DPA: Al-Jazeera International aims to change news agenda (Analysis)

By Pakinam Amer
Nov 16, 2006, 0:43 GMT

Cairo - 'On Al-Jazeera we'll be setting the news agenda.'
That was one of the first lines spoken by the Al-Jazeera International anchor as the Qatar-based broadcaster hit the airwaves for the first time on Wednesday.
The Arabic network went live at 1200 GMT with its new English service, and says it expects to reach 80 million homes worldwide.
The new service, much-anticipated by media experts especially in the Middle East, is meant to cater to an international audience by giving the news a 'pan-Arab' perspective.
Closely watching the broadcast's first hours, it is apparent that Al-Jazeera is clearly setting what its anchor earlier dubbed 'its news agenda.'
News from the Palestinian Territories and Israel was given by two different correspondents, in an attempt to provide 'the full picture.'
Reporting on Hamas and Islamic Jihad rocket attacks launched into Israel from the Gaza Strip, the new network moved away from its Arabic counterpart by juggling reports from both an Arabic Gaza correspondent and a Jerusalem-based foreign correspondent. Each presented their side of the story and the reaction of the opposing party.
In longer features, the focus could be felt right away. After the live broadcast began with the news of an earthquake off the cost of Japan and the then-expected tsunami, it followed with a feature report about the impact of the Israeli blockade on Gaza.
A baby girl bandaged in a hospital was shown as a victim of an Israeli offensive. Wailing mothers and images of Palestinian children looking through a pile of rubble filled the newly initiated station. This is a side of the story - although a sensationalized side - that many viewers in the United States have not seen (at least not on CNN or Fox News).
Al-Jazeera's Arabic service has attracted as much controversy and criticism as it has viewers. It is expected that the English-language counterpart will provoke similar outbursts of reaction.
Al-Jazeera International anticipated the criticism and even prodded its critics shortly after going on the air. It showed comments about the original network, at one point airing a line from a speech by US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, in which he described Al-Jazeera's coverage as 'vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable.'
The message here could be understood that Al-Jazeera executives are as proud of the criticism as they are of the praise. And it could also be taken as a hint that the new channel will neither attempt to be politically correct or try to please a Western audience.
Nevertheless, an Al-Jazeera official said in a channel preview that by presenting 'all points of view,' Al-Jazeera strives to bring together people who have otherwise failed to understand each other.
By creating a large staff with members from 40 nationalities 'to set the news agenda,' the network hopes to provide 'accuracy' and 'honesty,' the official said.
The Al-Jazeera International broadcast itself is more colourful and more dynamic than the older Arabic version.
In one segment, two anchors juggle the latest news from Afghanistan as a larger-than-life screen sets the mood, showing a US soldier leaning on a vehicle.
In a live report from Africa on the escalating situation in Darfur, Sudan, a reporter walks between people as the camera follows her - BBC-style.
Immediately before the segment, the studio anchor gave a quick presentation of the crisis in Darfur - with background information and statistics projected on a large screen, similar to those used in weather forecasts. Statistics like '2 million displaced' and '400,000 have lost their lives' were highlighted in large font.
The information could be valuable - no argument there - but the way it was presented could also be seen as being on the edge of sensation. One anchor referred to the Darfur issue as 'one of the worst and the least understood crisis.' The phrase could very easily be taken as a judgment.
The 10-year-old Arabic network is financed by Qatari royalty, as is the new English-language channel.
The new channel, tagged Al-Jazeera International, broadcasts from Al-Jazeera's main headquarters in Doha, Qatar, and has correspondents in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East so far.
Al-Jazeera representatives had earlier called the new network 'the first such international news and current affairs channel with its headquarters in the Middle East.'
'This is unprecedented in the broadcasting industry - no other international news channel has launched with such a high number of homes across the world,' Wadah Khanfar, the director-general of Al- Jazeera was quoted by its website as saying.
Network officials said that the new channel will be made available on cable, satellite, broadband and IPTV and ADSL through the internet.

© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1222546.php/Al-Jazeera_International_aims_to_change_news_agenda (Monsters and Critics)
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=114253 (Bangkok Post)