The news network deserves praise for its coverage of the Palestine papers – as well as the Tunisian uprising
Nesrine Malik
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 25 January 2011
"News network al-Jazeera is having quite a month. Its finest hour came with its coverage of the Tunisian uprising – while the BBC was focusing on the plight of British tourists, al-Jazeera became the go-to destination for up-to-the-minute news on the historic events in the region.
Now, with the leak of the Palestine papers, the network is again under the spotlight. Palestinian representatives interviewed on its programmes over the past few days are foaming at the mouth....
It is a poor testament to the state of media independence in the Arab world that Palestinian representatives can only see this episode as the airing of dirty laundry by a channel hosted by a sister Arab country that should be more protective. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat ranted that al-Jazeera had "declared war" on the Palestinians and was "serving the interests of their enemies". Surely the channel would not pick on the Arab world's most prominent victims for something as trivial as "news"? Well, here's the real scoop, the facts remain the facts: a scarce commodity for which people are hungry.
The Arab authorities can speak of agendas and puppet masters, but in the wake of the toppling of Ben Ali in Tunisia, there is an emerging climate in the region, one in which people are increasingly bypassing official sources and seeking the truth from the media – both social and satellite. Al-Jazeera, a channel with a history of healthy disrespect for authority, is now the natural vehicle for this circumvention."
Nesrine Malik
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 25 January 2011
"News network al-Jazeera is having quite a month. Its finest hour came with its coverage of the Tunisian uprising – while the BBC was focusing on the plight of British tourists, al-Jazeera became the go-to destination for up-to-the-minute news on the historic events in the region.
Now, with the leak of the Palestine papers, the network is again under the spotlight. Palestinian representatives interviewed on its programmes over the past few days are foaming at the mouth....
It is a poor testament to the state of media independence in the Arab world that Palestinian representatives can only see this episode as the airing of dirty laundry by a channel hosted by a sister Arab country that should be more protective. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat ranted that al-Jazeera had "declared war" on the Palestinians and was "serving the interests of their enemies". Surely the channel would not pick on the Arab world's most prominent victims for something as trivial as "news"? Well, here's the real scoop, the facts remain the facts: a scarce commodity for which people are hungry.
The Arab authorities can speak of agendas and puppet masters, but in the wake of the toppling of Ben Ali in Tunisia, there is an emerging climate in the region, one in which people are increasingly bypassing official sources and seeking the truth from the media – both social and satellite. Al-Jazeera, a channel with a history of healthy disrespect for authority, is now the natural vehicle for this circumvention."
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