The New York Times today
reports that Qatar faces the wrath of certain U.S. leaders over the station Al Jazeera.
Under Pressure, Qatar May Sell Jazeera Station
By Steven R. Weisman
WASHINGTON - The tiny state of Qatar is a crucial American ally in the Persian Gulf, where it provides a military base and warm support for American policies. Yet relations with Qatar are also strained over an awkward issue: Qatar's sponsorship of Al Jazeera, the provocative television station that is a big source of news in the Arab world.
Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and other Bush administration officials have complained heatedly to Qatari leaders that Al Jazeera's broadcasts have been inflammatory, misleading and occasionally false, especially on Iraq.
The pressure has been so intense, a senior Qatari official said, that the government is accelerating plans to put Al Jazeera on the market, though Bush administration officials counter that a privately owned station in the region may be no better from their point of view.
"We have recently added new members to the Al Jazeera editorial board, and one of their tasks is to explore the best way to sell it," said the Qatari official, who said he could be more candid about the situation if he was not identified. "We really have a headache, not just from the United States but from advertisers and from other countries as well." Asked if the sale might dilute Al Jazeera's content, the official said, "I hope not."
Estimates of Al Jazeera's audience range from 30 million to 50 million, putting it well ahead of its competitors. But that success does not translate into profitability, and the station relies on a big subsidy from the Qatari government, which in the past has explored ways to sell it. The official said Qatar hoped to find a buyer within a year.
Its coverage has disturbed not only Washington, but also Arab governments from Egypt to Saudi Arabia. With such a big audience, but a lack of profitability, it is not clear who might be in the pool of potential buyers, or how a new owner might change the editorial content. ...
"It's completely two-faced for the United States to try to muzzle the one network with the most credibility in the Middle East, even if it does sometimes say things that are wrong," said an Arab diplomat. "The administration should be working with Al Jazeera and putting people on the air."
"Completely two-faced" is about the most charitable description I can imagine for the Administration's bald-faced bullshit about freedom of the press. The real issue is that Al Jazeera's journalists aren't for sale like the Armstrong Williamses of the world, and not lockstep with Rupert Murdoch or Conrad Black.
A confession. We subscribe to Al Jazeera at our house via satellite, and my Libyan-raised stepson watches it several times a day, helpfully translating what I can't understand, which is quite a lot considering the rudimentary nature of my Arabic.
Its coverage of the Palestinian conflict reports a side rarely seen in the U.S. media. Likewise concerning Iraq.
I'm no pollyanna regarding the station. Some of its reporting is rather poor. It did a very bad job during the early part of the war itself, claiming the U.S. was having a tough go of it against fierce resistance, which turned out to be utterly wrong. But worse than Fox at its best, or the increasingly mediocre and jingoistic CNN? Hardly.
Al Jazeera has been kicked out of numerous Middle Eastern countries not because its reporting is lame or biased, but because it has put the autocrats running most of those countries into the spotlight, where they do not come off as sparkling examples of enlightened leadership. Iraq kicked it out, too, claiming its coverage - like that focusing on civilian casualties in Fallujah - was inflammatory. No doubt. But was it accurate?
An American official noted that Al Jazeera had not only alienated the United States but had also angered officials in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt and many other countries by focusing on internal problems in those nations. "They must be doing something right," he said.
Indeed. Exactly the kind of journalism that leaders like Mubarak, Qadafi, the Saudi royals and George Bush fear most. Exactly the kind we have far too little of.