So, here’s another re-post of an article posted over at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy website. We promise we’ll get something original to Intermap here shortly.
BRAVO, BURLINGTON: A SMALL VICTORY FOR AL-JAZEERA ENGLISH, A SYMBOLIC VICTORY FOR THE UNITED STATES
JUN 27, 2008 – 3:14PM PST
Posted by Shawn Powers
It is about time that the Al-Jazeera Network received some good news from America. Having been accused by the former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld of inciting terrorism and assisting Iraqi insurgents, and then allegedly considered as a potential target of a U.S.-led military strike, Al-Jazeera has not exactly felt welcome here in the United States since the beginning of the war in Iraq. When Americans hear the words “Al-Jazeera”, many immediately associate it with Osama bin Laden, the world’s most recognized face of terrorism. It is thus easy to see why Al-Jazeera English has had trouble finding room in the U.S. cable market.
The arguments levied against Al-Jazeera — most typically “that it is a mouthpiece for terrorists” — have carried significant weight in discussions in the U.S. A 2006 poll commissioned by Accuracy in Media (AIM) found that 53 percent of Americans were opposed to having the channel available via cable in the U.S., and that 38 percent were “adamantly against the channel.” Of course, AIM conducted the poll prior to the broadcaster’s launch, and thus none of the respondents had ever actually seen Al-Jazeera English’s award winning programming. What the poll does illustrate, however, is that there is a widely held bias against the Al-Jazeera brand, an organization whose image has been thoroughly denigrated in America.