Posted on 07/30/2004 7:05:14 AM PDT by scannell
Al-Jazeera endures snubs but wins delegates By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post Columnist
Thursday, July 29, 2004
BOSTON — The most important TV network at this convention may have been the one that was practically invisible.
Al-Jazeera, the first independent satellite news channel in the Middle East, spent more time covering the Democratic National Convention this week than most American networks.
"This will have dividends in becoming a respected news organization," said Stephanie Thomas, 38, Al-Jazeera's bureau manager and communications director at the convention.
Richard Graulich/Palm Beach Post
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The caps Al-Jazeera workers such as chief correspondent Mohammed Alami wear are such a hot souvenir item at the convention that the network had 100 more shipped in.
"Al-Jazeera is going to be here," she said. "We're certainly not going away."
Thomas had just walked out of Al-Jazeera's unmarked studio inside the convention hall Thursday afternoon during a taping of From Washington, one of two daily current-affairs shows the network broadcast from the hall.
A Kerry campaign official was a no-show for the program — nothing new to Al-Jazeera, which is used to being a source of discomfort in both the Arab and Western worlds.
"Before 9/11, they were praising us because we were the first Arab network to interview Israelis," said chief correspondent Mohammad Alami, a Moroccan-born American who used to work for Voice of America.
But after the Sept. 11 attacks and the war in Iraq, where Al-Jazeera's on-the-ground coverage tended to focus on civilian Arab casualties, the network became a political liability in America.
"You can't win," Alami said.
Like other TV networks at the convention, the Democratic National Committee approved Al-Jazeera's request to display its banner inside the convention hall. But the committee removed the banner before the convention began. It was shipped back to Vermont, where it was made.
"That was a tough reception," said Thomas, who plans to try to display the banner at the Republican convention in New York next month.
When Al-Jazeera covered its first American conventions in 2000, the fledgling network sent two reporters, and they were widely ignored by the political parties and the American media.
This time, Al-Jazeera sent 16 reporters and producers to the Democratic convention. It plans to have a similar contingent at the GOP convention. Its reporters and producers, who wear navy blue caps with a distinctive flame-like gold logo, are turning heads.
"They were doing an interview by the delegation," said Michael Lowrey, 50, a Wisconsin delegate. "So I went up to them and said, 'Salaam aleikum,' because the peace of God is universal."
Like many of the delegates, Lowrey was happy to discover Al-Jazeera at the convention.
"Most of us don't feel that Al-Jazeera is worse than Fox," he said.
And he may be right in making that claim for other delegates: Earlier in the week, delegates were asked to face a specific direction in the hall for the official convention photo. The direction was described on the public address system as next to a Fox News Channel sign.
"Boooo," the hall erupted at the mention of Fox.
In contrast, Al-Jazeera's quiet presence got a better reception from the floor.
"Democracy is contagious," said Tim Prince, a California delegate. "We can only hope that what they see here will be properly represented. I wish Americans would hear more about what happens in the Arab world."
Thomas said the network doesn't use pundits, as American networks do, and tries to aim for BBC-style coverage, with political commentary confined to its talk shows.
"But what is objectivity?" Al-Jazeera bureau manager Thomas said. "There is no such thing as objectivity."
The network takes pride, instead, in being universally criticized, noting that both Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf accused Al-Jazeera of being a tool for the other side in the war.
Its motto, after all, is: "The opinion . . . and the opposite opinion."
Al-Jazeera takes pride in its global reach, claiming an audience of 40 million Arab and Muslim viewers around the world, including 200,000 satellite subscribers in the United States.
Thursday night, the network covered John Kerry's acceptance speech in its entirety, doing an instant Arabic translation from its headquarters in Doha, Qatar.
The network's reporters at the convention prepared five news packages every day and did frequent updates from the hall, often interviewing Arab-American delegates. The Al-Jazeera updates from the convention began at 9 a.m. and ended more than 16 hours later with a recap at 1:15 a.m.
Mohamed Okdie, a Lebanese-American delegate from Michigan, said Al-Jazeera's coverage might help broaden the impression the Arab world has about America.
"To see that there are Arab-Americans here who are participating in the process is important," Okdie said. "And it gives reinforcement to the delegates, knowing that there is interest in us."
There was a big interest as well in the Al-Jazeera baseball cap, which for the first time became a much-sought souvenir. Al-Jazeera employees had given away so many of their hats during the week that Thomas had 100 more shipped overnight delivery to the convention.
"Everybody wants one," she said.
Well, it is just becoming clearer where the hearts of the Democrats are on this war against terror. They cannot be trusted with the security of the nation.
The Democrats are clammoring to identify (even if by fashion)with Al-Jazeer, a wholly conformed subsidiary of al Qaeda.
I think that about sums it up for the Dems ...
"But what is objectivity?" Al-Jazeera bureau manager Thomas said. "There is no such thing as objectivity."
How many thousands of people were at the convention?
I think its time for Registered to work his magic and bust out another parody ad....
Get Your Official Al-Jazeera DNC 2004 Turban....Or ELSE!
Anyone care to speculate how the RNC will handle AlJ?
Yeah, Mohamed is the guy that has long standing terrorist ties. The Rat's actually have a terrorist sympathizer as a delegate.
MKM
Very telling.
I'd be happy if they'd put them out in the protest cage, along with the rest of the animals.
MKM
What we don't know is how many that brought originally nor how limited there back inventory may have been on short notice.
The liberals removed Al-Jazeera's sign from behind the podium before the tv cameras came on as a PR move, yet their delegates like Al-Jazeera. More phony posturing by the liberals, pretending their people don't like what they really do like because that would offend ordinary voters. Democrats just don't get that this kind of thing is precisely why they lost power and won't get it back any time soon.
Kind of like "Operation Clean Sweep" used to clear the streets of street people in liberal meccas prior to televised events.
And after they became a mouthpiece for Al Qaida and other Islamofascists.
"Most of us don't feel that Al-Jazeera is worse than Fox," he said.
And he may be right in making that claim for other delegates: Earlier in the week, delegates were asked to face a specific direction in the hall for the official convention photo. The direction was described on the public address system as next to a Fox News Channel sign.
"Boooo," the hall erupted at the mention of Fox.
In contrast, Al-Jazeera's quiet presence got a better reception from the floor.
Cute, isn't it? They love a network that just happens to know when and where an ambush will take place so they can send a camera crew but won't lift a finger to prevent the ambush and save lives.
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