Bloomberg Television's Lara Setrakian Talks Middle East Reporting

Monday, 23 May 2011 15:57

Written by Newsdesk

News on News Exclusive:

Lara Setrakian, Bloomberg Television's reporter in the Middle East, joined the network in March 2011. She is based in Bloomberg's bureau in Dubai, currently Bloomberg's largest bureau in the Middle East with over 15 journalists covering markets, energy, finance, government and other news.

Setrakian first began reporting from the Middle East in October 2007, for ABC News. Since joining Bloomberg Television, she has covered the turmoil in Libya, the killing of Osama bin Laden and reported live from Tahrir Square in Cairo as President Mubarak stepped down. Setrakian speaks French, Spanish, Arabic and Armenian and has studied Persian and Portuguese.

Lara took the time to answer some of News on News' questions;

1) You recently joined Bloomberg Television, but you continue to contribute reporting to ABC News. Does ABC News look to you for the economic story or the news story? How does reporting for ABC News differ from reporting for Bloomberg Television?

Both ABC and Bloomberg TV look to me for news – a telling snapshot of people, politics, and power players in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. That inevitably ends up covering both business and general news and, given the nature of the past few months, the two are intertwined. Bloomberg Television has a stronger interest in the economic picture, markets, and energy security, but those all critically important to understanding the universe of what’s happening in the world today.

The format of what I do for each network – the packaging and delivery of my reporting – is tailored to their style. The bulk of what I file for Bloomberg Television is live, in hits no more than two minutes long, all of our newsgathering moulded into the graphics, sound bites, and script. Pictures are crucial, but they are not the centrepiece of the story. The information is.

For ABC News, we might to a conversational two-way on Iranian politics for ABC News Now, but largely we’re putting together a polished package. The pictures are the story, we’re crafting around them.

2) Bin Laden's killing took the media, and the world, by surprise. Where did your instincts take you - to the economic impact, or the straight news aspect of the story?

My instinct took me immediately to the regional repercussions of the story and how this would change the dynamics of the Arab and Muslim world. I was surprised to see oil drop. One analyst told it was the $15 per barrel premium in oil prices – the ‘Osama factor’ – coming out of the market. How long had it been there?

I am a keen tracker of regional politics and one large aspect of that is the sectarian divides and the politics of U.S.-Muslim world relations. The news was clearly going to bookend an era in that history.

I’ve interviewed members of Bin Laden’s family and I called them immediately, but I knew they were not the relevant piece – they are not the direct heirs to his legacy.

Those who are, from the radical Yemeni cleric to the terrorist entrepreneur in the West, would need to be identified and understood. It was and still is of tremendous importance to the personal safety and commercial prosperity of everyone on earth.

3) In Dubai, you're effectively on the fringes of the mainstream business media. Do you feel that Bloomberg Television gives you the same exposure to tell your story that you'd expect in London or New York?

It doesn’t feel like the fringe! It feels like the beating heart of the emerging markets – a multi-lateral view of so many economies rising. It is up to me, and my team, to highlight the importance of that to a global audience. They may not already be invested in India or Africa, but they want to know what’s going on and coming up.

One thing I love about Bloomberg Television viewers is that they value insight and ideas, in part because that’s where they might find the next big deal. It pays to be well informed. But what it feels like we’re building at Bloomberg Television is more than a tip sheet, it’s distilled intelligence made for television. We’re just serving it up from a different geography.

4) Dubai has been through some economic roller coasters in recent years. How do you think the next few years are going to pan out for the emirate?

For the most part, Dubai has taken its hit. The bubble has burst and the model has adapted. Plenty of businesses and businesspeople are still hurting, but other than the glut in real estate and a banking sector still in revival, the hangover has passed. The next big leap, if it happens, is in seeing the market mature. Will the best ideas rise to the top? Will the rules evolve? Is the game fundamentally one that global investors want to play, or were they too burnt by the last round?

Remember, though, that it’s not us they need to convince, in New York or London. It’s the Indian investor, the Kazakh oil mogul, the Iranian trader, the African conglomerate. And they are doing that – segmenting the audience within an 8 hour flight radius, and convincing them that it’s the time to be in Dubai.

5) With so much movement in Middle East politics in recent times, how does that weigh into your Bloomberg Television role?

It means staying on top of every country, every movement, and being nimble across them. In the morning we could be talking about Syria, by midday Libya, and by evening Saudi equities.

Working with the Bloomberg terminal and print reporters helps tremendously. It does also put more politics into our business news, because that’s what’s moving markets and because of the kind of state capitalism at work in the Middle East. You need to understand the business of politics and the politics of business. Right now both are getting a shake, separately and together.

6) Contributing still to ABC News, how do you cope with changing from a business mind-set to a general news agenda?

It’s been a challenge, because when you’re surfing for stories, waiting for the light bulb to flash overhead, it’s because you know what you want. For ABC it’s the human story that helps inform the bigger narrative. At Bloomberg Television it’s a telling nugget of information somewhere in the mix of political economy.
Here’s how I’ve figured it out: take in everything noteworthy and run it through what feels like a mental version of a coin sorter, one of those machines that sorts nickels, quarters, and dimes. If it’s really an important story it will have a home somewhere on Bloomberg TV, on ABC News, or on ABC Radio. If nothing else, there’s always Twitter.

7) With news of the killing of Osama Bin Laden, how did that change the mood of the region?

There are two regions I’m watching: Southwest Asia, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, where it inflamed the situation. There has been a deadly ripple effect that the US needs to contain and calm if it wants a smooth exit for US troops anytime soon.

In the Arab world it has had a neutral-to-positive effect, depending on who you’re looking at. Those who hate us will keep hating us, they will find any reason. But while we spent a decade hunting Osama, Arab moderates have been growing stronger in number and voice. They were glad to see him go, but it was just a brief interruption in their busy schedules of reform and revolution. In their world, September 11 may have been a generational game-changer, but they’re not looking back.

You can follow Lara on Twitter at @Lara