Satellite Channel Sets a New Standard in the Arab World

It is the first 24-hour satellite news network in the Arab world. It is also the first Arab news outlet that offers uncensored information and free interpretation of political events.

It is called Al Jazeera Satellite Channel, and it broadcasts from one of the smallest countries in the world, an oil-rich Persian Gulf state named Qatar.

Since it was started in 1996 by Qatar’s liberal emir, Sheik Hamad bin-Khalifa al-Thani, Al Jazeera has revolutionized the media scene in the Arab world with its vibrant and lively debates.

The channel’s political talk shows touch on issues considered by Arab standards to be taboo, such as sex, polygamy, government corruption and Islamic fundamentalism.

The channel airs interviews with Israeli leaders (something uncommon in the Arab world) and allows its guests and viewers who call in to its programs to openly criticize Arab regimes.

“Many people like to describe us as ‘CNN of the Arab world,”’ says Hafez Al-Mirazi, chief of Al Jazeera’s bureau here and one of more than 50 correspondents for the channel working in 31 countries. “Al Jazeera has a margin of freedom that no other Arab channel enjoys. Our logo is: ‘The view and the other point of view.”’

Although Al Jazeera, which means “the Peninsula” in Arabic, receives a $30-million annual subsidy from Qatar’s emir, the Qatari government does not exercise direct control over the channel’s policies, says Al-Mirazi. The station is also supported by advertising and subscriptions.

“We follow the BBC model, in that we’re a public corporation that enjoys editorial independence,” says Al-Mirazi. “It used to be the case that Arab people used to prefer Western media over Arab media, thinking that you cannot have an independent media body in the Arab world that is free from government control. Al Jazeera broke that rule.”

“Al Jazeera is the only Arab channel that provides me with true news about the Middle East in general and my home country, Egypt, in particular,” says Yasser Ahmed of Baltimore. “I wish all the other Arab channels were that brave.”

There are some Arabs, however, who are suspicious of Al Jazeera’s intentions.

“It [Al Jazeera] is not really a free channel. It is allying with Israel and the United States to portray the Arabs in a negative way,” says Egyptian Mohammed Tawfik, another member of Baltimore’s Arab community.

According to Judith Kipper, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, “It is always the Arab answer to say that it [Al Jazeera] is conspiring against the Arabs. It is easy to say, but it is a different story to really evaluate the effect of Al Jazeera, which is a free channel operating in one of the most limited regions in terms of freedom of expression.”

Suspicions about Al Jazeera also are held by several Arab governments, which often voice complaints about Al Jazeera’s programs, which they say go too far in criticizing officials or bruising Arab sensitivities.

Some Arab governments, such as those of Qatar’s neighbors Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, have gone so far as to deny visas to Al Jazeera reporters, says bureau chief Al-Mirazi. Other Arab governments have closed down Al Jazeera’s bureaus or recalled their ambassadors to Qatar to protest shows critical of their regimes, he says.

A spokesman for the Saudi Embassy here challenged Al-Mirazi’s assertions, at least as they related to his country. “As far as Al Jazeera not being allowed in Saudi Arabia, this is the first I’ve heard of it,” says Nail Al-Jubeir, the embassy’s deputy director of information.

“Foreign reporters can come [to Saudi Arabia] and cover issues, but they cannot have established bureaus. It has nothing to do with Al Jazeera. In fact, whenever we have an event here in Washington, we call Al Jazeera among other Arab stations to invite them.”

According to Al-Jubeir, Al Jazeera has its positives and negatives, but it has “set the standards” by bringing news to Arabs from an Arab perspective.

Christopher Toensing, a researcher at the Middle East Research and Information Project in Washington, says: “Al Jazeera has been a real shock to the state control of TV in the Arab world. And the source of shock has been not so much its news coverage but the talk shows and the political analysis that these talk shows feature.

“The thing that particularly impresses me about Al Jazeera is that the hosts of its talk shows would challenge their guests if they say something that is apologetic for the governments or transparently false,” adds Toensing.

One of the most popular and debated talk shows on Al Jazeera is “The Opposite Direction,” a weekly offering on which two guests vehemently argue opposite sides of an issue. The intensity of the debate has so offended some guests that they’ve stormed out of the studio in mid-sentence.

Faisal Al-Qasim, the provocative host of “The Opposite Direction,” said during an interview on the CBS show “60 Minutes” in May: “Al Jazeera is dissecting, let us say, issues and problems which have been covered for ages. We Arabs have so much dirt buried under the carpet, so Al Jazeera is revealing all that dirt, politically, culturally, socially, religiously, all that.”

Al Jazeera might offend some Arab governments, but it has been well received by U.S. officials. “We recognize [Al Jazeera] as a powerful voice with a wide viewership in the Arab world,” says Greg Sullivan, a State Department spokesman. “It is a media outlet of importance in the Arab world.” He says he tunes into it every day.

The Al Jazeera bureau may have an edge over its rivals. “I doubt very much that any other Arab satellite station would have the access that we have here,” says Talal Al-Haj, an Al Jazeera reporter in Washington and one of many BBC veterans at the station.

“They [U.S. officials] realize Al Jazeera’s influence and its large audience; so, when they have a message to get across to the Arab world, they want to talk to the best medium in the Middle East,” adds Al-Haj, an Iraqi-born British citizen.

Access to U.S. officials may be one reason Al Jazeera plans to expand its coverage from Washington. According to Al-Mirazi, the channel is considering a “news hour” generated from Washington that would have more coverage of American politics.