Al Jazeera: Alternative Media Goes Mainstream

Al Jazeera is Arabic news network that when translated into English means "the Island". Since its launch in 1996, the network has expanded into several different specialty television stations broadcasting across the world. Al Jazeera has been criticized by the United Kingdom and the United States for its dissenting views. Al Jazeera first became of known existence to the majority of United States citizens after the September 11 attacks when it began showing videos from Osama bin Laden, the suspected terrorist responsible for the World Trade Center devastation.

Al Jazeera was launched due to the failure of BBC's Saudi television station, which was forced to shut down due to censorship by Saudi governmental officials in April 2006. Those who worked at BBC Saudi shifted gears and began working for the original Al Jazeera network. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa provided $140 million in funding to hire the veterans. The failure of BBC Arabic Television (BBATV) was due to the airing of a documentary "Death of a Princess", in which the Saudi royal family withdrew funding.

Prior to Al Jazeera the media landscape of the Middle East was empty; satellite technology has changed the region forever. Before 1996, citizens of the Middle East were forced to watch government owned and censored channels. Al Jazeera was the first of its kind because it allowed for the freedom of speech, which was uncommon during the reign of Sadam Hussein.

According to U.S. sources, Al Jazeera provides controversial views of the governments in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qata. Critics claim that Al Jazeera did not properly cover the relationship between Syria and Lebanon. Furthermore, some argue that the station is over sensationalized, covering the most absurd or shocking stories, and ignoring some of the most important, but bland ones.

Major actions have been taken to prevent people from viewing Al Jazeera programs, for example in Algeria they were being very critical of their government, and Algeria cut power to its people so they could not watch the program El-Itidjah el-Mouakass ("The Opposite Direction").

The U.S. claims to be the biggest supporter of free speech, since the attacks on U.S. soil, the Bush administration has been very critical of Al Jazeera and the stand that they took on the War in Iraq. Furthermore Al Jazeera was banned on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the U.S. military bombed Al Jazeera offices killing journalists.

After 2001 Al Jazeera gained the attention o the entire Western world with their controversial video clips. In 2003 Afshin Rattansi, a former English journalist for BBC World News journalist, was hired to anchor the English version of the original Al Jazeera newscast. The U.S. first received the satellite feed in 2006 in which the twenty-four hour news station provided reports from London and Washington D.C.

Those who live in the Middle East view Al Jazeera as a more official source compared to the censored propaganda they were previously given. The most recent study showed Al Jazeera as the most watched news station in the region. Al Jazeera has made the transformation from an alternative news network to the world of mainstream media. The English version has approximately 80 million viewers and the Arabic version has 40 to 50 million viewers.

Al Jazeera began as a one channel network, however; through time the network has expanded to include Al Jazeera Sports, Al Jazeera Mobashar (a live talk show channel that discusses political matters), Al Jazeera Children's Channel, Al Jazeera's Documentary Channel, and Al Jazeera English. Currently the network is making plans to expand their television station to reach the people of South Asia and to make an international newspaper available worldwide.

The U.S. often views Al Jazeera as having an anti-American sentiment - a place for the terrorists to play their propaganda. The network has become famous for claiming they are simply broadcasting for the people, without commentary or personal bias. The United Kingdom, Britain, and Spain support the United States and their positions on the network.

In the days after the U.S. attacks in Afghanistan Al Jazeera was allowed in parts of the Taliban that American journalists could not cover. When covering the war they were biased towards their own people, emphasizing civilian casualties. Thus, Al Jazeera became popular because some U.S. networks picked up their feed. The main fault of the Al Jazeera network is the fact that they view slanted propaganda as factual information - even their own people see this (Al-Sayyid, et. al.).

Al Jazeera is based around a mixture of Western and Eastern philosophy, which is interesting because Eastern philosophy is about finding the truth and obtaining balance, while western belief is that in order to find the real truth someone needs to prove it via factual evidence.

For example, Western thought is very organized, clear, and concrete. Everything can be laid out into a pie chart or graph, whereas Eastern thought is very scattered, and there is not a real cycle. The main difference is in the East one strives to reach reincarnation, and in the west people are told to live in the present. Western media opposes religion, and Eastern media integrates religion into their programs. The west is much more in sync with the individual, where the East still believes in collectivity and uniting as a whole.

During the days following the War in Afghanistan and the War in Iraq, Al Jazeera broadcasted very gory and inappropriate pictures without proper context. American media is all about objectivity and providing the hard facts, but there is an ethical manner in which it can all be done. In many respects, Al Jazeera leaves the viewer with their own thought about the pictures they just saw. What Al Jazeera showed people and what the U.S. government told people were on opposite pages? According to a BBC journalist, providing balance in a story only complicates it and only allows more error. The entire controversy began when Al Jazeera broadcasted pictures of dead U.S. soldiers (Tatham, 2005).

According to several journals, censorship within the United States is on the rise, and news organizations are increasingly becoming more conservative in the footage that they choose to air on television. The same is true of magazines and newspapers.

In Afghanistan there are only two local newspapers, Ava e No, located in Herat and Payam e Mojahed which is located in Kabul. Other news agencies include Afghan Islamic Press, Pajhwak, Kabul Press, and Bakhtar. Such radio stations as Azadi Radio, VOA, and IRIB exist as well (Bahry 2001).

Iraq has two national television stations including Al Sumaria and Kurdistan TV, as well as two radio stations, Iraqhurr Radio Free Iraq and Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty. Iraq has several newspapers that include: Al Adala, Al Ahali Iraq, Al Fourat, Al Itijah Al Akhar, Al Ittihad, Al Mowaten, Al Rafidayn, Al Sabah, Attaakhi, Az Zaman, Kul Al Iraq, and Tareek Al Shaab (Shapiro, 2006).

The Middle East censors television, radio, and newspaper content because it is hand in hand with their religious beliefs. The content must fit their moral standards and content is screened for inappropriateness within violence, sex, and what they define as "improper religious views". Unfortunately sexism against women is considered normal. Women serve a subsidiary role in the Middle East. They frown upon the United States being so consumer oriented and believe Westerners are concerned with consumption and wealth - not happiness (Burch, 2007).

The media in both Afghanistan and Iraq has transformed from being governmental (public) to private entities. Such networks as MTV Europe and CNN have made their way through the terrain of the Middle East.

Over one million people reported that they were of Arab descent in the 2000 census. This is the highest number, in 1990 there were 860,000 and in 1980 there were 610,000. The numbers show that the number of people of Arabic ancestry is increasing. People who are of Labanese, Egyptian, and Syrian descent counted for three fifths of the overall Arab population in the United States. Reasons for this could be the current battles in Lebanon or the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, people may have taken refuge in the United States (Census, 2000).

The creation of Al Jazeera English is a perfect example of glocalization. Glocalization is the process in which a product or service is adapted to fit the needs of the target audience. For Al Jazeera, they had a number of U.S. born Arabs who did not know the native language but were interested in watching their news broadcast.

Compared to other parts of the world, Iraq and Afghanistan have not been globalized to a certain extent. Most of this is due to the continued warfare in the countries. With the advances made in satellite technology, it allows for the Americanization of Middle Eastern media quite easily. Neighboring countries already have access to stations such as MTV Europe, Disney Europe, and VH1. Local television stations in the region have adapted, for example STAR TV often airs American movies or television shows. Despite the majority not wanting to believe it, the U.S. is an imperialistic country; our country is trying to place Western beliefs onto countries that are rich with Middle Eastern thought (Bahry, 2001).

During the September 11 events as well as the two wars in the Middle East, Al Jazeera and other Middle Eastern news agencies have demoralized the news, it is evident that they do not have respect for the families or people who may have been associated with the soldiers or refugees. America would never show a picture of a dying soldier, it is immoral, but furthermore, unethical. Al Jazeera failed to take into account the views of U.S. and U.K. leaders as well as their policies on broadcasting. Middle East policies tend to give power to one or two people, whereas in the United States the people have the most power.

The future of Al Jazeera and Middle Eastern media is not certain, but as the internet becomes more prevalent in their daily lives, it is safe to say that censorship will be harder to obtain. The internet is an open forum and is difficult for the governments to monitor. There will be a rise in webcasting or news video via the internet. The governments of Arabic countries will attempt to hide the internet from its people, because once they can afford it, they have access to endless resources. American media will continue to have an influence and the McDonaldization will continue until a world leader realizes that it is a problem.

Both Iraq and Afghanistan, the focus of this paper, are in the midst of a war on terrorism. The media plays a crucial role in how society views their countries and the war in general. Americans were shunned from viewing certain aspects of the war, such as the execution of Sadam Hussein, but how the people of Iraq reacted is most important. Currently, Al Jazeera does not provide the views of the people, simply a select few of the royal leaders of the Middle East.

Works Cited

Al-Sayyid, Mustapha Kamel, Baktiari Bahman, Michael Barnett, and Sonja Hegasy. "The Impact of 9/11 on the Middle East." Middle East Policy 9 (2002): 75-101. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park. 12 Apr. 2007.

Bahry, Louay Y. "The New Arab Media Phenomenon: Qatar's Al-Jazeera." Middle East Policy 8 (2001): 88-99. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park. 9 Apr. 2007. Keyword: Middle Eastern and Media and Al Jazeera.

Burch, Elizabeth. "Middle East Handout." SSU: International Communications. Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA.

Selb, Phillip. "Hegemonic No More: Western Media, the Rise of Al-Jazeera, and the Influence of Diverse Voices." International Studies Review 7 (2005): 601-615. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park. 12 Apr. 2007.

Shapiro, Jesse M., and Matthew Gentzkow. "Media Bias and Reputation." Journal of Political Economy 116 (2006): 280-316. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park. 12 Apr. 2007.

Tatham, Steve. "Al-Jazeera: Can It Make It Here?" British Journalism Review 16 (2005): 47-52. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park. 12 Apr. 2007.

United States. U.S. Census. Census 2000. 12 Apr. 2007.