[Media-watch] FW: Aljazeera

[David Miller]

Kuwait Times 27/4/2004

KUWAIT By A Staff Reporter: Al-Jazeera journalists are being told by
their own editor to censor reports filed from Iraq, the Kuwait Times can
reveal. An internal memo sent to staff at the Arabic television network
says that "shots containing excessive violence should be avoided
altogether". This call for censorship must come as a huge blow to
Al-Jazeera's reputation as the world's most honest and fearless news
organisation. 
Extracts from the memo, dated April 11, include, "Violence that is true
to life is regarded as desensitising viewers, although some might argue
that its use may serve a moral or a social point. Therefore,
consideration should be given to the suitability of scenes of violence in
the 
news. "Shots containing excessive violence should be avoided altogether.
It is always necessary to step back and think about their impact on
viewers at home watching them with young children." Al-Jazeera was launched
in N! ovember 1996 and its journalists are rightly regarded as some of
the best in the business. They have consistently obtained exclusive,
ground-breaking stories from across the Middle East. However, the
Qatar-based news group has come under increasing pressure from the Americans
to 
tone down its coverage. That was evident earlier this month when
comments made by a captured US soldier in Iraq were allegedly censored at
the 
request of Al-Jazeera's editor. The American, Private Keith Matthew,
was quoted in an original report as saying he had never even wanted to go
to Iraq. This statement was initially published on Al-Jazeera's
English-language website, only to be removed later. The April 2004 memo
which 
the Kuwait Times has seen is entitled "Violence in the News" and was
sent by someone called Aziz El Mernissi. It begins by saying "It is clear
that scenes of extreme violence are filling our news bulletins. Many
people are upset, not le! ast Mr Ahmed Sheikh, the Editor-in-Chief." The
memo later ends with this paragraph, "The volume of harrowing and
distressing material from Iraq has been dominating our news bulletins, and
it 
is often not well handled. I think a balance should be struck between
the demands of truth and the danger of desensitising people!" Such
statements would appear to contradict Al-Jazeera's own description of
itself. The company's English-language website boasts that "free from the
shackles of censorship and government control, Al-Jazeera has offered its
audiences in the Arab world much needed freedom of thought,
independence, and room for debate". Journalists within the Arabic news
organisation are known to be unhappy with the current regime. One reporter
who has 
friends working for Al-Jazeera told the Kuwait Times, "I feel they are
being horribly betrayed by elements within the TV company who are more
interested in cosying-up to the Bush administration than maintaining
the high journalistic standards that we hold so dear."