A revolutionary impact

a conversation with Mohammed El Nawawy

from: Bitter Lemons (used w/permission)

BI: What was new about Al Jazeera and how did it change media in the region?

El Nawawy: There is no question that Al Jazeera has revolutionized the Arab media scene in a very drastic way. Before, the Arab people were discussing all kinds of issues, but behind closed doors. Now, Al Jazeera has brought the public discourse to another level.

BI: There seem to be several perspectives on Al Jazeera's impact on democracy building. One is that satellite television news promotes democracy through public debate; another is that it actually diverts the frustrations of the Arab public away from their governments and into television format.

El Nawawy: The role of the media in mobilizing democracy is a very important issue. The idea is that these debates that people watch on television now may lead to action. I tend to think that even if we don't see action now, it is still a very healthy phenomenon to see these kinds of debates on Arabic television--you have to understand that the Arab peoples have not had any kind of experience in the free marketplace of ideas.

Whether this will translate into political action or not, I think that because there is not a vibrant political atmosphere in the Arab world, these Arab networks have made up for this. We are seeing today demonstrations in the Arab street and more pressure on their governments--people in all corners of the world going to the streets and demanding that these governments do something.

BI: The channel, when it was quite young, had to make some serious ethical decisions. How would you assess the results?

El Nawawy: Al Jazeera faced several challenges before the airing of the bin Ladin tapes; from the time of its inception in 1996, it had angered all the Arab governments.

However, its international fame was fixed by its airing of the Bin Ladin tapes and also by its coverage in Afghanistan. This exposed its reporters to dealing with conflicts on an international level, not just a regional level. Al Jazeera has had to make many adjustments to become a global satellite network and not just a regional network.

BI: Tell us more about the relationship between Al Jazeera and other regional governments.

El Nawawy: Based on research for our book, more than 450 official complaints had been filed with the station before September 11. The problem is that [the officials filing the complaints] do not differentiate between the network and the official government line. They are used to having tight control over the broadcast media and it was beyond their imagination to have all these courageous talks shows with no government agenda. What Al Jazeera has been trying to explain to these officials is that it is doing this for the sake of the public and that to appease this or that leader will not result in any credible reporting.

BI: How has Qatar's government managed to stay out of this debate?

El Nawawy: I think you really have to commend the amir for not only launching the network, but not closing it down. Qatar is a small country and has been subject to pressures from many regimes, especially the Saudi regime. But I also think that Al Jazeera has put Qatar on the map. We joke in our book that Al Jazeera is the country that has Qatar as its capital.

BI: What about the network's relationship with the US government?

El Nawawy: I talked with a spokesman from the State Department before the September 11 events and he told me that he had nothing but admiration for Al Jazeera as a truly independent and free network.

This position changed 180 degrees after September 11, the airing of the Bin Ladin tapes, the turn of events in Afghanistan, the coverage of the American POWs in Iraq and coverage of the civilian casualties in Iraq. All this has created antagonism between US officials and the station.

Many of Al Jazeera's journalists were trained in the West and are now applying those journalistic standards of freedom of expression. The question is more about having a different perspective. People are bound to have perspectives and there is no way to be 100 percent objective. We coined a term in our book, "contextual objectivity." We don't think that having a perspective should be at the expense of presenting all sides to the story.

BI: Do you think that Alhurra, the US government Arabic language satellite channel, can compete?

El Nawawy: I have not watched Alhurra, but I am definitely supportive of any attempt to bridge the gap between the United States and the Arab Middle East.

Having said that, based on experience with Radio Sawa [the US government Arabic radio station], I think Arabs viewed Radio Sawa as a propagandistic attempt made though entertainment, and will likely see Alhurra the same way--especially that it is sponsored by a western government.

Given the negative feeling towards the United States in the Arab world--due to what is happening in the Palestinian territories, and what is happening in Iraq--we would be kidding ourselves that launching Radio Sawa and Alhurra and Hi Magazine are going to be by themselves successful at changing the Arab image of American foreign policy.

BI: What mistakes do you think Al Jazeera has made?

El Nawawy: From the beginning, they definitely should have delved more into Qatari domestic politics, so they wouldn't have opened the door to people who criticized them for criticizing other regimes. This has started to change, but there is room for improvement on this front. Some people think that Qatar just doesn't have much going on, but I say let the public decide.

The other thing that I would say is that launching the English website was a very good thing, but they could have made more precautions and not taken so long to relaunch the website after it was hacked during the Iraq war.

Also, sometimes I watch programs on Al Jazeera like "The Opposite Direction" and feel that, while I have great respect for them, the middle ground is somewhat absent. They present extremes. The middle ground would help sometimes in bridging the discussions.

BI: Al Jazeera is getting a lot of flak for its reporting on the recent Iraqi uprising and human rights abuses. Could you comment on that?

El Nawawy: The fact that the United States has shut down three Iraqi newspapers and on a couple of occasions banned Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya from covering events has a very negative message. The United States is talking about how they want to make Iraq a model for democracy, and then it is closing down newspapers just because they happen to say things that do not appeal to the United States' perspective. That is not acceptable.

To every ten American soldiers that are killed, there are 30 or 40 Iraqis killed. One side is not more important than the other, but the Arab reporters are reporting the facts on the ground. They are doing this in tough conditions and risking their lives to get the story.

-Published 22/4/2004