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Al-Jazeera Bows to Criticism from Saudi Royals
by
findingDulcinea Staff
The Saudi royal family appear to have prevented Qatari news channel Al-Jazeera from portraying them unfavorably. This is not the first time the network's journalistic integrity has been questioned.
30-Second Summary
Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld once dismissed Al-Jazeera as the “mouthpiece for al-Qaida.” But respected Western journalists have applauded the network for its coverage of Middle Eastern and world politics.
In November 2007, New York Times columnist Roger Cohen wrote that not only do Americans need “to watch Al-Jazeera to understand how the world has changed,” but in a region whose media typically consists of state-run outlets, “its striving for balanced reporting from a distinct perspective seems genuine.”
But a recent article in the International Herald Tribune cast doubt on the channel’s independence.
According to the Tribune, Al-Jazeera was conspicuously silent when in, November 2007, a 19-year-old woman was sentenced to 200 lashes by a Saudi court after she pressed charges against seven men who raped her.
The story sparked outrage in the Middle East and abroad, but not at Al-Jazeera.
According to the Tribune, inside sources at the channel say that Qatar’s ruling Al-Thani family has advised against stories that cast the Saudi royal family in a negative light.
Ironically, it was a Saudi censorship dispute that led to Al-Jazeera’s creation.
In the mid 1990s, the BBC launched an Arabic-language news channel called Arabic TV. However, the BBC’s Saudi business partner scrapped the channel in 1996 after it filmed a documentary on Saudi executions.
The fledgling Al-Jazeera quickly filled the void. Founded on a grant from Qatari Sheikh Hamad al-Thani, the channel recruited much of Arabic TV's staff and modeled its programming after that of the BBC.
In the words of international correspondent Michael Moran, the Qatari ruler understood from “BBC Arabic’s short life that the long-term interests of Islam would be served best by truth rather than censorship.”
In November 2007, New York Times columnist Roger Cohen wrote that not only do Americans need “to watch Al-Jazeera to understand how the world has changed,” but in a region whose media typically consists of state-run outlets, “its striving for balanced reporting from a distinct perspective seems genuine.”
But a recent article in the International Herald Tribune cast doubt on the channel’s independence.
According to the Tribune, Al-Jazeera was conspicuously silent when in, November 2007, a 19-year-old woman was sentenced to 200 lashes by a Saudi court after she pressed charges against seven men who raped her.
The story sparked outrage in the Middle East and abroad, but not at Al-Jazeera.
According to the Tribune, inside sources at the channel say that Qatar’s ruling Al-Thani family has advised against stories that cast the Saudi royal family in a negative light.
Ironically, it was a Saudi censorship dispute that led to Al-Jazeera’s creation.
In the mid 1990s, the BBC launched an Arabic-language news channel called Arabic TV. However, the BBC’s Saudi business partner scrapped the channel in 1996 after it filmed a documentary on Saudi executions.
The fledgling Al-Jazeera quickly filled the void. Founded on a grant from Qatari Sheikh Hamad al-Thani, the channel recruited much of Arabic TV's staff and modeled its programming after that of the BBC.
In the words of international correspondent Michael Moran, the Qatari ruler understood from “BBC Arabic’s short life that the long-term interests of Islam would be served best by truth rather than censorship.”
Headline Link: ‘Al-Jazeera No Longer Nips at Saudis’
According to the International Herald Tribune, the last three months have seen the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera shy away from critical coverage of Saudi Arabia and its royal family. The Tribune writes that although some of Al-Jazeera’s staff “say they believe that the station would not ignore or play down major news developments in Saudi Arabia … other Arab journalists said Al-Jazeera's seeming willingness to toe the Saudi line was proof that there still were no truly independent media outlets in the region.”
Source: International Herald Tribune
Background: The early days of Al-Jazeera
In April 1996, the BBC’s Saudi partner, Orbit Communications, pulled the plug on Arabic TV after the channel filmed a documentary on Saudi executions. Backed by a $150 million grant from Qatari Sheikh Hamad Al-Thani, Al-Jazeera quickly filled the void. Former U.S. analyst and senior producer at MSNBC Michael Moran points out that many of Al-Jazeera’s branch offices are closed at any given moment because they speak out against the governments of their host countries. “To be anything but a lackey in the Arab media is to invite beatings, torture or death,” Moran writes.
Source: Archive.org
On Jan. 7, 1999, the BBC reported that Al-Jazeera routinely upsets neighboring nations by broadcasting statements deemed unacceptable by their governments. Two days before the report, Al-Jazeera had aired Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s “Army Day” speech, which urged Arab viewers “to overthrow their leaders if they were allied to the United States.” A Saudi newspaper spoke out against Al-Jazeera for broadcasting the message.
Source: The BBC
Historical Context: The Saudi Royals; the Iraq war
In response to what former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called Al-Jazeera’s "violently anti-coalition” bias, the Pentagon funded the pro-American Iraqi news station Al-Iraqiya in 2003. Although the American authorities had hoped to steer Iraqi viewers away from Gulf-based stations, the Taiwanese paper Taipei Times reported that “most Iraqis interviewed said they preferred Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya because of their mastery at covering breaking news.”
Source: Asia Media
According to an Asia Times Online article from Dec. 25, 2002, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz had that year refused to attend the annual conference of the Gulf Cooperation Council because he alleged that Al-Jazeera had insulted the Saudi royal family. Al-Jazeera is based in Qatar, and the conference was being held in the capital city of Doha. This followed another media scuffle that resulted in Saudi Arabia pulling its ambassador from Qatar.
Source: Asia Times Online
Opinion & Analysis: Expanding the Middle East’s horizons
In a November 2007 op-ed, New York Times columnist Roger Cohen writes that "America, and not just its front-line soldiers, needs to watch Al-Jazeera to understand how the world has changed. Any other course amounts to self-destructive blindness." Cohen goes on to state that "the network can be tendentious—bin Laden’s face up there for several minutes—in stomach-turning ways. But, over all, its striving for balanced reporting from a distinct perspective seems genuine."
Source: The New York Times
An Aug. 15, 2002, article from the Asia Times states that Al-Jazeera's reporting often upsets governments in the region. The Jordanian national government shut down its Al-Jazeera branch office after a news show criticized King Abdullah’s Middle East policies. Hanan Ragheb, a media researcher at Al-Ain University in the United Arab Emirates, says of the government reactions to Al-Jazeera’s coverage, “In the Middle East, any opinion has to confirm with the official view. It cannot emerge from the masses or through the media, but should be handed down from the regime. That’s the tradition on which the system survives and thrives.”
Source: Asia Times
Dubai-based daily Gulf News reports that media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders ranked Qatar 79th out of 169 countries in its 2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index. Writers for English and Arabic papers in the country have been banned by local governmental bodies for covering labor issues without permission. Media freedom activist Yahia Shukker said that despite the warm reception Al-Jazeera's received, other media outlets in Qatar continue to censor themselves because of pressure from publishers and government officials.
Source: Gulf News
Reference Material: Online and on the airwaves
The Web site of Al-Jazeera English has updated news coverage, programming information and streaming video.
Source: Al-Jazeera
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