WSJ op-ed: Why I'm Joining Al Jazeera

[question everything]

The Wall Street Journal

Why I'm Joining Al Jazeera

By RIZ KHAN
June 13, 2005; Page A12

(snip)

I began as a journalist with the world-renowned British Broadcasting Corporation. Getting a radio or television reporter's job at the BBC was considered a remarkable achievement in the 1980s, when there was little else around of such stature. CNN was then a young network orbiting its way through the uncharted space of global satellite television news with no other challenger, until the BBC's long overdue World Service Television News in November 1991. I was the newsreader (anchor) on the very first show on that channel and even then, I didn't really grasp what was happening to the television news industry at a global level. I was enjoying it. It was great fun and a great team. My eight years at "Auntie" as we called her, came to an end in May 1993 when I was lured away by CNN International -- which recognizing the competition it now faced, was revamping and "internationalizing" with diverse recruits.

(snip)


Consistently, I listened to Middle Easterners complain about how they felt Western networks had sold out on the way they covered the news, particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq. They felt that Al Jazeera was filling the gap. Personally, I just love the idea of starting up a channel from scratch like I did at BBC World. The managing director of Al Jazeera International, my friend, Nigel Parsons, was a senior producer working there at the time with me. We both realize that a significant opportunity like this one comes very rarely in one's lifetime. Plus, Al Jazeera International provides the ideal vehicle to bridge gaps between communities in the East and West. It'll be the first English-language news channel with an international perspective that is broadcasting from within the Middle East.

I'm fully aware of the negative image of the Al Jazeera brand in the U.S., especially at the government level, but I think part of that comes from a misunderstanding of the strong cultural position the Arabic-language channel has among the average people of the Middle East. It is extremely popular for being outspoken not only about the West but also about Arab governments

Until now, U.S. administration-led efforts to promote a positive image of Americans to people in the Middle East appear to have failed miserably. A media push out of Washington into the region doesn't resonate well with those actually in the thick of things across the other side of the world. Al Jazeera International plans to be an open platform for global debate and dialogue. It will effectively become the best conduit the U.S. has to speak to the Arab world, and vice versa. Plus, the debate will be free and open.

I'm now coming across people in the American government who are recognizing the value of this two-way conduit approach, and are seeing that engagement with the new channel would be more positive than confrontation. On top of that, it has to be pointed out that the Al Jazeera International team of experienced, highly respected and committed journalists is diverse -- with no specific agenda except to report the news courageously with facts and figures... to bring the pieces together to give a complete picture. The whole story.

Now there's a revolutionary idea!

Mr. Khan has just joined Al Jazeera International. Previously, he was senior anchor with CNN International and host of its "Q&A with Riz Khan."

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111862259989457599,00.html

[liberaltrucker]

1. Best of luck

Maybe someday DirecTV (yeah, right Mr Rupert owns it) or Dish Network will carry AJ Int. I'll get a C-Band dish if I have to.