Hezbollah have both English websites. CG 13:43, 15 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I did not write the section you are referring to. I was actually considering deleting the section and moving the links to the speeches to the external links. I don't think having only English-language sources is per se POV, but I agree with you that most English-language sources tend to be from a "Western" POV. The book I used is especially POV because it is primarily trying to prove that al-Manar like Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, which the US government should fight, so I had to filter a lot of its POV.

If you could help with Lebanese sources that would be great.--Carabinieri ^T_T^a_a^l_l^k_k 14:35, 15 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, like you said, it's not the fact the English sources that are POV but the fact that they are Western-biased. I also want to say that I would really like to see a lot more about internal politics (for example how the station gained popularity among christians when Nasrallah has made an understanding with Michel Aoun and stuff like that), which requires a lot of work and going through many many sources for such a controversial article (I can't repeat it enough). Anyway, I would be pleased to help you, but I'll be slow because I'll be busy this month, just watch out from my bad English ;-). CG 15:02, 15 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

A comment. I don't think that putting Hassan Nasrallah in the infobox is suitable. He's neither a shareholder, nor a producter, nor a talk show host (I imagine that :-P ). Could you remove it? CG 15:04, 15 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think Nasrallah should be kept in the infobox, because according to Beacon of Hatred by Avi Jorisch (pg. 20): "it [the Lebanese Media Group, the company that owns al-Manar] is operated by Hizballah members, reports directly to Hizballah officials, and takes its marching orders from Hassan Nasrallah's office." Jorisch cites an "Interwiev with Middle East expert granted to author on condition of anonymity" as well as this article in the Daily Star. I surely think Nazrallah is a key person, since he is the Secretary General of the organization that seems to control the tv station.--Carabinieri ^T_T^a_a^l_l^k_k 15:30, 15 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, but this is the case for nearly every tv station or newspaper in Lebanon. The case for Al-Manar is not that different or unique. I don't know if this is the case in US, but putting Georges Bush as a key person for an affiliated Republican tv station or newspaper is also inappropriate. Out of subject: I recommend you to visit the English site for Al-Manar where you might find the info you want. CG 16:40, 15 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Please see automated peer review suggestions here. Ruhrfisch 03:40, 21 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]