Al Jazeera speaks English. But how?
Federica Zoja 19 January 2009

Cairo, Egypt

“I would say that after a beginning of high quality level but lacking in a distinctive personality, the network identity is finally starting to take shape.” With these words Lawrence Pintak, director of Adham Centre for TV journalism at the American University in Cairo (AUC) and journalist, describes the rise of the new satellite channel Al Jazeera International. At the beginning, Pintak noticed, “the perspective through which the news was made was global, as in CNN and BBC”. It was difficult to define original traits and editorial choices. But, now that the channel has settled in, “one perceives that it is an Arab production and, moreover,” the scholar continues, “one can identify a ‘global south’ perspective; the attention towards the issues of developing countries is unique in the scene of news channels.”

But what was the event that marked the transition from the beginnings to real thing? “I believe that Pierre Gemayel’s assassination in Lebanon (a thirty-year-old Minister in Seniora’s government and a descendant of the powerful Maronite-Christian family Gemayel) was the turning point. The coverage of that event by Al Jazeera International overcame quite a lot of the other English speaking channels: in depth, quantity of news, research of comments and opinions. They were capable and able to treat Gemayel’s death better than others…by exploiting Arab Al Jazeera experience.” The same is true for “Palestinian stories” and for Arab issues relating to the “post- 9/11” world. “Compared with its competitors, the new channel devotes 30% more of its programs to terrorism, not only in terms of news items, but also in terms of analysis.”

With the English language station, can the Qatari mass-media group improve its image and erase distrust by averting suspicion of links to the “evil Sheik” Osama bin Laden? “I don’t think that Al Jazeera group has invested all this money for “marketing”” Pintak concludes. “Communication media are above all power. And Doha was able to put the Saudi primacy in the region in a critical position. I believe that the objective was and remains, giving little Qatar the stature of an influential country in the Arab world.” On a journalistic level, Al Jazeera production, whether English or Arab, gives an energy drive to the global scene: “Besides, by recruiting the best professionals on the market, Al Jazeera imposed on itself some limits to news manipulation. The journalists they hired have a reputation to defend, they are strong and influential, and won’t let any publisher trample on them. They will aim for the best.”

Overall vision; where is it?

Dr. Ibrahim Saleh, a professor of Journalism and Mass Communication at the American University in Cairo, holds a different opinion and stresses the general “crisis of identity that all Arab television is going through”. “Once,” Saleh reminds us “Qatar television lived through a big boom. The circumstances then were completely different from a journalistic perspective. Ten years ago, a culture of reports and inquiries was missing from the scene of Arab communication.” But now, according to the scholar, “Al Jazeera has lost its shine: the West considers it a station to be viewed with suspicion, because – in some way – it is associated with Al Qaeda terrorism; and the Arab world does it as well, where many believe that they have relationships with Israel or the United States.”

A network destined to divide, to have people talk about it, and that now maybe needs to refresh its image. The professor doesn’t hide his disappointment: “Finally we have a reference point, people said, we have images, inquiries, reliable news. But where is the report of truly important things?” Which then, are Al Jazeera’s faults, accused of everything and its opposite during the last ten years? What has happened, if this is true, to make it lose its credibility in front of its audience? “I believe that the reasons are two-fold: first of all, a sensationalist approach to the news that over time tired out.” And then, as a result, an attitude that Ibrahim defines as “double standards,” that is to say a certain indulgence toward some close and powerful middle-eastern regimes, for example the Saudis.

“Al Arabiya is not perfect,” Ibrahim admits, “but thanks to a “low profile”, less dramatic style, it has steered its course towards different audiences.” Regarding Al Manat, the Lebanese network that links up to the Hezbollah party, “it is too bad that it was banned in Europe, because knowing different points of view is important. It is a niche network, but it offers good events coverage.” Although it has weakened on the home front, it seems that aiming for an English-speaking audience can give strength back to the Al Jazeera brand: “The group is trying to approach the Western world.  However it has a penetration problem because in the United Stated the service is offered via cable and web. And how many have access to the web stream?”

The issue of funding raises several doubts: “How long can one keep spending money without earning anything? No advertising, only the ownership that keeps putting money in. From a business perspective, it is expected that a network takes an average of five years to get steady.” But Al Jazeera has gone more than ten years and keeps representing only an expense to its owners. “Unless we talk of propaganda, then the discourse changes,” and obviously the reliability of the information. “For these financial-economical reasons, media experts don’t lay great expectations on Al Jazeera International, at least, not in journalistic terms. There is no doubt that the technologies and employees are really good, but I am still wondering what is the overall vision, the project, the editorial line and the real objective of the ownership” Saleh concludes.

The West: a difficult market to conquer

On the other hand, with regard to the new English-speaking channel, Augusto Valeriani, a researcher specializing in Arab media at Bologna University, talks of “another genius stroke” and proceeds to widen the perspective. He reminds us of the existence of Al Jazeera Children, Al Jazeera Sport, Al Jazeera Live, besides the website and a newspaper now under consideration. Valeriani compares the media group and the “initiatives of the Qatar Foundation; the Asian Games in Doha; the Motorcycle Gran Prix; the Doha debates series on BBC World,” and he highlights “the relevance of media diplomacy”. It is the proof that “even a little man can play with his shadow and frighten the giants.” But to forecast a brilliant future in terms of audience from this, requires some optimism. Valeriani doesn’t endorse this view: “I don’t believe that in the West the network will mark a change. The success of Arab Al Jazeera arose from the demand for quality information from the Arab part of the world itself. Maybe today there is a similar demand from Muslim communities that do not speak Arabic, but it is too early to say.” In the English-speaking world, instead, internet and tested channels already seem to be satisfying the need for news. Al Jazeera International will need to propose new perspectives and languages to attract this well-serviced audience.

Translation by Martina Toti

This article was published in January 2007

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