[Media-watch] Al-Jazeera tones down 'violent' images

[David Miller]

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1206276,00.html



8am 
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Al-Jazeera tones down 'violent' images

Claire Cozens
Friday April 30, 2004

 Staff at al-Jazeera have been ordered to tone down "excessive violence" in
their coverage of Iraq, sparking fears that the Arab satellite channel's
senior editors are softening in their determination to resist pressure from
the US government.

Al-Jazeera's unflinching approach to covering the violence in the Middle
East has put it at loggerheads with the Bush administration, and this week
the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, made an official complaint to the
Qatar government about the channel.

Mr Powell protested that what he claimed was the channel's anti-American
bias was "clouding" relations between the two countries.

The channel, which is based in the Qatari capital, Doha, has always refused
to bow to such pressure - despite being funded by the autocratic Emir of
Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, a staunch ally of America. The
strategy has earned al-Jazeera a huge following throughout the Arab world.

But now it has emerged that earlier this month staff received a memo
informing them that editor-in-chief Ahmed Sheikh had been "upset" by the
recent "extreme violence" on the station.

"It is clear that scenes of extreme violence are filling our news bulletins.
Many people are upset, not least Mr Ahmed Sheikh, the editor-in-chief," read
the memo, dated April 11.

"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."

The memo went on to say that shots containing "excessive" violence should be
avoided altogether, and that editors should aim to strike a balance "between
the demands of truth and the danger of desensitising people".

There is nothing unusual in a desire to protect viewers from some of the
worst atrocities in Iraq - the BBC World Affairs editor, John Simpson,
recently admitted issues of taste and decency had severely restricted the
channel's ability to show images of the crisis in Falluja.

But al-Jazeera is famous for its no holds barred approach, and the latest
edict comes at a sensitive time for the broadcaster.

The dangers of working in Iraq, particularly for western reporters, mean
that many of the world's broadcasters are relying on footage from al-Jazeera
to cover the unfolding events, so a story that might have once been limited
to the channel is now beamed around the world.

The US government is said to have been angered by the BBC's decision to
broadcast video footage, first shown on al-Jazeera, of the captured US
soldier Keith Maupin, saying he had gone to Iraq unwillingly.

But the channel was praised by the White House for not broadcasting the
shooting of kidnapped Italian kidnapped Italian security guard Fabrizio
Quattrocchi, after deciding the footage was too shocking. Many at the
station believed the film should have been shown.

Another bone of contention was the decision to pull two cartoons running on
the al-Jazeera website.

One showed the towers of the World Trade Center imploding to morph into two
giant petrol pumps, while another depicted hordes of Hispanic soldiers in US
military uniform.

This was a reference to a story claiming the US authorities had used the
promise of a green card to persuade non-citizens to sign up for the
military.

Staff at the Arabic channel say the cartoons were pulled following
complaints from the White House, and some were angered by what they regard
as capitulation to pressure from the US.

"Journalists at the coal face are risking their lives to bring dramatic
footage, but they are facing just as much flak from Qatar," one source told
MediaGuardian.co.uk.

David Miller, the editor of Tell Me Lies: Propaganda and Media Distortion in
the Attack on Iraq, said the US military and government had made it plain
that they saw al-Jazeera as part of the problem in Iraq.

"Colin Powell's visit to Doha and the pressure being put on the Qatari
government is one part of a pincer movement. The other is visible in
Falluja, where the US required the single journalist inside the city [from
al-Jazeera] to leave as part of its ceasefire terms," he said.

"It is plain that the disquiet inside al-Jazeera relates in part to the
pressure from management to tone down coverage seen as anti-American. The
fact that this memo was leaked indicates the huge pressure under which al
Jazeera is operating and is a symptom of the attempts by the US to destroy
independent reporting on Iraq."

No one at al-Jazeera was available for comment.


· To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email editor at mediaguardian.co.uk or
phone 020 7239 9857

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