THE AL JAZEERA CHALLENGE

The media censorship that plagues the Middle East was challenged with the creation of al Jazeera in 1996. Moreover, while al Jazeera has challenged the censorship of the media in the Middle East it is important to note that without the liberalisation policies of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani this would not have transpired. The elimination of the Ministry of Information, a process completed in 1998, allowed this to happen. There is no other Middle Eastern country that has gone to this length to permit media freedom. The al Jazeera phenomenon was born because of this for it was able to offer news coverage that was not restricted by any government, either by laws or regulations. Despite al Jazeera receiving most of its funding from the Qatari government, it is considered privately owned but not privately funded. This intrinsic difference has changed the media landscape drastically in the Middle East. In so doing, al Jazeera through its specialised programming and extensive news coverage of the latest developments has created debates and stirred controversy with its coverage of Middle Eastern affairs.

Prior to al Jazeera, the most popular media outlets were foreign, primarily Western media television stations. Although most if not all Middle Eastern states had their own media outlets, “[the general public] considered this information as little more than an extension of the views of their own governments, echoing official speeches and reporting on the activities of leaders.” The advent of al Jazeera reconfigured the media and its purpose and usefulness in the Middle East. It did so by creating avenues in which the Arab population is able to speak about current events because it is informed of these events by in depth analysis. This has translated into broadening the role of general public by allowing it to be an active participant.

Al Jazeera gained its popularity, partially because it is located in the Arab world which has lead to a sense of pride amongst the Arab people. In so doing, “the example of al Jazeera shows that Arab media implemented in an Arab country can, in fact, have a large margin of freedom.”This has led to a rise in satellite television stations in the Middle East as an estimated three hundred satellite channels have blossomed in the Middle East since the launching of al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera has also changed the perception of journalists in the Middle East. It has accomplished this through hiring journalists and correspondents from all over the Arab world and the Middle East. This is a significant difference for other Arab news stations, such as the Saudi Arabian owned al Arabia (the Arabic), commenced in 2003, predominantly hire Lebanese journalists. In so doing, al Jazeera is attempting to incorporate the entire Arab world in disseminating its news coverage. This is important, for not only is al Jazeera the only free and independent television station but it is also a pan-Arab news channel because it incorporates the different nationalities that make up the Middle East as well as its news coverage. By straying from the traditional media players such as Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, “al Jazeera has legitimated other viewpoints and minimizes the importance of confessionalism as a way of playing off political pluralism in the Arab world.” The identity crisis that has hindered the Middle East is being challenged by broadening perspectives and permitting new ideas to be contested which has thus allowed for a flourishing of the public sphere. Al Jazeera must be seen as an integral catalyst in fomenting this because of its populist appeal to the general Arab audience.

The current situation(s) in the Middle East is causing much torment about Arab identity. The recent invasion of Iraq, and even prior to the invasion has divided the public sphere into opposing camps, those who were for and those who were against the war and the consequent occupation. However, al Jazeera “is a channel that appeals to the masses and has an over populist orientation.” It is considered by some to be more popular than the traditional areas of contestations such as the mosque, schools and newspapers.

In a recent documentary, April 2003, by PBS Frontline entitled News Wars it was stated that al Jazeera has approximately 50 million daily viewers, although some sources claim much a much higher viewer number. Moreover, one crucial point to be remarked is the illiteracy rate of the Middle East and especially the Arab world. In a United Nations 2002 report about inequality in the Middle East it was surmised that 42% of the population were illiterate. While each nation-states’ literacy rate varies, overall illiteracy is a significant problem in the Middle East. The low literacy level of the population means that even smuggled in ‘free press’, for example books, articles, and newspapers could only be read by a small educated population. Al Jazeera has been able to capture this audience because its programming is through television and thus enables a greater rate of viewers. In so doing, the station has accessed an audience that prior to an independent news outlet relied on state-run media. This has entailed an ability to rework the identity crisis by incorporating those on the fringes of society, that has been plaguing the Middle East’s general population

This change in public opinion settings and the demographic change incorporated in a broader, more coherent, and thus more cohesive public awareness has had a tremendous effect on the public sphere. Since the end of colonialism and the end of the various occupations of the region, freedom to speak about various issues, especially politics in a public setting was considered taboo for fear of the mukhabarat (secret police). As noted by Mohammad El Oifi, “rather than provide a strong popular legitimacy, the durability of state apparatuses (such as the mukhabarat) and the affirmation of the nation-state ideology (al quotriya) in the Arab world put these states in a vulnerable position that allows opponents of the regimes in place to contest them in the name of larger identity claims.”

Contesting the state is one of the primary fears of Middle East leaders because challenges their legitimacy. Pan-Arab nationalism exists to a certain extent in the general mind set of the greater Arab population. The nation-states were created by Western powers of the time and thus had to create an imagined community in which to posit a nationalist feeling. This has, in a general context made the legitimacy of states vulnerable to criticism because of the underlying common bonds of language and culture and thus a general pan-Arab sentiment. Al Jazeera has corroborated and challenged these feelings and fears by projecting an united Arab population. Al Jazeera emerged in such a setting as “[Qatar was] quick to notice this structural change in Arab societies...[and it] fully understood the need to envisage an adequate media framework which could engage the ongoing critical debate.”The debate factor is a necessary component in developing a public sphere. The information provided by al Jazeera is uncensored and thus has the ability to portray events as it interprets them. The interpretation of these events though is a point that al Jazeera itself stresses for the “television station is trying to reflect the reality rather than influence the course of events.” In so doing, al Jazeera is attempting to give a more holistic perspective by broadcasting uncensored news events as they occur and through live programming.

This has permitted a transformation of the public sphere. Al Jazeera has changed the perceived malaise of the Arab audience, and permitted its participation in the daily affairs that affect this audience. The contestation of debates about these daily affairs has given the Arab audience the strength and willingness to discuss these events in the public sphere. Traditionally the public sphere in the Middle East was concealed either behind closed doors in a private setting amongst close friends and family or in coffee or tea houses where discussions took place on a quietist level. (Lynch: p.) However, al Jazeera has created a new space for these discussions to take place. This ability to shape public opinion has “occasionally [translated] into popular pressure on Arab governments to step up their efforts to act on certain issues and to alter their tame policy.” It has also been credited with sparking “student demonstrations and inflamed public opinion and as a result some Arab governments are finding it more and more pressing to keep pace with popular opinion.” Al Jazeera’s popular appeal is related to its news coverage and programming. These two aspects of the satellite television have allowed its audience to participate and interact with each other. In particular the programs launched by al Jazeera have created opportune space in which contestation of events at real time have taken place and thus are setting the agenda for debates and contesting the status quo.