Media Voices of the Muslim World

▪ 2002

      The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the military actions against Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the operation, and the Islamic Taliban in Afghanistan who had harboured him, brought increased visibility and international attention to the news media in the Middle East and Central Asia. This was especially true of the satellite television network Al-Jazeera, which was perceived as Bin Laden's media voice when it broadcast taped interviews with him and others of the al-Qaeda terrorist group. Al-Jazeera also became the major supplier to Western media of TV footage from inside Afghanistan. Questions were raised in the U.S., however, about the propriety of the media's giving terrorists a soapbox from which to argue their views, as well as about the assertions of objectivity by Al-Jazeera and others of Al-Jazeera's reporting on Middle East issues. Al-Jazeera was founded in 1996 by Sheikh Hamad ibn Khalifah ath-Thani, the emir of Qatar, and symbolized his desire to modernize the country. Based in Doha, Qatar, Al-Jazeera was by far the most international of the Arabic-language broadcasters, reaching 35 million viewers in 20 countries. Although the staff claimed adherence to the journalistic values of free speech and fair play—and indeed they were most likely among regional broadcasters to present non-Islamic points of view— there was never any question about where the network's sympathies lay. Still, the tone of Al-Jazeera's independent reporting of the Palestinian intifadah in 2000, for example, contrasted significantly with that of government-controlled Arab networks.

      Hezbollah-owned Lebanon-based Al-Manar TV was established in 1997 to promote the Palestinian intifadah and highlight the plight of Palestinians. It proudly expanded its mission in 2001, denouncing what in its broadcasts it tagged “The American Aggression on Afghanistan.” Program intermission snippets, which showed the U.S. A-bomb attacks in Japan and military actions in Vietnam, Iraq, and Lebanon, were billed as “Terrorism Without Borders.” In May Palestinian TV came under scrutiny when it ran commercials asking children to drop their toys, pick up rocks, and do battle with Israel. Actors re-created the well-publicized and shocking death of 12-year-old Muhammad Dura in his father's arms during crossfire between Israelis and Palestinians and showed the boy in paradise, urging other children to follow.

      Opposition TV channels Pars TV and National Iranian Television (NITv), beamed from Los Angeles, encouraged Iranian viewers to step up reform efforts. The Iranian government confiscated satellite dishes receiving these broadcasts and apparently jammed NITv signals in October 2000. The opposition Iraqi National Congress opened a new front with a daily hour-long broadcast via satellite of Television Hurriah (Liberty TV). Funded by the U.S. but beamed from London, Liberty TV brought news, political profiles, music videos, and even call-in shows. In early October a bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress to create a Radio Free Afghanistan to join Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Radio Martí, and other “surrogate” stations. Few remembered that there once had been a Radio Free Afghanistan but that it was discontinued by the U.S. government in 1992.

Ramona Monette Sargan Flores

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