Al-Jazeera Closure Warning To All Other Arab Media
THE interim Iraqi government's closure of al-Jazeera's Baghdad bureau for at least 30 days - for its coverage of kidnappings and terrorism -- has sparked a furore in Arab media all over the Middle East. Jamal Dajani, who produces Mosaic, a roundup of Arab broadcast news for LinkTV spoke to PNS editor Sandip Roy, host of 'UpFront', New California Media's radio show on KALW-FM 91.7 in San Francisco.
Q: How is the Arab media reacting to the closure of al-Jazeera? Who
are they blaming?
A: They say the first casualty of war is the truth. There is a
cartoon on the al-Jazeera Web site with a US military officer who
has his machine gun pointed at (Iraqi premier) Allawi's head, and
Allawi is carrying a hammer and nails and shutting down the door of
al-Jazeera. In the Arab media, Allawi is being described as a
puppet controlled by the US.
Q: Was there any indication that this closure of al-Jazeera was
coming?
A: For this we have to go way back to Afghanistan. Al-Jazeera
and the US government have been butting heads since the Afghan war.
They were the only network to show the Bin Laden tapes, and they
were criticised heavily. Colin Powell called them horrible and
slanted. Donald Rumsfeld called them inexcusable. During the Iraqi
war, Gen. Abizaid attacked them. Al-Jazeera is reporting that close
to 37,000 Iraqi civilians have died since the beginning of the war.
You don't hear those numbers here. The biggest attack al-Jazeera
was in April during the fighting in Fallujah. Al-Jazeera reported
from inside Fallujah quoting doctors as saying 700 civilians were
killed. The Americans claimed most of the dead were insurgents and
threatened to expel al-Jazeera from Iraq. Al-Jazeera also did a
major expose on Allawi. They reported that he was working for the
CIA, and before he went over to the Americans he was Saddam's
intelligence officer. And he obviously doesn't like that.
Q: Didn't al-Jazeera actually sign a code of ethics recently to
be more sensitive in their reporting?
A: In July, al-Jazeera became the first and only Arab television
network to create a professional code of ethics. If we are
fostering democracy in the Middle East we should work with
al-Jazeera. Before al-Jazeera all the networks were government
controlled and said what the governments wanted them to say.
Al-Jazeera broke all the rules by showing clashing opinions.
Q: Has al-Jazeera's coverage of terrorist kidnappings changed
lately?
A: Al-Jazeera has stopped showing the ghoulish footage that
other television networks like al Manar from Lebanon do. When they
the Turkish truck driver was executed, al-Jazeera showed the
kidnappers behind him reading the message, but then it stopped the
recording and just said that he was killed. Al Manar showed the
terrorists seizing him, throwing him on the ground and then one of
them grabbing a gun and shooting three bullets into his head.
Q: What Arab media still report out of Iraq?
A: Al-Jazeera, in fact, is still reporting from Baghdad, though
its offices are shut down. Instead of relying on its own reporters
and cameramen, it is relying on others. For example, in Baghdad you
have al-Arabiya, Abu Dhabi Television and al Manar television. But
there is a feeling that the largest, most-viewed network was
singled out to send a message to the rest of the networks, that if
you're going to report something we don't like, we will shut you
down.
Q: Are the other networks rallying to al-Jazeera's defence or
relieved to have a major competitor out of the way?
A: All the networks reported what happened to al-Jazeera. They
got a lot of support from other networks. There is a lot of
camaraderie between reporters.
Q: Is the tone of the coverage on the American-sponsored
networks different?
A: There are two US-sponsored networks, Al-Iraqiya and al Hurra,
and they cost American taxpayers $112 million. They have been
failing horribly. Recent surveys say the No. 1 station is
al-Jazeera, then al-Arabiya. Al-hurra only captured less than 3
percent of the market during its honeymoon period, when people were
curious about it. The tone is always different on them. Take the
Abu Ghraib prison scandal. It was all over Arab networks and
American networks. It took al-Hurra three or four days to even
mention it.
Q: Is al-Jazeera the first major station to be closed down? What
do you think will happen after 30 days?
A: They also closed down al-Hawza newspaper. They recently
arrested the editor of a major newspaper called Insight. A lot of
journalists have been harassed. Of course al-Jazeera makes the most
impact. But they didn't say the closure is permanent. I think it's
going to backfire against the Iraqi government and United States,
because we keep preaching to the world that we are trying to foster
democracy, and we do the opposite.
- Pacific News Service
A: They say the first casualty of war is the truth. There is a
cartoon on the al-Jazeera Web site with a US military officer who
has his machine gun pointed at (Iraqi premier) Allawi's head, and
Allawi is carrying a hammer and nails and shutting down the door of
al-Jazeera. In the Arab media, Allawi is being described as a
puppet controlled by the US.Q: Was there any indication that this
closure of al-Jazeera was coming?A: For this we have to go way back
to Afghanistan. Al-Jazeera and the US government have been butting
heads since the Afghan war. They were the only network to show the
Bin Laden tapes, and they were criticised heavily. Colin Powell
called them horrible and slanted. Donald Rumsfeld called them
inexcusable. During the Iraqi war, Gen. Abizaid attacked them.
Al-Jazeera is reporting that close to 37,000 Iraqi civilians have
died since the beginning of the war. You don't hear those numbers
here. The biggest attack al-Jazeera was in April during the
fighting in Fallujah. Al-Jazeera reported from inside Fallujah
quoting doctors as saying 700 civilians were killed. The Americans
claimed most of the dead were insurgents and threatened to expel
al-Jazeera from Iraq. Al-Jazeera also did a major expose on Allawi.
They reported that he was working for the CIA, and before he went
over to the Americans he was Saddam's intelligence officer. And he
obviously doesn't like that.Q: Didn't al-Jazeera actually sign a
code of ethics recently to be more sensitive in their reporting?A:
In July, al-Jazeera became the first and only Arab television
network to create a professional code of ethics. If we are
fostering democracy in the Middle East we should work with
al-Jazeera. Before al-Jazeera all the networks were government
controlled and said what the governments wanted them to say.
Al-Jazeera broke all the rules by showing clashing opinions.Q: Has
al-Jazeera's coverage of terrorist kidnappings changed lately?A:
Al-Jazeera has stopped showing the ghoulish footage that other
television networks like al Manar from Lebanon do. When they the
Turkish truck driver was executed, al-Jazeera showed the kidnappers
behind him reading the message, but then it stopped the recording
and just said that he was killed. Al Manar showed the terrorists
seizing him, throwing him on the ground and then one of them
grabbing a gun and shooting three bullets into his head.Q: What
Arab media still report out of Iraq?A: Al-Jazeera, in fact, is
still reporting from Baghdad, though its offices are shut down.
Instead of relying on its own reporters and cameramen, it is
relying on others. For example, in Baghdad you have al-Arabiya, Abu
Dhabi Television and al Manar television. But there is a feeling
that the largest, most-viewed network was singled out to send a
message to the rest of the networks, that if you're going to report
something we don't like, we will shut you down.Q: Are the other
networks rallying to al-Jazeera's defence or relieved to have a
major competitor out of the way?A: All the networks reported what
happened to al-Jazeera. They got a lot of support from other
networks. There is a lot of camaraderie between reporters.Q: Is the
tone of the coverage on the American-sponsored networks
different?A: There are two US-sponsored networks, Al-Iraqiya and al
Hurra, and they cost American taxpayers $112 million. They have
been failing horribly. Recent surveys say the No. 1 station is
al-Jazeera, then al-Arabiya. Al-hurra only captured less than 3
percent of the market during its honeymoon period, when people were
curious about it. The tone is always different on them. Take the
Abu Ghraib prison scandal. It was all over Arab networks and
American networks. It took al-Hurra three or four days to even
mention it.Q: Is al-Jazeera the first major station to be closed
down? What do you think will happen after 30 days?A: They also
closed down al-Hawza newspaper. They recently arrested the editor
of a major newspaper called Insight. A lot of journalists have been
harassed. Of course al-Jazeera makes the most impact. But they
didn't say the closure is permanent. I think it's going to backfire
against the Iraqi government and United States, because we keep
preaching to the world that we are trying to foster democracy, and
we do the opposite.- Pacific News Service