Al Jazeera's new English-language service is not about to take the United States by storm, but it could have a major effect on Muslim communities around the globe. Its greatest impact, however, may be on Al Jazeera's Arabic broadcasts. As veterans of the American media environment know, US audiences are …
Read More »World Affairs
What the World Thinks of Al Jazeera
Between November 2003 and May 2004, while I was writing my book about Al Jazeera, I spent time interviewing a multitude of miscellaneous individuals and organizations about their feelings towards the network. I heard a diverse range of opinions about the channel, stretching from the overwhelmingly positive to the vehemently …
Read More »Interview with Mouafac Harb, Alhurra Executive Vice President and Director of Network News
It has been a year and a half since US-funded Arabic satellite channel Alhurra started broadcasting on 14 February 2004. Even before the channel's launch, it was a magnet for controversy -- many in the Arab media denounced it as propaganda while some Washington insiders questioned the decision to spend …
Read More »Al Jazeera: Once More into the Fray
DOHA -- There is no getting away from it. Al Jazeera continues to dominate the discourse, despite significantly improved competition (reflected in growing market share) from Al Arabiya and a step back over the past year from its past tendency to overly emotionalize, Fox TV-style, when framing the news. Nowhere …
Read More »The Pressures of 24-Hour News
This article appeared originally in the guide to News Xchange 2004, Algarve, 18-19 November 2004 The twenty-first century terrorist fights with a Kalashnikov in one hand and a video camera in the other. Ten weeks ago, from the ruins of the Beslan School, a tape surfaced showing the hostages, pathetically huddled …
Read More »The Diversity of Arabic Media
News XChange 2004, Algarve Thursday, 18 November 2004 Emad El Din Adeeb (Host / Presenter, Orbit TV): In reaction to what His Majesty has said I want to start with Nart Bouran of Abu Dhabi TV. Sir, what did you find interesting and thought needed to be underlined in what …
Read More »Books in Brief
Al-Jaber, Khalid. The Credibility of Arab Broadcasting: The Case of Al Jazeera. Doha: National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage, 2004. Hard cover. 118 pages. ISBN: 99921-25-26-3. No price listed. Reviewed by Ralph D. Berenger Arab world academics are fascinated with the impact of Al Jazeera on viewing habits, and many studies …
Read More »Book Essay: War Correspondent Memoirs Personalize Conflict
The grizzled editor squinted at me through a haze of gray smoke from the omnipresent cigarette protruding from his thin lips. He glared at me with a mixture of chagrin and condescension after my suggestion that some day I would like to write books. The Pall Mall bobbed as he …
Read More »A Plea from Parents: No More Public Murders
Reprinted with permission of the International Herald Tribune. The victims have not been exclusively of one nationality or religion, but indeed are representative of humanity itself: British, South Korean, Egyptian and American, among others; Catholic, Jewish and Muslim. As more people continue to be taken hostage and brutally murdered in Iraq, …
Read More »To Show or Not to Show? Graphic Images in TV Media
The recent profusion of graphic televised footage of dead bodies, sometimes charred or disfigured, has raised difficult ethical and journalistic decisions for news editors, whether at CNN or the Hizbullah-backed Lebanese channel Al-Manar. In a series of interviews, news editors talk about their decision-making policies on screening disturbing images. The …
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