Friends of AlJazeera

HONG KONG -- NOW TV, one of Asia's leading IPTV operations, began broadcast of Middle Eastern news channel Al Jazeera English on Wednesday, the company, a unit of leading Hong Kong telco Pacific Century Cyberworks, said.

Al Jazeera English became a part of NOW TV's basic IPTV package, reaching 882,000 subscribers. Transmission began at 7pm local time with no additional charge and minimum publicity.

Qatar-based Al Jazeera also has been broadcast in Hong Kong via Cable TV since January 16.

Source:Hollywood reporter

THE new boss of Al Jazeera English is setting his sights on North America – saying growing frustration with the US media makes the region “perfect” for the Doha-based channel to strike.

Speaking exclusively to Gulf Times, Tony Burman said: “I think a lot of Americans are looking at their own media and being very dissatisfied; they are not getting an understanding of the world that one expects from the media.

“AJE is perfect for Americans because it provides a kind of detached, independent look at a lot of events that are very important to them. It’s also important for AJE to give a unique coverage of what’s going on in the US.”

Launched in November 2006, the English-speaking channel promised to cover international events from a ‘fresh perspective’ to viewers in Africa, Asia and throughout the Europe. However, tapping into the American market has proved elusive.

For everyone, wondering from the previous post of Burman being named head of Al Jazeera English(AJE), what exactly happened to Nigel Parsons (the previous MD of AJE)? Well, he's taken up a new position...

Nigel Parsons, previously the Managing Director of Al Jazeera English, has been named the new Managing Director of Business Acquisition and Development by the Al Jazeera Network. In his new role, Nigel will capitalize on his experience launching AJE to oversee new business opportunities.

Commenting on the announcement, Nigel stated, “This is an exciting opportunity for me and I am very pleased that I will be able to expand Al Jazeera’s unique vision into new international markets. In particular, I hope to use the experience gained launching the first Middle East-based English language news channel to expand the brand across a number of world languages. In time, even more people around the world will have access to Al Jazeera’s distinctive brand of independent, impartial news.”

It was announced this morning that Tony Burman has been appointed as the new Managing Director of Al Jazeera English. Tony will be replacing Nigel Parsons who launched the channel in 2006. Nigel is now tasked with overseeing the commercial interests at Al Jazeera.

It is notable that Burman used to head up the CBC in Canada - previously most senior appointments at Al Jazeera English hailed from the UK.

I suspect that you'll get all the good gossip at the usual AJE watering holes tonight...

Source: Qatar Living

Reporters Without Borders calls on the Egyptian authorities to stop harassing reporter Howayda Taha of the pan-Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera, who was arrested on 28 January 2008 together with her cameraman while doing a report on farm workers in Nikla, a village near Giza (20 km southwest of Cairo).

"Taha's investigative reporting on mistreatment of detainees and social problems upsets the Egyptian authorities," the press freedom organisation said. "She is already subject to a prison sentence for which she is currently awaiting the outcome of an appeal. We call on the authorities to put an end to all forms of harassment and intimidation of this journalist."

What reasons could George Bush have for giving Qatar the cold shoulder? One: its support and bankrolling of Al-Jazeera

The objectivity of historians can be judged by what they include and what they omit in their narratives. The same criterion can be applied to evaluate the bias of politicians in power. Note, for example, that after becoming the interim prime minister of Iraq in June 2004, Ayad Allawi visited the capitals of all the neighbouring countries except Tehran. This omission endeared him to Washington.

As George Bush begins his nine-day tour of seven destinations in the Middle East today, the omission of Qatar from his itinerary stands out.

What lies behind this cold shoulder? It cannot be the small size of Qatar. Kuwait is not much larger, yet it is being rewarded with a visit by Bush.

An interesting discussion about the relative performances of al-Jazeera and the Washington Post during the Iraq war. Money quote:

I asked both Mirazi and Wright to reflect on their media's coverage of Iraq. Mirazi largely rejected criticisms of al-Jazeera and the Arab media in 2003 and beyond: given how horribly Iraq turned out, if anything the Arab media wasn't critical enough of US invasion. He did say, however, that the fall of Baghdad on April 9, 2003, should have been more of a moment of self-criticism for the Arab media: how could it have been so mistaken in its reporting of the balance of forces and the military situation? Beyond that, however, he didn't seem to think that the Arab media had a lot of accounting to make for its performance in Iraq. The biggest problem, he argued repeatedly, had to do with the continuing domination and ownership of the media by Arab regimes - as long as terrible, undemocratic governments controlled the Arab media, directly or indirectly, there would be harsh limits on its ability to really progress.

Aljazeera on Monday referred its Arab viewers to the IDF Home Front Command's newly launched Arabic Web site, ahead of a planned emergency drill in Syria later in the day.

During the drill, alarms will sound across the country, simulating a state of war, and Syria will prepare its home front ahead of possible states of emergency that could include a war with Israel, the Arab TV station reported.

Several days ago, the IDF Home Front Command launched www.oref.org.il, with versions for the first time in both English and Arabic.

Source: Jerusalem Post

Al Jazeera’s English language news channel is being watched by an increasing number of Americans despite a lack of interest from major US cable and satellite providers, a station executive has said. Nigel Parsons, managing director of Al Jazeera’s English service, said that since the channel’s debut nine months ago, worldwide viewership has grown to more than 100 million households across Europe and Africa, and in parts of Asia.

Singapore (AHN) - International broadcaster Al Jazeera insisted on Wednesday it is not pushing an Islamist agenda, as it rejects reports the network shows footage of hostages being beheaded by terrorists. According to its managing director Nigel Parsons, accusations hurled against the network were just accusations based on a "repeated lie that quickly became accepted as fact."

Parsons said in a conference at the Global Brand Forum in Singapore, "We have never and would never show a beheading," and added that Al Jazeera is an alternative voice in the global media.

KHARTOUM, Sudan — He's all but unknown in the United States, the country of his jailers, but in his homeland of Sudan, Sami al Hajj is a national hero. The president has spoken out about him, demonstrations have been held in his name, and a bakery in Khartoum has printed his picture on its packaging.

A 38-year-old cameraman for the Arabic news network Al-Jazeera, Hajj has been imprisoned as an "enemy combatant" at the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for five years, but never charged with a crime. He was arrested by Pakistani police in December 2001 while on his way to a news assignment in Afghanistan, but he's denied having any links to terrorism.

July 18, 2007 (DOHA) — The Al-Jazeera Arabic news channel blasted a statement issued by Sudan’s ruling National Congress party (NCP) accusing it of breaching "all journalistic and press ethics".

Ahmed Sheikh, editor-in-chief of Al-Jazeera television, speaking by phone to Sudan Tribune from Qatar called the statement "pathetic on the part of the Sudanese government".

"We are one of many news agencies and newspapers who quoted Nafi so why are they picking on us? This is ridiculous" Sheikh added.

In the weeks and months after 9/11, the American news media's gaze turned beyond our borders in a way it hadn't since World War II.

And a new wave of international news channels is still expanding viewers' horizons.

One of these upstarts has a familiar-sounding name: al-Jazeera English. Launched last fall by the same oil-rich emirate of Qatar that runs the Arabic al-Jazeera, it was offered free to cable companies across America. Exactly one took up the offer -- a tiny Vermont carrier serving 2,000 households.

Plain-clothes police beat Lotfi Hajji, the president of the Union of Tunisian Journalists and Al-Jazeera’s correspondent in Tunisia, and prevented him from attended a news conference organised by two opposition parties, the Democratic Forum for Work and Freedom (FDTL) and the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), on 29 June in Tunis. He told Reporters Without Borders his assailants threw him to the ground and kicked him. Three other people with him - lawyers and human rights activists - received the same treatment.

Source: Reporters Without Borders

The summer of 2001 was a low point for TV news, what with wall-to-wall coverage of a missing Washington, D.C., intern and shark attacks.

Then came 9/11. In an instant, the American media’s gaze turned beyond our borders in a way it hadn’t since World War II — a shift especially noticeable on television. For a while, viewers ate it up.

Since then, of course, cable news — like Robert De Niro’s character in “Awakenings” — has reverted to its pre-9/11 state. Meanwhile, a new wave of international news channels has sprung up to expand viewers’ horizons.

We just can’t watch any of them here.

One of these upstarts has a familiar-sounding name: Al-Jazeera English. Launched last fall by the same oil-rich emirate of Qatar that runs the Arabic Al-Jazeera, it was offered free to cable companies across America. Exactly one took up the offer — a tiny carrier in Vermont serving fewer than 2,000 households.

The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter – Thomas Jefferson

It would be a disaster for the Middle East if the US neutered the region's most independent TV station

Since its launch just over a decade ago, the al-Jazeera satellite TV station has transformed the politics of the Middle East. For the first time, people in the region had access to a genuinely free and independent source of news and comment that was neither under the control of dictatorial regimes nor western states or corporations. Under its slogan of "The opinion ... and the other opinion", al-Jazeera gave an Arab world hungry for information and debate the means to talk to itself and shape its future. It spawned imitators across the region and has launched an English language station that is beginning to challenge the western monopoly of international news as a "voice of the global south". And the station also put Qatar, which sponsors it, on the political map and gave it unprecedented prestige throughout the Arab world and beyond.

But now that achievement is being put at risk. The evidence is clear that the US government is using its influence in Qatar to try to neuter the station's independence, bring it to heel and shift its coverage in a pro-western direction. If it succeeds, it would be a disaster for the Arab world and its chance to shape an independent and democratic future.

When al-Jazeera was launched in 1996, it was hailed by the US as a brave step towards liberalisation of the Middle Eastern media. But that all changed after September 2001 and the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The US administration could not tolerate a TV station that was popular and trusted in the Arab and Muslim world broadcasting about the reality of western and Israeli policies on the ground - and giving airtime to their enemies. Although US and Israeli viewpoints have always been given plenty of airtime, the freedom enjoyed by al-Jazeera's editorial staff has clearly been too liberal and democratic for the world's "leading democracy". Meanwhile, dictatorial regimes in the region pressed Washington to do something about this "turbulent priest" they believed was stirring their peoples against their despotic rule.

Initially, al-Jazeera had forced other channels in the Arab world to open up their coverage. But the new freedoms were not tolerated for long. And although the US government launched its own Arabic news channel al-Hurra, and Saudi Arabia al-Arabiya, neither succeeded in denting al-Jazeera's popularity.

But the station has had to pay a high price for its independence and professionalism. Its offices in Kabul and Baghdad were bombed by the US; its Baghdad correspondent Tariq Ayyub was killed; its Kabul correspondent Taysir Alluni was arrested in Spain and charged with terrorism; and its cameraman Sami Alhajj was kidnapped in Kabul and continues to be held in Guantánamo Bay. Most notoriously of all, George Bush even suggested to Tony Blair that they bomb al-Jazeera's Doha headquarters.

Now the US, which maintains a large military base in Qatar, has adopted a more subtle approach to breaking the Arabs' voice of independence and diversity. And the signs are that some elements in the Qatari government have yielded to the relentless US pressure. As one source close to al-Jazeera has put it: "You don't need to bomb a TV station to change its direction." A recent reshuffle has brought outspokenly pro-US directors on to the board, including a former Qatari ambassador to Washington. Another has boasted publicly that the tone and content of al-Jazeera's coverage is going to be changed. But these moves have already backfired and caused huge controversy not only in Qatar but throughout the Middle East, and there is every chance that what is in effect an attempted coup at the station will be reversed. It would be a huge loss for independence and freedom in the Arab world if it succeeded.

· George Galloway is Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow www.georgegalloway.com

George Galloway
Friday June 15, 2007

The Guardian

Sources inside Al Jazeera who are in a position to know what is going on now confirm to MediaChannel.org that there is an internal struggle underway that may dilute Al Jazeera's independence and steer it in a more pro-western, pro-U.S. direction.

"There is already a change of tone and focus in the news," a veteran insider reveals. He blames the shift on a reorganization of the network's governing structure a month ago that has put a former Ambassador from Qatar to the USA in a commanding position.

Al Jazeera broadcasts from a state of the art facility in Doha, the capital of Qatar, a wealthy independent state run by an Emir who has, until this point, remained close friends with the U.S. while allowing Al Jazeera its independence.

"Nobody is talking about it publicly and nothing is quite clear yet but it looks like there is new pressure from the government of Qatar [the oil and natural gas rich Gulf state that bankrolled Al Jazeera], as well as a political battle over how to manage the channel inside its government with the U.S. and its supporters, including the editor of the Arabic edition of Newsweek, lobbying in the shadows."

The United States is a major trading partner with Qatar and maintains a vast military facility there. The high profile Coalition Media (i.e., propaganda) Center was based in the country, and the Pentagon has used the base airfield to supply the war effort in Iraq. Lebanese sources report that U.S. planes airlifted cluster bombs from that base to Israel for use in its recent war against Hezbollah. Israel's relations with Qatar are said to be close.

Washington and London were never happy with Al Jazeera's political independence. Its offices in Afghanistan and Iraq were bombed in the early days of the war, and more recently there have been reports that President Bush considered bombing Al Jazeera's headquarters in Doha, but was only stopped by a strong dissent by Britain's Tony Blair. Al Jazeera has been denied access by the British government to documents that would confirm this widely reported (and believed) story that has also been officially dismissed.

"You don't need to bomb Al Jazeera to change its direction," said my source. "There is a softer way to influence its direction by taking it over from within and it can happen quietly almost as if in slow motion. You ‘broaden' some programs, announce new ‘guidelines,' issue new edicts reinforcing top-down control, purge some professionals you don't like, and then give more positive unchallenged airtime to backers of U.S. foreign policy. Washington would not be open about any behind the scenes role it is playing in all this for fear of triggering a very negative public reaction."

The irony here is that for many years Al Jazeera made a point of giving substantial airtime to U.S. officials and their surrogates to show fairness. This even led some hardliners in the Arab World years ago to accuse the station of being CIA-backed and even pro-Israel. But whatever exposure they got was never enough for a Pentagon that practices "Information Dominance" and seeks to exclude all contrary views. They expect the kind of uncritical coverage they received on American TV.

Ironically, a former U.S. military briefer became so disgusted with U.S. media manipulation that he joined Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera reporters have been killed by U.S. soldiers, prosecuted in Spain, and imprisoned. One remains in Guantanamo with no charges against him. These external actions have only strengthened Al Jazeera's resolve and won audience sympathy for the station. That may be why a new internal intervention is underway.

The Friends of Al Jazeera Web site carries a post suggesting that this is exactly what is happening.

"It is rumored that the new pro-U.S. Board of Directors (which include the former Qatari Ambassador to the United States, Hamad Al Kuwari and Mahmood Shamam who are both are clearly sympathetic to the U.S. Agenda in the region) and their representative at station, the new Qatari Managing Director, Mr. Ahmad Kholeifi, is a result of pressure placed on the Emir of Qatar by the U.S. Administration.

Rumors of a 'soft editorial shift' towards a more pro-Qatari and pro-U.S. agenda are already floating around media circles in the region.

Sources inside Al Jazeera have confirmed that the board has already instituted radical changes that threaten the station's editorial integrity and independence. In less than a month since the pro-American Board of Directors was appointed, sweeping edicts affecting the whole of Al Jazeera have been passed down by the newly appointed Qatari Managing Director, Ahmad Al Kholeifi.

My source believes the rumors of an imposed top-down change are true.

Al Jazeera's journalists are diverse and committed to the channel's mission. They would not likely be silent if they felt their work was under attack or being unduly pressured. On the other hand, for all their independence, they know they are highly dependent on subsidies from the Emir. If he is being pressured, they know that will eventually have an impact on the channel's managers.

Media owners have a tendency to meddle in news presentation, with politics, ego, and power tripping often motivating factors. Sometimes, darker forces are involved.

In this case, why is a pro-U.S. diplomat being given managerial authority while a respected and experienced journalist/general manager is apparently being ousted?

Until now, by and large, the internal politics of Qatar has not been given a high profile on the air but that may be changing, I am told, with more Qataris visible as pundits and interview subjects in recent weeks.

Perhaps the Emir who is putting up the cash also wants more visibility and is engineering compliance. Perhaps Qatar now wants to use the channel to build a higher profile for itself. In the Middle East, media and politics are often intertwined. If Al Jazeera is politicized, it could lose the credibility it has earned.

Too much tampering could easily backfire and undermine Al Jazeera's support.

Now 10 years old, Al Jazeera has grown from an offshoot of BBC's Arabic Service into a feisty and independent multi-channel media company with a global satellite footprint that makes almost as much news as it reports.

Brandishing the slogan "The opinion and the other opinion," Al Jazeera is known for strong reporting and carrying diverse and outspoken views including videos by Osama bin Laden and opposition voices to many governments backed by the U.S.

Al Jazeera says its coverage is balanced but critics, especially on the right in America, have targeted it as "terrorist TV," a slogan designed to discredit its news and programming, which was first only seen in Arabic but now has a separate English channel.

In some ways, the network's operations mirror and reflect the volatile politics of the Middle East in which it is based, a region which is itself torn by external interventions, conflicts with and among wealthy and traditional elites, not to mention insurgency, war, political conspiracies, and competing nationalistic interests and internationalist aspirations.

Hailed as the fifth best-known brand in the world, the nature of that brand is now being contested. Is an implosion on the horizon, or will the Channel sort out its tensions and emerge even stronger as a worldwide competitor against conventional look-alike, think-alike corporatized media?

What is disturbing is that Al Jazeera had the potential of bringing real diversity to the global news agenda with more reporting from the Third World and even about the news world itself.

In an increasingly monopolized media marketplace with concentration of ownership on the rise, with Rupert Murdoch bidding for Dow Jones and Thompson taking over Reuters, there are fewer and fewer highly visible independent outlets. A recent scandal at the ineffective U.S. created Al Hurra station may have led the Bush Administration to stop competing with a more popular brand and try to take it over instead.

U.S. cable outlets have kept Al Jazeera English off the air -- one way of marginalizing it with American viewers -- but that also impacts on its ability to make money -- something, I am told many Qataris expect. Maybe they are willing to trade the channel's integrity for a shot at the quest for profitability that drives most of the media industry. But being greedy could backfire if the channel's reputation suffers. We still don't know who is leaning on whom?

As an innovator and an exception to the unbrave world of media, Al Jazeera has been exceptional. It would be shame to see its core values compromised just as it becomes a bigger player in a world that desperately needs media outlets that care about the conditions of the world's people.

It may be time for its viewers and friends to demand that Al Jazeera be allowed to remain the respected and crusading force it has become in broadcasting and world journalism. Let's hope some combination of insiders and backers will be able to ensure that outsiders with parochial or imperial agendas cannot "fix" what isn't broken.

Journalists and media activists worldwide may need to get engaged to send a message of concern to the Emir and the media hitmen (i.e., consultants) who are apparently now sneaking around in Washington and Doha with the hopes of turning Jazeera into Foxeera.

Let Al Jazeera Be Al Jazeera!

by Danny Schechter
Editor Mediachannel.org

MediaChannel previsouly reported on a "Pro-US Coup at Al Jazeera". It is rumored that the new pro-US Board of Directors (which include the former Qatari Ambassador to the United States, Hamad Al Kuwari and Mahmood Shamam who are both are clearly sympathetic to the US Agenda in the region) and their representative at station, the new Qatari Managing Director, Mr. Ahmad Kholeifi is a result of pressure placed on the Emir of Qatar by the US Administration.

Rumours of a "soft editorial shift" towards a more pro-Qatari and pro-US agenda are already floating around media circles in the region.

Sources inside AlJazeera have confirmed that the Board has already instituted radical changes that threaten the stations editorial integrity and independence. In less than a month since the pro-American Board of Directors was appointed, weeping edicts affecting the whole of AlJazeera have been passed down by the newly appointed Qatari Managing Director, Ahmad Al Kholeifi.

Many in AlJazeera are confused about the exact role of Mr. Kholeifi and whom he reports to. Speculation is being made on whether the Managing Director (Kholeifi) reports to the Director-General (Khanfar) or vise-versa. Khanfar, the current Director-General has been silent on the issue thus far and sources inside AlJazeera have told us that he has been absent from the station for over a week.

The Qatari Government seems to be shifting away from the "hands off" approach that it had towards AlJazeera over the last 10 years and now looks like it will exert more influence over the channel. Journalists at AlJazeera are speculating that this could be a huge blow to the editorial independence that made AlJazeera the most watched news channel in the region.

MultiChoice has announced the purchase of Al Jazeera English, the international news and current affairs channel that is part of the Al Jazeera Network.

The channel will go live on MultiChoice's DStv platform on Channel 62, on Friday 31 May 2007.

The 24-hour news and current affairs channel, headquartered in Doha, Quatar broadcasts to over 80-million households worldwide and is the first global news channel to be headquartered in the Middle East.