A Major Image Problem
It says it'll play fair, but al Jazeera's new network gets a cold reception
Access. Arab media scholars like Marwan Kraidy of American University argue that al Jazeera, which now faces aggressive competition in the Arab market, is simply reporting the news. Bin Laden videos are news, he says, "and he is a news actor. He changed world politics. We can't ignore him." Though many in the cable and satellite world may agree, few so far seem willing to deal with the negative baggage of airing the network's new English-language news channel. "I think it's shortsighted not to carry it here, but then again, I don't have to carry it," says Paul Maxwell, the founder of CableFAX, considered the industry's bible. "With the climate in the U.S. and the way the government behaves toward the network, who needs the bother?" (Al Jazeera'sArabic channel is available in the United States on Dish Network's premium Arabic-language packages.)
The new channel has assembled some high-profile talent, including British interviewer David Frost and a number of journalists who worked on ABC's Nightline. Dave Marash, a longtime Nightline correspondent, is set to coanchor the news broadcasts out of the Washington bureau, and Joanne Levine, a former Nightline producer, runs programming for the Americas. A blunt Washington Post opinion piece written by Levine in June pulled back the curtain on difficulties she and others in her bureau have encountered: Headlined "Al Jazeera, as American as Apple Pie," Levine said the network has been isolated and journalists have encountered "resistance, rejection, and racism." She told of how reporters, all U.S. citizens, sent to North Dakota for a story on the depopulation of the Great Plains were questioned by federal border agents the local sheriff had contacted. In Washington, the conservative watchdog group Accuracy in Media has mounted an effort to stop the network and released a video titled Terror Television: The Rise of Al-Jazeera and the Hate America Media.
Marash, who has been promoting al Jazeera International as a rare outlet that will provide in-depth, analytical coverage, acknowledges that those involved have "faced periodic incidents of fear and loathing," but he remains optimistic. "Do I think there are serious impediments to either newsgathering, source finding, or production? Nah," he said. "[The hostility] is a real phenomenon, and whenever you're confronted with it, it's unsettling. But it's not a showstopper."
Others are not so sure. The internal struggle over how "Arab" the channel should be remains; does al Jazeera International's western team call the shots, or will that fall to network bosses in Qatar? The new channel's programming director, a key player, was recently let go. And just where the channel will be carried in the United States remains a mystery. Some insiders predict it may initially be available here only on the Internet, though Oliver promises a presence on satellite, cable, and broadband. "Everything about al Jazeera International is theoretical at this point," says veteran Middle East commentator Gordon Robison, who wonders at what point the financial plug might be pulled. "The fact that the emir has unlimited resources does not imply that he wants to spend them all."
Most insiders give the channel a fifty-fifty shot of getting off the ground in the United States. "I don't think they can launch here in the current atmosphere just because people are scared," says Evie Haskell, editor-in-chief of Media Business Corp., with publications covering the satellite, cable, and telecommunications world. "And it's a damn shame." It's an opinion not everyone shares.
For more of the interview with Dave Marash: www.usnews.com/marash
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