Page 41 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

0 | Al-Jazeera

Addressing these questions in the context of America’s “war on terror” is espe-
cially important given the way U.S. president George W. Bush described the par-
ties involved in this war as “either with us or against us.” Bush’s pronouncement
has placed media outlets like Al-Jazeera in a cultural split of “us” and “them.” The
implied cultural assumption for the American broadcast networks, which are
products of the American culture, was that they were the platform for the “us” in
the war against “them.” However, Al-Jazeera, which is a product of the Arab cul-
ture, found it difficult to join the “us” side (i.e., the American side) when most of
its viewers were obviously non-Americans who had some reservations about the
way the war was conducted. That is why, whenever Al-Jazeera presented news
from an Arab perspective in America’s “war against terror,” it was automatically
perceived by U.S. officials as anti-American (see Zaharna 2005).
In fact, several senior U.S. officials repeatedly criticized Al-Jazeera, accusing
it of fueling anti-American sentiment and giving terrorists a podium because of
its airing of tapes from Osama bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda lieutenants. Al-
Jazeera defended its position by saying that bin Laden is one side of the story that
had to be presented, and that the airings of his tapes on the network were fol-
lowed by panels including American and Arab analysts to dissect his messages.

ConCLusion

Al-Jazeera’s editorial policy relies on balancing different perspectives against
each other while trying to present a context that suits the Arab cultural and
political environment. That has earned it legitimacy, credibility, and popular-
ity on a regional and international level. It has also encouraged other networks
in the Arab world to emulate its style and integrate its editorial policy in their
programming.
Unfortunately, though, the United States perceives a strong element of bias
in Al-Jazeera’s overall coverage. In the U.S. official circles, Al-Jazeera’s seeming
exercise of contextual objectivity is equated to being at least “anti-American.”
However, in the Arab world, where the majority considers Al-Jazeera to be a
symbol of democracy and free speech, a few critics still accuse the channel of
being “pro-American.” This is evidence that the channel must be doing some-
thing right, and an inadvertent reaffirmation of the network’s success at employ-
ing, implementing, and engaging in contextual objectivity.
see also Bias and Objectivity; Global Community Media; Islam and the Media;
Paparazzi and Photographic Ethics; Parachute Journalism; Political Documen-
tary; Presidential Stagecraft and Militainment; Sensationalism, Fear Mongering,
and Tabloid Media.
Further reading: Al-Kasim, Faisal. “ ‘The Opposite Direction’: A Program Which Changed
the Face of Arab Television.” In The Al-Jazeera Phenomenon: Critical Perspectives on
New Arab Media, ed. Mohamed Zayani, 93–105. Boulder, CO: Paradigm, 2005; el-
Nawawy, Mohammed, and Adel Iskandar. Al-Jazeera: The Story of the Network that is
Rattling Governments and Redefining Modern Journalism. Boulder: Westview, 2003; el-
Nawawy, Mohammed, and Adel Iskandar. “The Minotaur of ‘Contextual Objectivity’:
War Coverage and the Pursuit of Accuracy with Appeal.” Transnational Broadcasting