CONGRATULATIONS TO ALJAZEERA AT 10

Al Jazeera marks its tenth anniversary today in Doha., Qatar. The Guardian reports:

”As al-Jazeera International, which will be predominantly in English, prepares for its launch this coming November, its older Arabic service al-Jazeera celebrates its 10th anniversary. The first of November 1996 witnessed a media revolution not just in the Arab world but across the globe. Al-Jazeera, which was born out of the abortion of a joint venture between the BBC and Saudi Arabia, soon attracted the attention of Arab viewers worldwide to an exciting style in broadcasting never ever before adopted by an Arab sponsored media outlet.

http://www.friendsofaljazeera.org/

ALJAZEERA INTERNATIONAL DEBUTS THIS MONTH

The Guardian reports today:

”Al-Jazeera International, based in Doha, will broadcast a combination of 12 hours of live news plus interview programs, features and analysis.

The channel - whose launch has been twice delayed - has centres in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington DC and supporting bureaux worldwide.

The launch of al-Jazeera International coincides with the 10th anniversary of the first broadcast of al-Jazeera’s main Arabic language channel.

“The launching of the English channel offers the chance to reach out to a new audience that is used to hearing the name of al-Jazeera without being able to watch it or to understand [the] language,” said Wadah Khanfar, director general of the al-Jazeera Network.

“The new channel will provide the same ground-breaking news and impartial and balanced journalism to the English speaking world.”

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,1936098,00.html

WHITHER AJI?

A debate has already begun about the new channel’s direction. So far it has NOT been able to get real carriage in the US. A post on the Friends of AlJazeera site carries this piece

”For those concerned like I am about the troubling direction of Al Jazeera International….The world - especially now - doesn’t need another CNN or BBC. Amayreh, a reporter for Al Jazeera and Al-Ahram Weekly, writes, [I]t seems that disappointment may be awaiting many of those who expect to see a world TV channel that is fair and objective and especially free from the usual Anglo-American (and Israeli) worldview.

In fact, there are already ominous signs showing that pro-Israeli sympathizers, some of them with a background in the BBC, are already trying to control the editorial policies of the new channel, all under the rubric of professionalism and journalistic standards. This writer, who has been working for Aljazeera.net/English (which has now been incorporated into AJI) has discovered by chance efforts by some senior western editors at AJI to minimize and avoid as much as possible the publication of articles, especially news and feature stories, portraying Israel in bad light and exposing Israeli occupation practices against the Palestinian people.

I would suspend judgment until we watch the programming. They have attracted a number of top journalists worldwide and may be full of suprises..

Tessa Mayes: A private Spoof on AlJazeera video caused a stir at the BBC

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/1661/

AND A NEWSPAPER TOO: AlJazeera to back new pan-arab newspaper

Qatar based Arabic language satellite TV network Al-Jazeera is backing the launch of a new pan-Arab newspaper as it seeks to establish the Qatari capital, Doha, as an Arab media hub and end the current Saudi hegemony over regional print media, the UK’s Financial Times newspaper reports.

Al-Jazeera has hired Abdelwahab Badrakhan, the former deputy editor of the Saudi backed pan-Arab daily al-Hayat to run the new paper, which is slated to start publication next year from Qatar. It will aim to rival London-based al-Hayat and Asharq al-Awsat, Badrakhan told the FT. It will however have a wider margin of print freedom than these two Saudi-backed publications.

Subsidised by the emir of Qatar, critics say Al-Jazeera treads carefully when covering controversial Qatari stories.

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=CultureAndMedia&loid= -
AKI News

AND NOT TO BE LEFT BEHIND

French news channel to challenge ‘Anglo-Saxon’ CNN, BBC: boss

EJC:A round-the-clock international news channel France is to launch in December will challenge the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ views spread by market leaders BBC and CNN by relying on ‘French values’, the network’s chief said.

France 24, as the network is called, will start broadcasting in English and French on the Internet on December 6 and then via satellite two days later, its chairman and chief executive, Alain de Pouzilhac, told Le Figaro newspaper.

Financed to the tune of EUR 80m a year by the state and run as a joint operation between France’s top commercial and top public national TV networks, France 24 will start out as a minnow to the BBC or CNN, both of which have built up global networks and enjoy established reputations.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061031/ennew_afp/francemediaindustry_061031183332 -
AFP, Yahoo News

US NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION FALLS AGAIN
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061031-110749-2443r - UPI

TARGETING AIR AMERICA (Via Mark Stenzler)

FAIR: An internal memo from ABC Radio Networks to its affiliates reveals scores of powerful sponsors have a standing order that their commercials never be placed on syndicated Air America programming that airs on ABC affiliates.

The October 25 memo (http://www.fair.org/images/ABCmemo.pdf) was provided to FAIR by the Peter B. Collins Show, a syndicated radio show originating on the West Coast.

Headlined “Air America Blackout” and addressed “Dear Traffic Director”–referring to the radio station staffer who coordinates programming and advertising–the memogives the following order to affiliates:

“Please be advised that Hewlett Packard has purchased schedules with ABC Radio Networks between October 30th and December 24th, 2006. Please make sure you blackout this advertiser on your station, as they do not wish it to air on any Air America affiliate.”

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2983

SPY AGENCIES CREATE AN INTELLIPEDIA

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-intel1nov01,0,2004402.story?coll=la-home-headlines