Offering Al Jazeera English provides opportunity to fulfill the civic duties of media owners in a democratic society

BY: Courtney C. Radsch

April 14, 2007 05:53 PM

What do Vermont and Ohio have in common? And why does this particular commonality illustrate the more enlightened and democratic nature of certain citizens in these two states? Well, cable operators in both states have decided to offer access to Al

Jazeera English rather than being deterred by the narrow-mindedness of other satellite and cable operators who have focused on the potentially negative (or simple lack of) commercial consequences, either believing that only Arabs would watch it and that all other people would protest and cancel their subscription. They have not taken their role in a democratic society seriously, and instead of promoting public discourse, educated opinion formation, and transparency by showing the valid news programming of a station that focuses on a region of such vital importance, they have undermined the very nature and purpose of democracy, where rational discourse is supposed to form public opinion.

Voice of America news reports that Buckeye CableSystem in Toledo, Ohio has decided to carry Al Jazeera English because its chairman, Allan Block, saw a large potential audience in the large Arab American population there, the opportunity to educate people on the Middle East, and said that objections to the station were due to “Bias against anything that starts with 'al' and is clearly Arabic." The fact that he got a deal on the lease means he is offering it without additional charge in his cable packages, which is more than DishNetwork does for the Arabic version which costs a whopping $34.95 per month where I live. Block also highlighted his choice as a public service and part of what he can give back to the community in terms of encouraging investment in the Midwest:

"The Midwest that is in recession and has been going through economic decline could certainly use a different kind of relationship with the rich Persian Gulf… with the Persian Gulf that has capital to invest," he adds meaningfully.

Of course, according to the article, most people didn’t even know AJE was available on cable, though that didn’t mean they didn’t have an opinion.

Many echo the thoughts of Toledo an Ed Raymer, a truck driver who says he was passing through New York City on September 11th, when the terrorist attacks occurred.

At a downtown bar, he insists Americans don't need to hear the views of Arabs who are at war with the U.S. "I can see it being okay for the Arab community," he says, "but everybody else, with what's going on over there, shouldn't be subjected to it."

His friend Phil Lazuski predicts, "It's gonna cause a big chaos. If it comes here, it's gonna cause a big chaos."

The VOA news report actually does a really good job reporting why there is a need to for American’s to have access and explains, in a departure from most government perspectives, that:

“Americans generally see only excerpts of al Jazeera broadcasts, on U.S. news programs. They're usually scenes of Arab crowds mourning or protesting, or portions of videotaped statements, delivered to the Qatar-based station by al-Qaida or another terrorist organization.

That's led some Americans to associate al Jazeera with terrorism. Al Jazeera officials say they do not air terrorist videos unless they have legitimate news value. They say they want to change the network's negative image in America. So they decided to say it in English.

Too bad the officials, policymakers, think-tank analysts, and academics in Washington can’t hear what’s being said. If you want to see AJE on DishNetwork, which currently offers all the cable news channels as well as an Arabic package that includes Al Jazeera (Arabic) email them and suggest it. And while you're at it, you can email Buckeye to let them know we appreciate them fulfilling their civic duty (even if the media "watchdog" group Accuracy in Media mistakenly disagrees)