The Arabs Give Ear

The Arabs Give Ear--Somewhat

How do Arabs like the radio? Last week the returns were available from a sampling of the Arab population in 15 towns of Lebanon, Syria and Palestine:*

> Radio reaches only about 5% of the Arab public--some 250,000 people, mostly of the urban upper class.

> Most Arab radio sets can get short, medium and long wave--except in Damascus, whose nearby mountains keep the city in a "pocket."

> The Arabs listen most to world news, dance music, religious programs. They listen least to troops' programs, plays, poetry.

> A third or more Arab listeners are not interested in comments on the news.

> More than a third of the Arab listeners understand spoken English. Practically none of them tune in on foreign languages other than English and French.

> Of the 23 broadcasting stations chiefly heard, Arabs listened most (in this order) to: Cairo, London, Jerusalem, Beirut, Sharq-el-Adna, Damascus, New York, Moscow. New York is static-bound (in summer) and in a poor position on the Arab's time schedule. Not enough Arabs know Russian to give Radio Moscow a good score.

> For world news, London is more popular than its three nearest competitors (Cairo, Jerusalem, Beirut) combined. It can also be heard more clearly than any but local stations. London made top score for the station which gives "the freshest news, and up to one-third of the listeners said that their own local stations had the stalest news."

> Almost half of the Arabs refused to say how truthful they thought the stations were. Those who did express an opinion would not allow it to be recorded.

> A separate poll of Jewish listeners in Arab-heavy Palestine disclosed that 46% of them tune in regularly to the three daily newscasts of the Palestine Broadcasting Service. Jews prefer news and news commentaries, music and Bible reading, in that order. About half of them also like the Children's Hour, which is designed for children six to twelve years old.

The pollsters were a long time getting their information. Many of them wilted under the sultry Syrian sun and had to be replaced. Arab street addresses were virtually nonexistent. Once the interviewer located his quarry, however, traditional Arab hospitality and their delight in plain conversation made it difficult to get the interview over with quickly. One pollster got away from his client only after absorbing quantities of black coffee and lemonade and promising to accept one of the family's prize black kittens as a token of affection.

* The pollsters were the staff of the American University of Beirut, assisted by government authorities of Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Great Britain, the Free French, the U.S.

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