As the political and social landscape of the Middle East continues to become more complex in the context of a changing multi-polar world there is a need for media to better understand the realities on the ground.Al Jazeera’s Fourth Annual Forum will explore the dynamism behind these changes along with their impact on the region and beyond, and examine the ways in which the world of journalism can better reflect and report on these changes.
The 2009 Forum will build on the success of past Al Jazeera Forums to debate, discuss, and extend the discourse on the critical dynamics of the Middle East in the context of the globalized world. We will host an international mix of journalists, analysts, academics, and intellectuals to help bring these issues into focus as well as leading thinkers and strategists to explore and understand the changing face of the region, its place in the global landscape, and how to report it in depth.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Monday, March 02, 2009
AJE Under Financial crisis
The Qatari based channel seems to be under financial crisis amid ending the contracts of number of its journalists.
According to well informed sources in the network, the board of directors called on the english news channel to bring down its expences around 30% and made it clear there is no budget available for new recruits.
Its not known wether these dramatic events will affect the channel's ambitions to lead the market specially after the success it gained around the globe amid the Gaza war earlier in january.
According to well informed sources in the network, the board of directors called on the english news channel to bring down its expences around 30% and made it clear there is no budget available for new recruits.
Its not known wether these dramatic events will affect the channel's ambitions to lead the market specially after the success it gained around the globe amid the Gaza war earlier in january.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Gaza, African coverage and tonight’s RTS awards - breakfast table chat with Al Jazeera
This morning Al Jazeera English’s managing director, Tony Burman, held a breakfast meeting in London and invited journalists along to ask about latest developments at the channel.
Burman is in town for tonight’s Royal Television Society Awards (2007/8), for which the channel has been nominated for the ‘News Channel of the Year’ award - and it’s up against BBC and Sky.
Burman was, however, not overly optimistic and said that he thought it would be the BBC’s win. However, “next year will be the Gaza year and we will be here again,” he told the group. We’ll report back with an update tomorrow.
Burman’s message was clear: the channel is increasingly strengthening its reputation (that includes within the US, he said) and he emphasised that the fact it broadcasts to nearly 140 million households, after two years on air (it launched in November 2006) was a feat he considered very impressive. Getting Al Jazeera onto the satellite and cable networks in North America is a priority, he said.
The real topic of the morning was the crisis in Gaza: the two correspondents, Ayman Mohyeldin and Sherine Tadros, who had been on the ground prior, and during the 22 day conflict were also there to answer questions.
It was again confirmed that Al Jazeera English was the only English-language broadcaster to report from the Gaza strip before the press ban was lifted (see a previous interview with the channel’s head of new media, Mohamed Nanabnay).
So, here a few of the things that were discussed. Journalism.co.uk will be following up in more detail on these and other points raised, in due course.
Gaza:
Tony Burman said that ‘coverage was really very comprehensive’ and that the reaction to the channel’s output ‘was a reminder that there is a hunger in the world, to get a sense of what is going on’.
The Al Jazeera site had, at times, seen a 600 per cent increase in traffic during Gaza coverage, he said.
Because Israeli, as well as other international media couldn’t access the area either during parts of the conflict, Al Jazeera was watched by a bigger Israeli audience too, he said.
Sherine Tadros, who said it was just ‘chance’ that she ended up reporting from the ground (she is normally the Jerusalem correspondent) said that ‘everything was a risk’. ‘There was no green zone,’ she added. She ‘wasn’t meant to be there’ she joked.
Tadros was asked to go and do a feature from the region before the media clamp-down became apparent, and she hadn’t even packed clothes to take, thinking that her stay would be brief.
To be the only English channel on the ground could be a ‘one-off experience’ during her career, she said. While she thrived on being part of the only English-language media team on the ground - ‘everything we did was exclusive’ - Tadros was aware of the responsibility to cover as much as possible for an English speaking audience.
There was no way they could go away and ‘Google’ for additional information, for example, she said. All the information from the ground had to be gathered by themselves directly. While Tadros said she was already quite familiar with the region, she also had to adapt very quickly to the surroundings and context, she said.
Ayman Mohyeldin described how other international broadcasters were eager to use their material and how he did then feed back to US networks. One of the main differences between the Arabic and English coverage was the level of detail in the reports, he said.
Reports can’t assume context for an English-language audience, whereas an Arab audience has grown up very aware of 60 years of history, he said. As a result, English coverage must supply more detail and background. So while the English and Arabic channels worked closely via multimedia channels (there is a joint new media team) and shared information and sources in their newsrooms, the output can vary.
The style of English reporting is also different, Tadros added. Whereas an Arabic channel might do one hour of footage inside a hospital, that wouldn’t be something they would necessarily do on the English channel.
Expanding into Africa:
With a good presence in Nairobi, Zimbabwe and Johannesburg they’re keen to meet the needs of a ‘growing’ African audience, Burman said.
In regards to whether a full bureau would be opening in Nairobi (to add to bureaux in Washington, Doha, London and Kuala Lumpur), Burman was hesitant. In the current economic climate he ‘can’t talk about expansion,’ he said. For now, little is being said about big investments he explained, adding that Africa is a very important region for them and more correspondents would be added around the continent.
Burman is in town for tonight’s Royal Television Society Awards (2007/8), for which the channel has been nominated for the ‘News Channel of the Year’ award - and it’s up against BBC and Sky.
Burman was, however, not overly optimistic and said that he thought it would be the BBC’s win. However, “next year will be the Gaza year and we will be here again,” he told the group. We’ll report back with an update tomorrow.
Burman’s message was clear: the channel is increasingly strengthening its reputation (that includes within the US, he said) and he emphasised that the fact it broadcasts to nearly 140 million households, after two years on air (it launched in November 2006) was a feat he considered very impressive. Getting Al Jazeera onto the satellite and cable networks in North America is a priority, he said.
The real topic of the morning was the crisis in Gaza: the two correspondents, Ayman Mohyeldin and Sherine Tadros, who had been on the ground prior, and during the 22 day conflict were also there to answer questions.
It was again confirmed that Al Jazeera English was the only English-language broadcaster to report from the Gaza strip before the press ban was lifted (see a previous interview with the channel’s head of new media, Mohamed Nanabnay).
So, here a few of the things that were discussed. Journalism.co.uk will be following up in more detail on these and other points raised, in due course.
Gaza:
Tony Burman said that ‘coverage was really very comprehensive’ and that the reaction to the channel’s output ‘was a reminder that there is a hunger in the world, to get a sense of what is going on’.
The Al Jazeera site had, at times, seen a 600 per cent increase in traffic during Gaza coverage, he said.
Because Israeli, as well as other international media couldn’t access the area either during parts of the conflict, Al Jazeera was watched by a bigger Israeli audience too, he said.
Sherine Tadros, who said it was just ‘chance’ that she ended up reporting from the ground (she is normally the Jerusalem correspondent) said that ‘everything was a risk’. ‘There was no green zone,’ she added. She ‘wasn’t meant to be there’ she joked.
Tadros was asked to go and do a feature from the region before the media clamp-down became apparent, and she hadn’t even packed clothes to take, thinking that her stay would be brief.
To be the only English channel on the ground could be a ‘one-off experience’ during her career, she said. While she thrived on being part of the only English-language media team on the ground - ‘everything we did was exclusive’ - Tadros was aware of the responsibility to cover as much as possible for an English speaking audience.
There was no way they could go away and ‘Google’ for additional information, for example, she said. All the information from the ground had to be gathered by themselves directly. While Tadros said she was already quite familiar with the region, she also had to adapt very quickly to the surroundings and context, she said.
Ayman Mohyeldin described how other international broadcasters were eager to use their material and how he did then feed back to US networks. One of the main differences between the Arabic and English coverage was the level of detail in the reports, he said.
Reports can’t assume context for an English-language audience, whereas an Arab audience has grown up very aware of 60 years of history, he said. As a result, English coverage must supply more detail and background. So while the English and Arabic channels worked closely via multimedia channels (there is a joint new media team) and shared information and sources in their newsrooms, the output can vary.
The style of English reporting is also different, Tadros added. Whereas an Arabic channel might do one hour of footage inside a hospital, that wouldn’t be something they would necessarily do on the English channel.
Expanding into Africa:
With a good presence in Nairobi, Zimbabwe and Johannesburg they’re keen to meet the needs of a ‘growing’ African audience, Burman said.
In regards to whether a full bureau would be opening in Nairobi (to add to bureaux in Washington, Doha, London and Kuala Lumpur), Burman was hesitant. In the current economic climate he ‘can’t talk about expansion,’ he said. For now, little is being said about big investments he explained, adding that Africa is a very important region for them and more correspondents would be added around the continent.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Put Al Jazeera on air
Feb 23, 2009 04:30 AM
Canadians have a world of cable and satellite TV information at their fingertips. There's the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., CTV and Global. The American networks including CNN and Fox. The British Broadcasting Corp. Even TV5 from France.
So why not a major news source from the Middle East? Al Jazeera television, funded chiefly by the pro-American Emir of Qatar, is the most respected broadcaster in the Arab world. Its English service, managed by Canadian journalist Tony Burman, is received in 130 million households in 105 countries, including Israel. But not here.
Yet every Canadian has an interest in a region into which we have poured peacekeepers and aid, which millions of Christians, Muslims and Jews revere as the holy land, and which is a perennial political flashpoint. There's an abiding thirst for news and views from there.
Al Jazeera English, with its unique perspective from the developing world, delivers the goods. During the fighting in Gaza, for example, AJE was the only international English service that covered both Gaza and Israel. It routinely airs Israeli views.
For these reasons, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission should approve AJE's current bid to air programs here, as its parent Arabic service does in the U.S.
Five years ago Al Jazeera Arabic, founded in 1996, sought approval to broadcast here. At the time the Canadian Jewish Congress criticized it for airing material that was anti-Semitic, denied the Holocaust, and exalted terrorists. Even so, the CRTC gave it the green light, but with so many conditions that cable companies chose not to air it.
The English service, launched in 2006, has sparked no comparable controversy. So the CRTC has good reason to grant approval on a trial basis, subject to review, but this time without onerous conditions.
AJE's code of ethics promises credible, honest, balanced coverage. Canadians should be able to see and judge for themselves.
Canadians have a world of cable and satellite TV information at their fingertips. There's the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., CTV and Global. The American networks including CNN and Fox. The British Broadcasting Corp. Even TV5 from France.
So why not a major news source from the Middle East? Al Jazeera television, funded chiefly by the pro-American Emir of Qatar, is the most respected broadcaster in the Arab world. Its English service, managed by Canadian journalist Tony Burman, is received in 130 million households in 105 countries, including Israel. But not here.
Yet every Canadian has an interest in a region into which we have poured peacekeepers and aid, which millions of Christians, Muslims and Jews revere as the holy land, and which is a perennial political flashpoint. There's an abiding thirst for news and views from there.
Al Jazeera English, with its unique perspective from the developing world, delivers the goods. During the fighting in Gaza, for example, AJE was the only international English service that covered both Gaza and Israel. It routinely airs Israeli views.
For these reasons, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission should approve AJE's current bid to air programs here, as its parent Arabic service does in the U.S.
Five years ago Al Jazeera Arabic, founded in 1996, sought approval to broadcast here. At the time the Canadian Jewish Congress criticized it for airing material that was anti-Semitic, denied the Holocaust, and exalted terrorists. Even so, the CRTC gave it the green light, but with so many conditions that cable companies chose not to air it.
The English service, launched in 2006, has sparked no comparable controversy. So the CRTC has good reason to grant approval on a trial basis, subject to review, but this time without onerous conditions.
AJE's code of ethics promises credible, honest, balanced coverage. Canadians should be able to see and judge for themselves.
A former Denver newsman on why America should give Al-Jazeera English a chance
By Michael Roberts in More Messages
Wednesday, Feb. 25 2009 @ 9:33AM
"New Gig," an October 2005 Message column, introduced readers to Gabriel Elizondo, who decided to leave his job as an assignment editor at Channel 7 in favor of an opportunity to join Al-Jazeera International, a new English-language spinoff of the controversial Arabic network. Over three years later, the operation is still struggling to establish itself in the U.S., as noted in a National Public Radio story about the service, now called Al-Jazeera English, that was broadcast this week. The report opens with the story of correspondent Josh Rushing, who wasn't exactly welcomed by locals when he set up camp at a Golden watering hole around the time of last fall's Democratic National Convention. "We reported live from the bar, but it meant having police snipers on top of the buildings, undercover cops around me," Rushing recalled.
For his part, Elizondo has been based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for the past two years -- and he continues to see Al-Jazeera English as a worthy and credible news organization that's been unfairly demonized in the American press. The net is attempting to change its reputation via a website called IWantAJE.com, which provides viewers with an opportunity to sample its fare and to demand that it be made more widely available. Elizondo is fully supportive of this goal, as he makes clear in a wide-ranging e-mail update accessible below. Also included: two complete reports from Elizondo, reporting in recent weeks from Brazil and Venezuela.
Click "Continue" to get the scoop on Al-Jazeera English from an enthusiastic insider.
What have I been up to?
I have been based in Sao Paulo, Brazil for AJE for a little over 2 years now. In August of 07, I was in Lima, Peru editing a documentary when a huge earthquake hit Peru. It was immediately an international story. I started reporting on-air, and continued reporting from Peru for several days. Within 24 hours, I was live from the epicenter of the quake in the town of Pisco. After this terrible event, I returned to Sao Paulo and have pretty much been reporting ever since. I mostly cover Brazil. It's a huge country (about as big as the US) and an important country (largest economy in Latin America), so I am on the road a lot. I spend a lot of time in the Amazon region of Brazil, and recently did a series of stories from the Amazon related to our coverage of the World Social Forum, which was held in Belem, Brazil last month. One of the stories can be seen here:
I was in Venezuela for the constitutional referendum Feb 15. So far this year, I have spent only about 6 days in Sao Paulo. Next week (March 1-7), I go back to Peru for several stories, and then to Doha, Qatar for some training before coming back to Sao Paulo.
Lack of availability in the U.S.A.
When I left Denver, in late 2004, to move to Washington DC to work for Al Jazeera English a lot of people told me it could turn out to be career suicide. It's been just the opposite for me. The channel has developed into one of the premier English language news channels in the world. The channel is received in over 120 million homes around the world. It's too bad most people in the U.S. still do not have that ability. People in places like Denver, Colorado should not be obligated to watch Al Jazeera English, but Coloradoans should at least have the freedom to watch Al Jazeera English on their television. Every time I go to the U.S., I flip through the channels and I am amazed at all the junk on cable TV. The bad, mind-numbing television outnumbers the good programming 3 to 1. There are endless channels devoted to home improvement and reality TV. Those channels are fine, too. But being able to watch AJE's serious journalism from underreported corners of the globe is still not available, which is sad given all the space on cable devoted to other arenas I would deem less important to understanding issues around the world that affect the U.S.
AJE Continues to Grow
I am very fortunate right now, because as media organizations cut back on global newsgathering, AJE continues to show a commitment to expansion and covering important stories around the world. This is not lost on me. Now, more than ever, it's critical that people see AJE. Just to give you an example, on Feb. 15, Venezuela held a constitutional referendum that would allow Hugo Chavez the ability to run for office again. Given the strained relations between Venezuela and the U.S.A., I would think this would be an important story for people in the U.S. But Venezuela is an expensive country to do journalism. But that did not stop AJE. My bosses wanted to show in-depth coverage that went beyond the soundbites. So we had one correspondent in Caracas and another one (myself) far outside of Caracas in a different state reporting for an entire week. There were two producers from Washington DC, two cameramen, and even a web editor from http://english.aljazeera.net/ reporting for the web site from Venezuela.
One of my Venezuela reports can be seen here:
This is just one example, of many, of the coverage AJE provides.
I look back at that story you wrote in 2005 and there was a lot of unspoken speculation about what Al Jazeera English "wanted" to be, or what it "strived" to be. That was to be expected, as at the time it was an unproven entity. But that is no longer the case. There are over 7,000 videos uploaded to the AJE You Tube page and hundreds of articles on our web site. My friends who travel abroad a lot often e-mail me saying stuff like, "Hey, when I was in XYZ country, I got AJE on the TV and saw your story about this or that." The rest of the world is watching. If I was living in Colorado right now, I would be asking myself, "Why can't I?"
Wednesday, Feb. 25 2009 @ 9:33AM
"New Gig," an October 2005 Message column, introduced readers to Gabriel Elizondo, who decided to leave his job as an assignment editor at Channel 7 in favor of an opportunity to join Al-Jazeera International, a new English-language spinoff of the controversial Arabic network. Over three years later, the operation is still struggling to establish itself in the U.S., as noted in a National Public Radio story about the service, now called Al-Jazeera English, that was broadcast this week. The report opens with the story of correspondent Josh Rushing, who wasn't exactly welcomed by locals when he set up camp at a Golden watering hole around the time of last fall's Democratic National Convention. "We reported live from the bar, but it meant having police snipers on top of the buildings, undercover cops around me," Rushing recalled.
For his part, Elizondo has been based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for the past two years -- and he continues to see Al-Jazeera English as a worthy and credible news organization that's been unfairly demonized in the American press. The net is attempting to change its reputation via a website called IWantAJE.com, which provides viewers with an opportunity to sample its fare and to demand that it be made more widely available. Elizondo is fully supportive of this goal, as he makes clear in a wide-ranging e-mail update accessible below. Also included: two complete reports from Elizondo, reporting in recent weeks from Brazil and Venezuela.
Click "Continue" to get the scoop on Al-Jazeera English from an enthusiastic insider.
What have I been up to?
I have been based in Sao Paulo, Brazil for AJE for a little over 2 years now. In August of 07, I was in Lima, Peru editing a documentary when a huge earthquake hit Peru. It was immediately an international story. I started reporting on-air, and continued reporting from Peru for several days. Within 24 hours, I was live from the epicenter of the quake in the town of Pisco. After this terrible event, I returned to Sao Paulo and have pretty much been reporting ever since. I mostly cover Brazil. It's a huge country (about as big as the US) and an important country (largest economy in Latin America), so I am on the road a lot. I spend a lot of time in the Amazon region of Brazil, and recently did a series of stories from the Amazon related to our coverage of the World Social Forum, which was held in Belem, Brazil last month. One of the stories can be seen here:
I was in Venezuela for the constitutional referendum Feb 15. So far this year, I have spent only about 6 days in Sao Paulo. Next week (March 1-7), I go back to Peru for several stories, and then to Doha, Qatar for some training before coming back to Sao Paulo.
Lack of availability in the U.S.A.
When I left Denver, in late 2004, to move to Washington DC to work for Al Jazeera English a lot of people told me it could turn out to be career suicide. It's been just the opposite for me. The channel has developed into one of the premier English language news channels in the world. The channel is received in over 120 million homes around the world. It's too bad most people in the U.S. still do not have that ability. People in places like Denver, Colorado should not be obligated to watch Al Jazeera English, but Coloradoans should at least have the freedom to watch Al Jazeera English on their television. Every time I go to the U.S., I flip through the channels and I am amazed at all the junk on cable TV. The bad, mind-numbing television outnumbers the good programming 3 to 1. There are endless channels devoted to home improvement and reality TV. Those channels are fine, too. But being able to watch AJE's serious journalism from underreported corners of the globe is still not available, which is sad given all the space on cable devoted to other arenas I would deem less important to understanding issues around the world that affect the U.S.
AJE Continues to Grow
I am very fortunate right now, because as media organizations cut back on global newsgathering, AJE continues to show a commitment to expansion and covering important stories around the world. This is not lost on me. Now, more than ever, it's critical that people see AJE. Just to give you an example, on Feb. 15, Venezuela held a constitutional referendum that would allow Hugo Chavez the ability to run for office again. Given the strained relations between Venezuela and the U.S.A., I would think this would be an important story for people in the U.S. But Venezuela is an expensive country to do journalism. But that did not stop AJE. My bosses wanted to show in-depth coverage that went beyond the soundbites. So we had one correspondent in Caracas and another one (myself) far outside of Caracas in a different state reporting for an entire week. There were two producers from Washington DC, two cameramen, and even a web editor from http://english.aljazeera.net/ reporting for the web site from Venezuela.
One of my Venezuela reports can be seen here:
This is just one example, of many, of the coverage AJE provides.
I look back at that story you wrote in 2005 and there was a lot of unspoken speculation about what Al Jazeera English "wanted" to be, or what it "strived" to be. That was to be expected, as at the time it was an unproven entity. But that is no longer the case. There are over 7,000 videos uploaded to the AJE You Tube page and hundreds of articles on our web site. My friends who travel abroad a lot often e-mail me saying stuff like, "Hey, when I was in XYZ country, I got AJE on the TV and saw your story about this or that." The rest of the world is watching. If I was living in Colorado right now, I would be asking myself, "Why can't I?"
Finally! Some national love for Al Jazeera English
You know I've gone on (and on) about the English-language channel from the Arabic news giant al-Jazeera for more than two years. I did a big blowout on it in the summer of '07 and was thrilled when it started streaming 24/7 on Livestation, where I monitored its unparalleled coverage of the Gaza situation.
Today my buddy David Folkenflik at NPR devoted a segment on "Morning Edition" to a story about AJE, prompted by an awareness campaign the channel has been running to get people to call their cable or satellite operators and yell, "I Want My AJE!" (Besides featuring yours truly in a couple of places on that website, I notice they use a picture of the Kansas City Royals' John Buck at Yankee Stadium trying to tag out Robbie Cano. Thanks for the shout-out, guys!)
As nice as all the media attention is, I'm not sure it's enough, though. Here's why.
Back in 1996, I reported a story for the New York Times about the fledgling new channel from Rupert Murdoch called Fox News, as part of a wider profile of cable news channels. (Now there's a fun memory -- especially the part where then-private citizen Michael Bloomberg buttonholed publisher Arthur Sulzberger at a party and demanded to know why his Bloomberg TV hadn't been included in the profile ... which led to a nervous phone call to me from my editor ... to which I replied, "Well, Jane, because you didn't ask me to do a profile of business news channels." A story devoted to Bloomberg and CNBC soon appeared in the Times.)
And it was while reporting that piece that I learned Murdoch had done the reverse of what a cable programmer normally does. In the usual scheme of things, a cable operator pays a programmer for the right to carry its channels. Murdoch paid the operators to put his Fox News Channel on their systems. He reportedly made a one-time payment of as much as $7 per subscriber, which would work out to more than $2 million to get Fox News on in Kansas City alone.
Murdoch wasn't alone in paying for placement; as I wrote in a subsequent piece for the Times, the people running HGTV did the same at that channel's launch. The subscribers did the rest. Within a year I was hearing from readers out in the boonies wondering when the liberal media was going to let them have their Fox News. Soon cable operators not so fortunate to have Murdoch showering money on them were negotiating with him to carry his channel. Needless to say, the money train was no longer going in reverse by then.
I've thought about that story when considering Al Jazeera English. The emir of Qatar has spent a lot of money to get that channel on the air. AJE has doubled its coverage in the past two years and now reaches nearly 140 million homes worldwide. But almost none in the U.S. and Canada. Two exceptions are Toledo and Burlington, Vermont, and I think it speaks damningly to the nature of corporate-owned media in this country that the two cable systems in the U.S. that carry Al Jazeera English are locally owned and operated. (Some inside-the-Beltway locales also get AJE piped in -- notably the Pentagon.)
Tony Burman, the new chief of AJE, is determined to overcome this, and other than dispensing the occasional insult about the audience he's trying to woo, seems to be doing the right things. He replaced some of the British executives whose stereotypes about Americans caused its highest-profile anchor, Dave Marash, to quit in protest. He launched the IWantAJE website and media campaign to speak to the corporate cable media in a fashion they understand.
But I think he may still have to pay to play. The world news TV market is a stubbornly slow-growth market here in the U.S. It's not just AJE struggling for carriage; BBC World and France 24 would like to be carried coast to coast, but they just can't get corporate cable operators interested. And let's face it: Money is tight in that business right now. So I would encourage him -- and will when I talk to him in an interview -- to bring this matter up with the emir and see if he can't shake loose a few mil to get AJE in some big-city markets, even if only on digital cable.
It's a good channel. And no matter what the Israelis say, their spokesmen are fixtures on AJE, and more importantly -- it's carried all over Israel! People there watch it. Would that Americans watched this channel that they seem to already know so much about.
Today my buddy David Folkenflik at NPR devoted a segment on "Morning Edition" to a story about AJE, prompted by an awareness campaign the channel has been running to get people to call their cable or satellite operators and yell, "I Want My AJE!" (Besides featuring yours truly in a couple of places on that website, I notice they use a picture of the Kansas City Royals' John Buck at Yankee Stadium trying to tag out Robbie Cano. Thanks for the shout-out, guys!)
As nice as all the media attention is, I'm not sure it's enough, though. Here's why.
Back in 1996, I reported a story for the New York Times about the fledgling new channel from Rupert Murdoch called Fox News, as part of a wider profile of cable news channels. (Now there's a fun memory -- especially the part where then-private citizen Michael Bloomberg buttonholed publisher Arthur Sulzberger at a party and demanded to know why his Bloomberg TV hadn't been included in the profile ... which led to a nervous phone call to me from my editor ... to which I replied, "Well, Jane, because you didn't ask me to do a profile of business news channels." A story devoted to Bloomberg and CNBC soon appeared in the Times.)
And it was while reporting that piece that I learned Murdoch had done the reverse of what a cable programmer normally does. In the usual scheme of things, a cable operator pays a programmer for the right to carry its channels. Murdoch paid the operators to put his Fox News Channel on their systems. He reportedly made a one-time payment of as much as $7 per subscriber, which would work out to more than $2 million to get Fox News on in Kansas City alone.
Murdoch wasn't alone in paying for placement; as I wrote in a subsequent piece for the Times, the people running HGTV did the same at that channel's launch. The subscribers did the rest. Within a year I was hearing from readers out in the boonies wondering when the liberal media was going to let them have their Fox News. Soon cable operators not so fortunate to have Murdoch showering money on them were negotiating with him to carry his channel. Needless to say, the money train was no longer going in reverse by then.
I've thought about that story when considering Al Jazeera English. The emir of Qatar has spent a lot of money to get that channel on the air. AJE has doubled its coverage in the past two years and now reaches nearly 140 million homes worldwide. But almost none in the U.S. and Canada. Two exceptions are Toledo and Burlington, Vermont, and I think it speaks damningly to the nature of corporate-owned media in this country that the two cable systems in the U.S. that carry Al Jazeera English are locally owned and operated. (Some inside-the-Beltway locales also get AJE piped in -- notably the Pentagon.)
Tony Burman, the new chief of AJE, is determined to overcome this, and other than dispensing the occasional insult about the audience he's trying to woo, seems to be doing the right things. He replaced some of the British executives whose stereotypes about Americans caused its highest-profile anchor, Dave Marash, to quit in protest. He launched the IWantAJE website and media campaign to speak to the corporate cable media in a fashion they understand.
But I think he may still have to pay to play. The world news TV market is a stubbornly slow-growth market here in the U.S. It's not just AJE struggling for carriage; BBC World and France 24 would like to be carried coast to coast, but they just can't get corporate cable operators interested. And let's face it: Money is tight in that business right now. So I would encourage him -- and will when I talk to him in an interview -- to bring this matter up with the emir and see if he can't shake loose a few mil to get AJE in some big-city markets, even if only on digital cable.
It's a good channel. And no matter what the Israelis say, their spokesmen are fixtures on AJE, and more importantly -- it's carried all over Israel! People there watch it. Would that Americans watched this channel that they seem to already know so much about.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Al Jazeera's new-media department: news as conversation
"Using ... latest trends to broaden and engage the audience of Al Jazeera’s Arabic and English news channels and websites is the mandate of the broadcaster’s new media department, which was established in 2006 under the leadership of Mohamed Nanabhay. ... The department tends to see news as more of a conversation than a speech, and pushes the larger organisation to make its content free as much as possible. One of its first projects was to upload full-length Al Jazeera Arabic-language programmes to YouTube – itself an innovation back when other broadcasters such as the BBC put only promos on the free video service – and then record a YouTube appeal by the show’s presenter for viewers to send in their thoughts. They received 150 videos on the first try, and aired some of the responses during the next broadcasts of the show." The National, 17 February 2009. "Al Jazeera Labs, the home of the multimedia team's experiments in beta, has allowed users to see ... developments in progress before they are turned into 'actual products', Al Jazeera head of new media, Mohamed Nanabhay, tells Journalism.co.uk. ...'We're in perpetual beta. We've had a lot of positive feedback, talking about how it is a very positive development. While it's quite rough, it's in a very useable form.'" journalism.co.uk, 16 February 2009
Al Jazeera English examines Israeli war crimes
20 February 2009Doha - Al Jazeera English releases a new programme, A Crime of War? as part of its weekly programme Focus on Gaza. The programme comes as human rights investigators continue to look into allegations that Israeli soldiers may have committed crimes of war during their Gaza military campaign. A Crime of War? will premiere on Al Jazeera English at 14:30 GMT today, and run through the week.
The programme will focus on the story of an alleged war crime that occurred during the war on Gaza in the small village of Khuza'a, approximately 500 metres from the Israeli border. Interviews with village residents tell the story of a Gazan woman who was killed with a single shot to the head while waving a white flag as she led children to safety. A Crime of War? will also examine the aftermath of the incident, including interviews with experts on International Humanitarian Law who offer their evaluation of whether a crime of war was committed. "Al Jazeera's coverage of the War on Gaza was unparalleled and, as a network, we remain committed to reporting on every facet of life in Gaza," said Mike Dillon, Head of Current Affairs for AJE.
"The war may be over, but human suffering continues on a massive scale. I believe that our programme, A Crime of War?, will provide a thorough investigation into these war crimes allegations."
The programme will focus on the story of an alleged war crime that occurred during the war on Gaza in the small village of Khuza'a, approximately 500 metres from the Israeli border. Interviews with village residents tell the story of a Gazan woman who was killed with a single shot to the head while waving a white flag as she led children to safety. A Crime of War? will also examine the aftermath of the incident, including interviews with experts on International Humanitarian Law who offer their evaluation of whether a crime of war was committed. "Al Jazeera's coverage of the War on Gaza was unparalleled and, as a network, we remain committed to reporting on every facet of life in Gaza," said Mike Dillon, Head of Current Affairs for AJE.
"The war may be over, but human suffering continues on a massive scale. I believe that our programme, A Crime of War?, will provide a thorough investigation into these war crimes allegations."
Al Jazeera boss: "Americans, God love them, are the most uninformed people on the planet"
Tony Burman was at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for years. Now he's running Al Jazeera English, and gives a long interview to a blog from due North. AJE is proving to be a pretty popular brand everywhere but North America, and Burman with his deep understanding of the Canadian system seems poised to get it landed there as well. That would leave us.
And judging from this money quote, Burman knows it's going to be a tough sell here:
"Societies that see news media as a central part of their political and cultural lives do not trust market forces, commercial forces, to exclusively provide media. There's only one country that does that now, that effectively has no public system, and that's the United States. It's got a very small public television presence in PBS and a somewhat larger radio one with NPR. But there's a pride in the U.S. in saying most of our media is due to commercial companies. The result of that is that you have a lot of awful journalism being done in the U.S. Throughout Europe, Canada, in Britain, you have strong public broadcasters. The people of those countries have the opportunity through their taxes to ensure that at least there's one broadcaster that's working on their behalf.
"If the people of any country rely solely on private companies to provide essential information, the lifeblood of democracy, then you're really risking it. I think countries like the U.S. have done that to their peril. Americans, God love them, are one of the most uninformed people on the planet. A lot of it has to do with the failure of their media to keep them informed. Canadians should be very proud of the historical origins of public broadcasting. I think from afar that Canadian politicians are dropping the ball. Many of them think the American model is one to be emulated."
I still think that if the emir has a few million to spare, he should really think about paying to get AJE placed on cable systems in the U.S. Ten years ago, my readers were bellyaching for the Fox News Channel. But all the complaining in the world wouldn't have done much good had Rupert Murdoch not decided to pay the piper.
And judging from this money quote, Burman knows it's going to be a tough sell here:
"Societies that see news media as a central part of their political and cultural lives do not trust market forces, commercial forces, to exclusively provide media. There's only one country that does that now, that effectively has no public system, and that's the United States. It's got a very small public television presence in PBS and a somewhat larger radio one with NPR. But there's a pride in the U.S. in saying most of our media is due to commercial companies. The result of that is that you have a lot of awful journalism being done in the U.S. Throughout Europe, Canada, in Britain, you have strong public broadcasters. The people of those countries have the opportunity through their taxes to ensure that at least there's one broadcaster that's working on their behalf.
"If the people of any country rely solely on private companies to provide essential information, the lifeblood of democracy, then you're really risking it. I think countries like the U.S. have done that to their peril. Americans, God love them, are one of the most uninformed people on the planet. A lot of it has to do with the failure of their media to keep them informed. Canadians should be very proud of the historical origins of public broadcasting. I think from afar that Canadian politicians are dropping the ball. Many of them think the American model is one to be emulated."
I still think that if the emir has a few million to spare, he should really think about paying to get AJE placed on cable systems in the U.S. Ten years ago, my readers were bellyaching for the Fox News Channel. But all the complaining in the world wouldn't have done much good had Rupert Murdoch not decided to pay the piper.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Al Jazeera “Dining with Terrorists” screens in NZ
Al Jazeera’s six-part series “Dining with Terrorists” screens in NZ .
News about a New Zealander being arrested in Pakistan this month suggested he was in the Taleban and al Qaeda stronghold region to make contact with terrorists.
Mark Taylor, 35, has not been able to seen by New Zealand authorities yet, but further reports suggest he may be a journalist. If that proves to be correct, he will not be the first journalist to attempt to “get inside” and learn about what motivates “terrorists”.
New Zealand TV channels Stratos and Triangle screen from tomorrow (Friday February 20) “Dining with Terrorists”, a six-part series that sees author and journalist Phil Rees travel to South Asia, the Middle East and the Americas to meet – and even eat with – men and women accused by others of terrorism and to try and understand their point of view.
Rees meets Basque separatists, Serb nationalists and their Kosovar Albanian foes, Colombian coca farmers, Irish Republicans and Tamil Tigers as he seeks to discover what motivates those who commit terrible violence.In the first of the series he asks if the old adage that one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter still applies.
“Dining With Terrorists” is served up via Stratos and Triangle’s link with Al Jazeera TV, and as a result screens at a variety of times that may encourage some to record it for later viewing. Screening times can be found on www.stratostv.co.nz or www.tritv.co.nz. NZ’s Triangle is the only free-to-air TV channel in the world to broadcast Al Jazeera English.
Rees graduated from Oxford in 1982 and started his career at the BBC. He has won numerous international awards for coverage and documentaries of conflict throughout the world and he now writes and reports for a variety of international organisations.
This TV series comes from his book “Dining With Terrorists” published in 2005. It was lauded by the critics and recommended by the British Journalism Review as “compulsory reading for every editor, journalist and politician – before it is too late."
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
British lawmakers slam Al Jazeera
British lawmakers condemned the Al Jazeera network for broadcasting a Muslim cleric's sermon in which he allegedly celebrates the Holocaust and prays for the killing of all Jews.
Sheik Yusuf al-Quaradawi, who hosts the popular program "Shariah and Life" on the Arabic language international news network, described the Holocaust as "divine punishment" and prayed to Allah to kill Jews "down to the very last one."
The Muslim cleric, 82, who is no stranger to controversy, said in his sermon, "The last punishment was carried out by Hitler." He went on to say that "This was divine punishment for them. Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers."
John Whittingdale, chairman of the House of Commons Media Select Committee, called on Al Jazeera to apologize for screening the anti-Semitic sermon and to ban al-Quaradawi from appearing in the future. But the network refused to apologize, claiming that it cannot control the content of live broadcasts.
"I would hope that anyone who watches is or is aware of it may change their attitude towards Al Jazeera," Whittingdale told the Times. "I would've thought it is very damaging. Al Jazeera should apologize."
Al Jazeera gained popularity in Britain when it launched its English-language network alongside the Arabic language network, which has more than 50 million households watching in 100 countries.
Sheik Yusuf al-Quaradawi, who hosts the popular program "Shariah and Life" on the Arabic language international news network, described the Holocaust as "divine punishment" and prayed to Allah to kill Jews "down to the very last one."
The Muslim cleric, 82, who is no stranger to controversy, said in his sermon, "The last punishment was carried out by Hitler." He went on to say that "This was divine punishment for them. Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers."
John Whittingdale, chairman of the House of Commons Media Select Committee, called on Al Jazeera to apologize for screening the anti-Semitic sermon and to ban al-Quaradawi from appearing in the future. But the network refused to apologize, claiming that it cannot control the content of live broadcasts.
"I would hope that anyone who watches is or is aware of it may change their attitude towards Al Jazeera," Whittingdale told the Times. "I would've thought it is very damaging. Al Jazeera should apologize."
Al Jazeera gained popularity in Britain when it launched its English-language network alongside the Arabic language network, which has more than 50 million households watching in 100 countries.
Al Jazeera fights "myths" in North American push
Al Jazeera is starting a public relations campaign to dispel what it calls myths and misperceptions that have prevented it from reaching more U.S. and Canadian viewers, the international television news network said on Tuesday.
Al Jazeera's English-language service is starting a website called IWantAJE.net, offering news the Qatar-based network produces and a list of "Hits and Myths" knocking down statements about the network that it says are untrue.
It is launching a similar site for Canadians, IWantAJE.ca, as it prepares to seek permission from the Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in Canada to offer its service through cable and satellite providers there.
The websites will ask people to e-mail to their cable and satellite providers asking them to carry the channel. Viewers can also watch the channel live on the website and read bulletins with the day's top stories.
Along with the website, Al Jazeera said it would buy print and online advertisements in newspapers such as the Globe & Mail in Toronto, The New York Times, and the Huffington Post. It follows a campaign that ran last month in the Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy and Politico.com.
Al Jazeera, whose Arabic-language channel is available in the United States through the DISH satellite TV network, is available in English through a small number of cable operators in the United States. Worldwide, about 130 million households have access to the site.
Al Jazeera has said that gaining access in the United States has been hampered by what it calls misperceptions that it supports al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden, that it is anti-Semitic and anti-American, that it shows beheadings, and that it has an anti-Western agenda.
"We don't wear horns. Osama bin Laden does not have a weekly interview show," said Tony Burman, managing director of Al Jazeera English and former editor in chief at the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
When former U.S. Marine Corps Captain Josh Rushing, now a reporter for Al Jazeera, went with a TV crew to Golden, Colorado, to cover the Democratic presidential convention last year, Al Jazeera's presence sparked protests from local motorcycle gangs.
"People who have never watched it have a super-strong opinion about this thing they've never seen and don't want it on their airwaves," Rushing said.
Nonetheless, Al Jazeera English is close to announcing a deal with a major cable provider, Burman said, but he declined to name the company because the talks are ongoing.
Al Jazeera's English-language service is starting a website called IWantAJE.net, offering news the Qatar-based network produces and a list of "Hits and Myths" knocking down statements about the network that it says are untrue.
It is launching a similar site for Canadians, IWantAJE.ca, as it prepares to seek permission from the Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in Canada to offer its service through cable and satellite providers there.
The websites will ask people to e-mail to their cable and satellite providers asking them to carry the channel. Viewers can also watch the channel live on the website and read bulletins with the day's top stories.
Along with the website, Al Jazeera said it would buy print and online advertisements in newspapers such as the Globe & Mail in Toronto, The New York Times, and the Huffington Post. It follows a campaign that ran last month in the Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy and Politico.com.
Al Jazeera, whose Arabic-language channel is available in the United States through the DISH satellite TV network, is available in English through a small number of cable operators in the United States. Worldwide, about 130 million households have access to the site.
Al Jazeera has said that gaining access in the United States has been hampered by what it calls misperceptions that it supports al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden, that it is anti-Semitic and anti-American, that it shows beheadings, and that it has an anti-Western agenda.
"We don't wear horns. Osama bin Laden does not have a weekly interview show," said Tony Burman, managing director of Al Jazeera English and former editor in chief at the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
When former U.S. Marine Corps Captain Josh Rushing, now a reporter for Al Jazeera, went with a TV crew to Golden, Colorado, to cover the Democratic presidential convention last year, Al Jazeera's presence sparked protests from local motorcycle gangs.
"People who have never watched it have a super-strong opinion about this thing they've never seen and don't want it on their airwaves," Rushing said.
Nonetheless, Al Jazeera English is close to announcing a deal with a major cable provider, Burman said, but he declined to name the company because the talks are ongoing.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Al-Jazeera English ban in Canada smells of fear
A Canadian cable company is applying to the CRTC for the right to broadcast Al-Jazeera English. Although controversial, the station should be allowed in Canada - you may not agree with all their views, but that should be possible in a free society. In addition, since the station is already available on the Internet, the discussion is essentially moot.
Al-Jazeera is reviled by some and exalted by others - sometimes due to the person’s viewpoint, sometimes because the coverage shows the other side of the story, and sometimes due to purposely inaccurate accusations - like the accusation of affiliation with Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Many feel that their coverage of the war in Gaza may be their debut (in the west) as a legitimate and balanced news station. Gideon Levy from Israel’s Haaretz newspaper has praise for Al-Jazeera English and especially forAyman Mohyideen - the war correspondent from Al-Jazeera.
With the likes of Avi Lewis, Ayman Mohyeldin, and Tony Burman in their ranks, Al-Jazeera is primed to reach Canadian audiences who have the ability to dissect their news and form individual opinion. Others will continue to suppress fact, speech and opinion by using fear.
AJE's New Recruit: BBC Strand Editor
Hisham Al Deeb an ex BBC editor is AJE's new recruit.
Hisham who worked before for Arabic networks AlJazeera and Alarabiya joined AJE lately coming from BBC's newly launched Arabic Television.
The new editor will liaise between the English channel and other parts of the Jazeera network.
Hisham who worked before for Arabic networks AlJazeera and Alarabiya joined AJE lately coming from BBC's newly launched Arabic Television.
The new editor will liaise between the English channel and other parts of the Jazeera network.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Al-Jazeera drew US viewers on Web during Gaza war
(AP) — American viewership of Al-Jazeera English rose dramatically during the Israel-Hamas war, partly because the channel had what CNN and other international networks didn't have: reporters inside Gaza.
But the viewers weren't watching it on television, where the Arab network's English-language station has almost no U.S. presence.
Instead, the station streamed video of Israel's offensive against Hamas on the Internet and took advantage of emerging online media such as the microblogging Web site Twitter to provide real-time updates.
During the 22-day conflict that ended last weekend, the station and its Arabic language sister, as they often do, aired far more graphic pictures than U.S. networks of dead and injured Palestinian children and women.
The images, viewed widely across the Mideast, generated enormous sympathy for Gazans in the Muslim world.
"Gaza ... was a breakthrough opportunity to make an impact with people who are less aware of Al-Jazeera than we'd like," said Tony Burman, managing director of the English-language channel in Qatar.
"There is an alternative perspective our channel provides, and Gaza was a good example," Burman said.
Al-Jazeera had another draw: Its reporters were inside Gaza while international networks such as CNN were barred by Israel from sending reporters in throughout the entire war. Israeli TV focused mostly on Israeli casualty reports and Hamas rocket barrages.
"Having reporters in Gaza — which others did not have — that's what made Al-Jazeera stand out and that's important on the Internet," said Jeff Jarvis, who teaches journalism at the City University of New York and writes about media on his Buzzmachine.com blog.
Overall, the station's Web video stream saw a 600 percent jump in worldwide viewership during the Gaza offensive — and about 60 percent of those hits came from the United States, according to the station's internal numbers.
Outside figures also point to big gains in U.S. online interest, suggesting the war gave the Arab station its first significant chance to break into the American market.
Traffic to Al-Jazeera's main Web page, which includes both the English and Arabic sites, spiked once Israeli airstrikes began on Dec. 27, according to Amazon.com Inc.'s Alexa Web tracking site.
Those figures show the share of Internet users visiting the site shot up about 22 percent over the last three months, with most of the gains coming since the start of the Gaza conflict.
The jump in viewership reflects wider trends in global media, where the Web increasingly is the place where viewers go to watch video and social networking sites and citizen journalism are merging with traditional news coverage.
Al-Jazeera English and Arabic are both bankrolled by energy-rich Qatar, a U.S. Arab ally that also supports the militant Hamas rulers of Gaza and which recently suspended its low-level ties with Israel to protest the Gaza offensive.
Feisty and sometimes graphic coverage of global carnage is an Al-Jazeera specialty, as is bracing commentary that has shaken up the Arab world and rattled the West.
Since Al-Jazeera English went on the air in November 2006, it has struggled to gain a spot on traditional American airwaves. The station says only three small cable operators offer the network in Ohio, Vermont and Washington, D.C.
None of the biggest U.S. cable systems carries Al-Jazeera English, claiming viewer interest is not sufficient.
The former Bush administration had accused Al-Jazeera's Arabic station of anti-American bias. Some members of the administration criticized the network after the Sept. 11 attacks because of its access to and willingness to air tapes of Osama bin Laden.
A frustrated President Bush even talked of bombing the Arabic-language channel's headquarters in 2004, according to a leaked British government memo.
The publicly owned cable system in Burlington, Vt. that carries Al-Jazeera English, has faced pressure and even calls for a ballot initiative to remove the channel by a group that claims the station is anti-American.
But the Internet has made it possible for the network to reach American viewers despite the limitations of its cable television broadcasts.
The English channel has a different staff and separate budget from the Arabic network. Its executives say they have no political agenda in coverage of the Mideast.
Politics aside, there is little question that the Gaza war gave the station a viewership boost — similar to what CNN got on cable in the 1991 Gulf War.
From its start, Al-Jazeera English has offered grainy, low-resolution access to the same broadcasts shown on cable television through its Web site. Higher-quality transmissions were also available for a price.
A few months before the Gaza offensive began, the network began the same broadcasts on a new Web-based platform known as Livestation, which allows users to watch high-quality broadcasts online live and for free.
The service, which is being developed by a London-based technology company partially backed by Microsoft Corp., has also signed up a number of other news networks, including Bloomberg Television and BBC World.
Livestation said Al-Jazeera English footage viewed on its site jumped to 17 million minutes worldwide over a two week period during the Gaza conflict, up from 3 million minutes in a similar time period before the conflict began.
The service did not break down those numbers by specific country. But it said that over one full week of the Gaza conflict, the number of U.S. viewers to Al-Jazeera English on Livestation surged by six times the usual level.
The boost in viewership was also reflected on YouTube where viewers can watch individual television reports. Over the past month during the Gaza crisis, Al-Jazeera was the most viewed English-language traditional news channel on YouTube's "News and Politics" category.
The network, like its global rivals, is pushing aggressively into other online media. It set up a page dedicated to Gaza coverage on the "microblogging" site Twitter and is experimenting with interactive maps. It also actively seeks photos and other eyewitness accounts from viewers.
Ayman Mohyeldin, the network's 29-year-old correspondent who reported on Israel's military offensive live for 22 days, became a well-known figure to many viewers.
Dressed in a bulletproof vest and helmet, the U.S.-educated journalist of Egyptian descent described in great detail life and death during Israeli air raids. He now has at least one fan club on Facebook.
Posting...
Two years or so passed since i last posted here. I stopped the day i started working for AJE, but though i left the channel still i halted posting, but now here i am again.
The past years many things changed at AJE, managers went and came, journalists too, but the channel is still there giving its best.
From today on i will keep you posted..
The past years many things changed at AJE, managers went and came, journalists too, but the channel is still there giving its best.
From today on i will keep you posted..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
