Al-Jazeera English – Terror Television?

By Muhammad Owais

Being a globally oriented media service, Al-Jazeera started the vision and mission and set for itself for adhering to the journalistic values of honesty, courage, fairness, balance, independence, credibility and diversity, giving no priority to commercial or political considerations over professional ones, and cooperate with Arab and International journalistic unions and associations to defend freedom of the press.

Aljazeera-English is a 24-hour English-Language news and current affairs TV channel headquartered in Doha, Qatar. It is the sister channel of the Arabic-language Al-Jazeera. The station broadcasts news features and analysis, documentaries, live debates, current affairs, business, technology, and sports. The station claims to be the first global high-definition television network. The channel aims to provide both a regional voice and a global perspective to a potential world audience of over one billion English speakers who don't have an Anglo-American worldview. Instead of being run under central command, news management rotates around broadcasting centers in Kuala Lumpur, Doha, London and Washington, DC. Al-Jazeera English is the first English-language network headquartered in the Middle-East and one the few foreign media outlets to have agencies in Gaza and Harare.

The channel’s philosophy based upon the objectives of emphasizing news from the developing world, of "Reversing the North to South Flow of Information" and of "setting the news agenda" (also the channel's slogan). Some observers, including media scholar Adel Iskandar, have commented that this focus can be seen, in the eyes of Western viewers, as casting Al-Jazeera English as a global "alternative" news network, though the entire Al-Jazeera brand has been heavily mainstreamed in many parts of the world. Other Al-Jazeera English slogans and catchphrases include: "All the News | All the Time", "Fearless Journalism" and "If it's newsworthy, it gets on air, whether it's Bush or Bin Laden." Al-Jazeera's Code of Ethics mirrors some of these statements. The English brand identity and its "EVERY ANGLE | EVERY SIDE" promotional positioning was led by Director of Creative, Morgan Almeida, "to preserve the amazing Arabic heritage and extend this in a language familiar to diverse global audiences".

As far as the channel’s programmes and crew are concerns, most of the crew-members have joined Al-Jazeera from World’s renowned TV News Channels like CNN, BBC and the most rated programs are “The Listening Post”, “Witness”, “Counting the cost”, “Fault Lines”, “One on One” and “Riz Khan Show” etc.

Richard Gizbert presents the The Listening Post, a weekly show on Al Jazeera English. The show provides insight into how the news is handled by the world's media and it has been praised by critics. Aaron Barnhart, TV writer for the Kansas City Star, wrote that The Listening Post "might be the best media-critique program in English anywhere."Stewart Purvis, former editor-in-chief and CEO of the Britain's ITN, said "The Listening Post has delivered," and that its real value "is the breadth of its monitoring beyond the mainstream".

Witness - hosted by Rageh Omaar; a daily presentation of short documentaries from every part of the world, Ragheh Omaar visits for finding the facts and to be eye-witness for making his documentaries. His program was so admired during the incidents of Lal-Masjid in Pakistan.



Inside Story, by various presenter, is the top rated programs, provides analysis, background, and context on the day's top story from some of the best minds in the Middle East and around the world. More than just the news, Inside Story asks how we got to today and what tomorrow might have in store.

“Riz Khan Show” broadcast live, the Riz Khan show allows viewers from around the world to question world leaders, newsmakers and celebrities directly via phone, email, SMS, video-mail and fax. Hosted by internationally renowned journalist Riz Khan, the show gives you a voice in setting the news agenda on key issues and trends affecting lives around the globe.



“One on One” is more a conversation than a news interview, profiling celebrities and newsmakers from around the globe, with a focus on their personal histories, defining moments and goals in life. The programme provides an intimate look into their philosophy of life and the events and people that influenced their careers.

Beside all their stated unbiased news analysis about most of the international social, political and economic issues, Al-Jazeera is considered as Muslim’s International News Channel and facing so much criticism from European and American intellectual society for addressing Middle-East issues on the channel. Instead of having a large audience in the Middle-East and worldwide, the organization and the original Arabic channel in particular have been involved in numerous controversies, including in some parts of the Western world. Americans in general have an unfavorable view of Al-Jazeera. A widely reported criticism is the false allegation that Al-Jazeera had shown videos of masked terrorists beheading western hostages in Iraq. When this was reported in other media, Al-Jazeera pressed for retractions to be made. This allegation was again repeated on Fox News in the USA on the launch day of Al-Jazeera's English service, 15 November 2006. Later “The Guardian” apologized for incorrect information that Al-Jazeera 'had shown videos of masked terrorists beheading western hostages'.

Accuracy in Media (AIM), the US media watchdog group that campaigned to keep Al-Jazeera English off American airwaves in 2006, said today that Dave Marash’s decision to leave the channel confirms its warnings and fears. Marash, the top U.S. journalist at Al-Jazeera English, says that anti-American bias at the network was a factor in his decision to leave. “We have been vindicated,” said AIM editor Cliff Kincaid. “Marash’s departure will make it even more difficult for the channel to get U.S. media access.” In a Fox News Channel debate with Kincaid prior to the channel’s launch in 2006, Marash had claimed Al-Jazeera English would be editorially autonomous and independent from the original and pro-terrorist Arabic Al-Jazeera, based in Doha, Qatar. But AIM produced a report, “The Al-Jazeera Hall of Shame,” citing evidence that key Al-Jazeera English personnel had come from Al-Jazeera Arabic. AIM also produced documentary, “Terror Television”, documenting the channel’s pro-terrorist and anti-American bias, and commissioned a public opinion poll which found that most Americans didn’t want the channel to have access to the U.S. media market. In interviews after his departure, Marash confirmed that the English channel is under the firm control of the same people who control Al-Jazeera Arabic. “Marash has seen the light,” Kincaid commented. “But we had warned all along that this would be the case.” AIM’s campaign had prevented Al-Jazeera from finding a major U.S. cable or Satellite Company willing to carry it. “We tried from the beginning to expose Al-Jazeera English for what it is – an anti-American, Arab government-financed propaganda operation,” Kincaid said. “Now, hopefully, more people will take note.”

Alongside all the criticism the channel had expected to reach around 40 million households at start, but it far exceeded that launch target, reaching 80 million homes. As of 2009, Al Jazeera's English-language service can be viewed in every major European market, and is available to 130 million homes in over 100 countries via cable and satellite, according to Molly Conroy, a spokeswoman for the network in Washington. However the channel is noted for its poor penetration in the North American market, where it is carried by almost no cable networks except local networks in Toledo, Ohio, and Burlington, Vermont. On 26 November 2009, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved a request to add Al Jazeera English to the lists of satellite services eligible for digital distribution. Al Jazeera English has begun a campaign to enter the North American market, including a dedicated website.