Why the US unplugged al-Jazeera

[rand corp]

Why the US unplugged al-Jazeera

Banning an uncensored broadcaster makes a mockery of democracy, writes Sarah Smiles in Beirut.

It is hard to believe that one of the Arab world's most popular satellite TV stations, al-Jazeera, was ever in the Bush Administration's good books. Since the war on terror began, the Doha-based channel has had its offices in Kabul and Baghdad bombed, its journalists roughed up and imprisoned by US forces in Iraq, and more recently kicked out of the country altogether.

"In a matter of years, we've gone from being heroes to villains," says station spokesman Jihad Ballout of the channel's fallout with the US Government, which before September 11 deemed al-Jazeera's editorial independence and policy of courting Israeli viewpoints a virtual first for Arab media.

Now the target of US ire for airing propaganda from terrorist groups, the station has been banned indefinitely in Iraq by the US-installed interim Iraqi Government.

The channel regularly shows footage of hostages. It has been broadcasting considerable footage of CARE Australia official Margaret Hassan since her capture, sitting in a room and looking anxious. She was taken two weeks after kidnappers beheaded British hostage Kenneth Bigley. His drawn-out ordeal was aired frequently by the station until he was murdered.

While the ban was initially imposed for 30 days on August 7, it was extended on September 4 when Iraqi police stormed the station's Baghdad office and evicted its staff.

"They are not very happy with our editorial policy. They accuse al-Jazeera of enticing violence and insecurity," Mr Ballout said.

The station is considering fighting the ban in the crippled Iraqi courts. "Our legal counsel does seem to believe we have a case... Democracy in Iraq isn't being served by gagging the media," Mr Ballout said.

He said the station was prepared to discuss the ban with the interim Government, but insisted al-Jazeera would never compromise its editorial independence. "We assess issues on the strength of their newsworthiness," he said. "If al-Jazeera did not relay to its audience that someone has been murdered or kidnapped, would the situation in Iraq be more peaceful?"

Al-Jazeera's policy was to avoid broadcasting images of murder and decapitation.

Beirut Institute for Media Arts director Ramez Maluf, who is also a journalism professor at the Lebanese American University, said there were no easy answers as to whether al-Jazeera was contributing to violence in Iraq by airing militants' tapes. But he rejected sanitising the conflict.

"The idea that you can sanitise war, that there's no need to show the tragedies that might disturb your dinner, is unfortunate," he said.

"International viewers, certainly American viewers, have been spared beyond reason, visually, the tragedies of wars. CNN covered the 1991 Gulf War like a game show."

Mr Ballout said al-Jazeera's popularity in the Arab world, where it has 30 to 40 million viewers, was due to its aversion to censorship.

"Usually Arab media has been subservient to Arab states. Al-Jazeera broke this vicious cycle," he said.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/22/1098316857607.html

[Dr Alf Andrews]

Great to see America spreading FREEEEEDOM to Iraq.

[DidakinthePocket]

Great to see that station finally off the air! Impartial and fair editorial? Like shit!

War in Iraq, good, lets finish off Jordan, Syira, Iran and Saudi Arabia too, my petrol costs too much.

[Joel]

Well, if they stop showing the bloody hostages, then the hostage takers wouldn't send them the tapes. Then perhaps we wouldn't have multiple copy cats trying to do the same thing to make a quick buck etc.

[gobbles21]

well said joel

[DidakinthePocket]

Blow em all up! Thats what i say

[blackandwhite4life]

With that logic then TITP you'd be happy to see that other fair and balanced news station Fox News also taken off the air?

And don't you think the senseless war in Iraq might have had something to do with the oil price? But it was never anything to do with the price of oil was it?

Like all us stupid lefties were saying before the rush to war. Along with doubts on WMD, the mass no's of new terrorists that would sign up for the cause, the 1000's of innocent lives that would be lost, Iraq being plunged into anarchy ............etc

Yeh those dumb peace protesters just had it all wrong didn't they. We should just blindly trust George W, as he has a direct line to the good lord above after all.