Trailblazing Aljazeera loses its edge

[DuctapeFatwa]

Aljazeera is coming in for increasing criticism in the Arab world after a spate of embarrassing revelations that suggest it has capitulated to United States pressure and tamed its news coverage.

The recent appointment of new boss Waddah Khanfar at the Qatar headquarters comes amid mounting revelations that Aljazeera's top management chose not to air several Osama bin Laden tapes; pulled from its news websites caricatures the White House deemed offensive; and removed its former general manager following US complaints to the Emir of Qatar about the channel's coverage of the war in Iraq.

The channel's new attitude follows a sustained US campaign against the broadcast of allegedly inflammatory material in the aftermath of September 11 and comes at a time when Aljazeera is losing viewers to Saudi and United Arab Emirate-backed competitors al-Arabiyyah and Abu Dhabi TV.

Another action that is prompting commentators to accuse both channels of buckling in to US pressure is the disappearance from Aljazeera's coverage of the once-ubiquitous Iraqi opposition messages calling on the US army to leave Iraq. The anti-occupation attacks peaked last week with a series of five simultaneous explosions in Baghdad that left 40 people dead. Yet no more messages or videos of operations have made their way onto the coverage of the broadcaster, a practice popularized by bin Laden and the Lebanese Hezbollah...
"Maybe they have made a trade-off decision," says Abdallah Schleiffer, director of the Adham Center for Television Journalism at the American University in Cairo. "It's possible they thought, 'We don't want to jeopardize our coverage here by covering stories that are vital but would mean us losing our access'."

[IndianaGreen]

1. You forgot to post a link, ductape

thanks!

[Aidoneus]

2. link for it

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EK04Ak01.html