Hi, Billy Mays here ... OxyClean and Kaboom! will wash that nasty Al-Jazeera right off your TV screen with one wipe of the sponge. Unfortunately, you'll still have to hear me yell ... that's the price you pay
Posted on 02/08/2003 10:21:52 PM PST by weegee
DOHA, Qatar -- Al Jazeera, the controversial network known as the Arab CNN, is planning to expand into America and other Western markets.
The Qatar-based television station that now reaches an estimated 55 million viewers a day is adding English to its Web site this month, before the anticipated U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. And within a year, the most influential media voice in the Islamic world hopes to run a separate broadcast in English that would air in America and Europe to help the West and the Middle East better understand each other.
"After the events of Sept. 11, we need to talk to each other more," said editor in chief Ibrahim Hilal in an interview. "We can deliver the (Arab) message, we have better access and analysis. Without understanding our region better, you can expect more Osama bin Ladens in the future."
But al Jazeera sees itself as offering a perspective on news from the Middle East that is different -- and they believe less biased -- than that offered by the U.S. media.
In a region where war with Iraq could inflame anti-American hostility, many believe al Jazeera would play a crucial role in U.S. public relations efforts. Western officials, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, have recently agreed to be interviewed.
Qatar's ruler, the emir, founded al Jazeera, which means "The Island," in November 1996. He funded the station for the first five years, hoping it would then become profitable, a goal the station nearly reached last year.
Al Jazeera officials said its Western expansion was not motivated by economics.
"Don't get me wrong, we want to make money," said spokesman Jihad Ali Ballout. "But money is not of paramount importance. We believe we have a mission."
But criticism of the network's coverage has come from many sides.
In September 2001, U.S. officials filed a diplomatic complaint against the station, then still owned by the Qatar government. Americans accused al Jazeera of having an anti-American slant at the start of U.S. strikes in Afghanistan after the network aired tapes of bin Laden. They also objected to al Jazeera's describing Palestinian suicide bombers as "martyrs."
The network's Kabul office was hit by a U.S. bomb in November 2001. Hilal has claimed the bombing was deliberate. U.S. military officials said it was an error.
A Western diplomat in the Gulf region on Wednesday expressed hope that al Jazeera's expansion plans would improve the quality of its journalism. "The competition (with American and British media) will make them more accurate, more responsible," said the diplomat, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity.
"We don't want to make everyone happy," Hilal said. "We want to reach reasonable people."
Or the next broadcast opportunity for Phil Donahue.
Exactly ! ..
They will air it complete ( with the "secret messages"(did anyone buy into that?) and we will be able to refute it in the open.
And if America surrenders, there will be peace in the west...
And just what do you think Jihad's mission is?
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