Aljazeera

by Pamela Horton
Al Jazeera is a satellite channel news medium most commonly known by Americans for airing tapes by Osama bin Laden. The series of tapes were of Laden sending messages via Al Jazeera satellite channel refusing to have any involvement with the September 2011 attacks on the twin towers in New York City, then in later messages admits to his plans for destruction. These messages started between the years of 2001 to 2011.
Al Jazeera is the closest medium in the Middle East that resembles the Western culture of journalism. Other media fall victim to government authority broadcasting and owned. Al Jazeera was funded by the Qatar government for five years, and then was to pay the money back to Qatar to remain an independent media not run by Arab governments.
Prince Khalifa (who overthrew his father as ruler) became ruler of Qatar. His entire family, Al Thani, is known for arguing and stealing the throne. It is no shock that Prince Khalifa took over while his father was on vacation. Unlike his father, Prince Khalifa, was a democratic leader. He wanted to change the entire way Arab lived. In doing so, he gave $150 million to start Al Jazeera. This would be an Arab medium, for the Arabs, and by the Arabs with a Western twist.
The idea of the Western culture for Al Jazeera was to remain objective and unbiased. It included talk shows about private Arab culture and brought it to the light. Women’s rights were addressed, having freedom of speech and the press, and uncovered corruptiveness within the Middle Eastern countries.
Colin Powell, former Secretary of State for the United States, becomes angry with Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera said, “Attempts by the U.S. government to exert control over media have been broad. In early October, Secretary of State Colin Powell voiced his concerns about the Al Jazeera television station during a meeting with Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Thani, the emir of Qatar. Powell reportedly told Thani to "rein in" Al Jazeera, which operates out of Qatar and relies on the government for significant funding (Washington Post, 10/9/01). Though the channel is considered by many to be the most independent TV news outlet in the Arab world, Powell and other U.S. officials were reportedly upset by the channel re-airing old interviews with bin Laden and the inclusion of guests that are too critical of the United States on its programs. (In attempting to muzzle Al Jazeera, Powell was mirroring the complaints of Arab nationalists who contend that the channel too often airs the views of Israelis and Western officials.)
When the “Secretary of State Colin Powell complained to Sheikh Hamad about Al-Jazeera’s "inflammatory" reporting. The following month U.S. bombs completely destroyed the agency's Kabul offices. The Israeli media have condemned Al-Jazeera for inciting Palestinian violence, while some Palestinians are enraged that Al-Jazeera interviewed representatives of the Likud government. Even the Arab League at one point called for a boycott of "the TV station that invites Israelis" to be interviewed”. (Kelly)
Later Colin Powell would admit to falsely accusing the Saudi government of harnessing nuclear weapons. Then resign his position of Secretary of State. This incident would leave Al Jazeera to report on the United States wanting to control the Middle Eastern media coverage.
Along with the bin Laden tapes airing, Al Jazeera released footage of civilians being killed and maimed in Afghanistan by the Taliban. Then, National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, told American news networks ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and Fox news to remove any foul language from the taped before being aired. The networks agreed.
Detailed case description and media coverage
The struggle to keep an audience for Western and non-Western media remains a conflicting issue between the two media mainly because the two media have totally different beliefs/cultures. Western media know that censorship is a must to keep their audiences’ attention and non-Western belief is a non-fiction route to the news with no censorship. The issue is there is not a global set of principles that all journalists favor or practice by causing censored and non-censored forms of media to cloud the audiences with different points of view.
Increasing modern technology, it is becoming easier for cultures to collide and their particular audiences reached. The United States have come up with preventive measures to protect its audience from non-Western media. One measure involves the transmission through blue tooth.
Iranian dissidents have used to transmit data outside authorities’ control. Developers are looking to create a system that allows users to mark data so that when other trusted individuals come into range their mobile devices automatically get the transfer. (Terzieff)
Al Jazeera wants to remain free of censorship. They said in order to report accurate, objective, and truthful news they need to speak up. The way they did this was showing scenes of suffering Afghan civilians experienced when the United States military invaded their country. The U.S. said this was in retaliation of the terrorists issues. Al Jazeera did not stop there. They continued to provide footage of Western held hostage by Iraq until the Al Jazeera left.
Despite graphic images or due to these images Al Jazeera becomes the most sought channel for news during the war. People all over the world tuned in for footage of the war.