Page 242 - Mass Media, Mass Propoganda Examining American News in the War on Terror

232 Chapter 9

Hotel area. Such claims, however, were challenged by numerous reporters on
location who explained that they had neither seen nor heard such fire.72
Understandably, A1 Jazeera reporters, editors, and staff took the death of
Ayyoub rather personally, many perceiving the attack to be a punishment for A1
Jazeera's critical reporting of the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Samir
Khader, Senior Producer for A1 Jazeera felt the objective of the attack was to
convey the message to the news channel that "you're not siding 100 percent
with the U.S. against Saddam Hussein, so we are going to punish Bagh-
dad correspondent Majed Abdel Hadi believed that "We were targeted because
the Americans don't want the world to see the crimes they are committing
against the Iraqi people."74 The perception that A1 Jazeera was deliberately tar-
geted was shared by a number of people throughout the world who felt that the
U.S. targeted the Arab news channel that was, and continues to be, most critical
of the legitimacy of the "War on Terror." Reporters Without Borders released a
report stating: "We can only conclude that the U.S. h y deliberately and with-
out warning targeted journalists," while Robert Fisk of the Independent of Lon-
don commented that the attacks "look very much like murder."75
Many saw the attack as an attempt to put A1 Jazeera back on the "correct"
path of reporting in terms of refraining from serious criticisms of the invasion,
although Bush administration officials heavily disputed that view. Faisal Bodi,
Senior Editor at A1 Jazeera and columnist for the Guardian stated: "from the
outset of the [Iraq] war, reporting followed two tracks, the "embed" line laid by
Centcom (U.S. Central Command), and the independent line by news providers
like A1 Jazeera." Such unilateral reporting enjoyed "a greater degree of access to
Iraqi towns and cities," allowing unembedded journalists "to report more inde-
pendently than those journalists dependent on the armed forces for their personal
safety and communication equipment."76

Competing Notions of Professional Journalism:
A Brief History of Al Jazeera

A1 Jazeera was formed in 1996 with funding from the govemment of Qatar in an
attempt to create a more independent, critical kind of reporting than had been
seen in most news outlets throughout the region traditionally reporting at the
pleasure of repressive Arab governments. A1 Jazeera is not what many Arneri-
cans think of when they picture a free and independent media. Receiving its
support from the Emir of Qatar, the channel's financial backing stands in radical
contrast to corporate media outlets, which are owned and run by private inves-
tors rather than sponsored directly by govemment funding. A1 Jazeera enjoys a
strong degree of journalistic freedom, however, from the head of the Qatari
royal family, Sheik Hamid bin Khalifa al Thani, who committed the kingdom to
limited liberal reforms after taking power from his father in 1995. Thani abol-
ished the govemment ministry of information as a sign of faith that he was
committed to promoting A1 Jazeera's journalistic independence. The channel's
freedom from government censorship and regulation stands in marked contrast