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Al-Bayan (radio station)

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البيان
Broadcast areaSyria, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan
Programming
Language(s)Arabic, Kurdish, English, French, Russian and other languages
FormatReligious, news, talk, terrorist propaganda
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
2014-2018
Sample from an English-language news bulletin broadcast in April 2015 on al-Bayan

Al-Bayan (Arabic: البيان) was the Islamic State's official radio station,[1] based in Iraq, owned and operated by the Islamic State, which broadcast at 92.5 on the FM dial. The station aired a news-talk format and broadcasts in the Arabic, Kurdish, English, French, and Russian languages.[2]

Originating from Mosul, al-Bayan programs were credited with being "highly professional and slickly produced" and were sometimes compared to NPR and the BBC for tone and quality.[3][4][5] Al-Bayan's reporting on ISIS military operations had been referenced by the Associated Press and The Washington Post''.[6][7] The station stopped broadcasts after ISIS lost most of its bases in Iraq and Syria and after being destroyed the radio station by an air raid.[8]

Broadcasts by IS resumed later from Sirte, Libya under the station name "Radio Al-Tawheed".

Beginnings

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The first broadcast of Al-Bayan Radio was launched in late 2014, which initially provided newscasts, then some other programs were added in April 2015.[9][10] The station offered a wide range of programming including nasheed, Quran recitations, speeches, Fiqh, language instruction, and interview shows, interspersed with regular news bulletins and field reports from al-Bayan correspondents in Iraq and Syria.[11] English-language news bulletins were delivered by an American-accented, male newsreader and datelines are read in the Islamic calendar.[3]

Android application

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In early 2016, Al-Bayan released an Android application, they uploaded the APK file on the Internet Archive and onion websites since the app could not be downloaded on the Google Play Store.[12] They spread the app through social media like Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram.[13]

Frequencies

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Known frequencies (October 2016) were:

The station in Mosul was reported to have gone off-air after an air strike on it in late February 2017 as part of the Battle of Mosul.[16] Iraqi forces discovered the station in March 2017 in an upscale western Mosul neighborhood they captured. ISIS had burnt it down before fleeing.[17]

Libyan broadcasts

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In February 2015, IS captured a radio station called "Makmadas" in Sirte, Libya. It was nominally run by Ansar Al-Sharia in Libya, which made it unclear whether that station was under IS management.[18] An IS-owned satellite television station and a powerful radio station on 94.3 FM, also based out of Sirte and operating under the brand name "Al-Tawheed," began broadcasting the previous October 2014. Radio Al-Tawheed (former Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation transmitter) have 10 kilowatts output power and is received in Europe via sporadic E propagation.[19]

The station operated in 2015 and 2016 before being overrun by Libyan forces.[20] In spite of it, IS supporters promotes an Al-Bayan internet radio station to release its contents.[21] It is also being active in social media like Facebook or TikTok.[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "A News Agency With Scoops Directly From ISIS, and a Veneer of Objectivity". The New York Times. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Islamic State launches English-language radio news bulletins". The Daily Telegraph. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  3. ^ a b Sharma, Swati (4 June 2015). "Islamic State has an English-language radio broadcast that sounds eerily like NPR". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  4. ^ Hinhant, Lori (1 June 2015). "The ISIS Station Targeting Foreign Recruits Sounds Like NPR". Business Insider. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  5. ^ "Thanks for listening to ISIS radio in English". Public Radio International. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  6. ^ Murphy, Brian. "Islamic State claims responsibility for Texas attack outside Muhammad cartoon show". The Washington Post. No. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  7. ^ Maamoun, Youssef (23 May 2015). "Islamic State Group Radio Claims Saudi Arabia Mosque Suicide Attack". Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  8. ^ "Air raid silences IS radio station in Iraq's Mosul". The New Arab. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  9. ^ Withnall, Adam (18 January 2015). "Isis to launch first 24-hour online TV channel featuring British hostage John Cantlie and flagship show 'Time to Recruit'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2015-01-18. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  10. ^ "ISIS launch English-language radio bulletins". Al-Arabiya. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  11. ^ "Interview with Charlie Winter". BBC Radio 4. 12 May 2015.
  12. ^ Tasch, Barbara. "ISIS has reportedly released its first Android app". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  13. ^ Shiloach, Gilad (2016-02-01). "ISIS Launches First Official Android App to Broadcast Terror". Vocativ. Archived from the original on 2022-06-25. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  14. ^ "Al Bayan Frequencies in Syria". fmscan.org. Archived from the original on 29 May 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Al Bayan Frequencies in Libya". fmscan.org. Archived from the original on 29 May 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  16. ^ "Air raid silences IS radio station in Iraq's Mosul". The New Arab. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  17. ^ Agence-France Presse (3 March 2017). "Iraqi troops stumble on Daesh media tentacle in Mosul". Gulf News. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  18. ^ Mosendz, Polly (13 February 2015). "ISIS Takes Over Radio Station in Libya, Reports Say". Newsweek. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  19. ^ Vella, Matthew (15 October 2014). "Islamic State to launch Sat-TV station in Libya – Herald". Malta Today. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  20. ^ "Libyan Express: Libyan forces find ISIS infamous Radio Al-Tawheed". Libyan Express. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  21. ^ "ISIS Supporters Promote New Website To Host ISIS Al-Bayan Radio Content". MEMRI. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  22. ^ Ayad, Moustafa (4 January 2024). "The terrorist radio revival: How the Islamic State's radio station survives on social media". Institute for Strategic Dialogue. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
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