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Al Jazeera on the Block?
The Qatari government is reportedly trying to unload Al Jazeera, allegedly due to myriad outside pressures, particularly from the U.S. and Gulf Arab regimes. As one Qatari official put it:
We have recently added new members to the Al Jazeera editorial board, and one of their tasks is to explore the best way to sell it... We really have a headache, not just from the United States but from advertisers and from other countries as well.
A decree from Qatar's Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani "said that Al Jazeera would be converted to a privately owned 'company of participation,' which one source said meant it would probably "be owned by shareholders in the Arab world."
Al Jazeera's budget last year was $120 million, including a subsidy of $40-50 million from the Qatari government. An Al-Jazeera spokesman said a reason for the deficit "was that businesses were afraid to advertise because of criticism they might get from Arab governments and the United States."
Advertisement has indeed been a problem, and there is some legitimacy in lamenting the closed advertisement markets in the Gulf, which are often linked, or controlled by, members of the ruling families, or their acolytes.
If there is a moral here, however, it is not necessarily one of freedom of speech being curbed; Al Jazeera is, in many respects, an official station that serves the interests of the Qatari regime, particularly, it seems, the more Islamist-oriented branch of the ruling Al Thani family. To lament the privatization of the station is to also claim that its freedom is somehow linked to its being permanently subsidized by a regime whose democratic credentials and self-interest hardly suggest a genuinely free medium.
Ultimately, for the station to be truly independent in the long term, privatization seems a necessity. If Al Jazeera has a big audience, as it surely does, than it should be able to find intrepid investors willing to wager on a pan-Arab message that retains much popularity in the region. At the least, the investors will be able to control a powerful and influential mouthpiece that they might be able to leverage elsewhere.
But is outside pressure the real reason why the station is being sold off? Indeed, is it truly being sold off, since we don't know who the shareholders will be? One can only guess, but I would be surprised if Emir Hamad and his family give up control of the station for nothing. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if this isn't a tactic to lower pressure on the station (since all previous efforts to "temper" its politics went nowhere), while an indirect means will be found for the Al Thani to retain control over its editorial policy.
This is, of course, pure speculation. However, Emir Hamad is too shrewd to give up something big for nothing. That said, if the sale is bona fide, he may be doing so for domestic Qatari reasons. Whatever the explanation, I would read the fine print before presuming this is a case of outrageously enforced silence.
|1.29.05 @ 2:14PM|#
Do these figures mean that Al J sells 70m-80m/year in advertising? That seems to be a lot, but then again it is a popular channel.
clarityiniowa|1.29.05 @ 2:54PM|#
Let's pool our money and buy it! I look damn good with a
tablecloth on my head. I'll anchor the six o'clock news.
Then we could sell it to Comedy Central. Can you imagine "This Week
in Allah," on the Al J version of "The Daily Show?"
clarityiniowa|1.29.05 @ 3:10PM|#
Waitaminute, I got it...
We buy it, and turn it into a 24 hour Arabic weather channel. We
can call it...
Are you ready???
Al Roker!!
|1.29.05 @ 4:29PM|#
Music parody: al-Yankovic
Incidentally, I think it's a little unfair to criticize the current
Al-Thani monarch for being "undemocratic". Granted his country is
oppressive by our standards, but he's instituted democratic
reforms, given expanded rights to women, ended a lot of his
country's censorship laws, and various other reforms. He didn't do
this because his people were protesting and demanding these things;
he did it on his own, because he thought this would be a good idea.
For a Wahhabi Muslim Arab absolute theocrat, that's pretty damned
impressive.
|1.29.05 @ 4:54PM|#
24-hour basketball channel:
Al McGuire
If AJ can be privatized, maybe we could do the same to PBS and
NPR?
Kevin
|1.29.05 @ 5:13PM|#
Damn it. clarityiniowa did her first. Oh well.
Petite fashion channel:
(Al)i McBeal
clarityiniowa|1.29.05 @ 6:41PM|#
The corny trumpet player and/or what will happen to you if you
try to vote in the Sunni Triangle tomorrow channel.
Al Hurt
|1.29.05 @ 6:47PM|#
Maybe they'll get Ali G to do interviews. I think he'd be even funnier doing it straight and not for laughs!
Warren|1.29.05 @ 6:49PM|#
Ooo let's hear it for the shout-outs :)
...plays out in Kalamazoo
Whoo-Hoo from west Michigan.
And a special Thank You to kevrob for a tip of the hat to the late
great Al McGuire. Speaking on behalf of thinking NCAA basketball
fans everywhere, We miss you Al. Oh lord, how we miss you.
Oh and, how bout the Mafia (a.k.a. Catholic terrorist)
channel
Al Capone
|1.29.05 @ 7:07PM|#
Hey, Warren. We Marquette grads would like to thank (Central)
Michigan for Tom Crean, a Mount Pleasant boy. [Game Report: The
Warriors, without injured All-American point guard Travis Diener,
snuck past the Billikins at St. Louis in double-OT this
afternoon.]
Speaking of Michigan, where many Iraqi-Americans live, the 24 Hour
Baseball channel can be Al Kaline.
Kevin
Ruthless|1.29.05 @ 8:50PM|#
A hundred years ago in high school, a teammate on our track team
was named Alvin.
In keeping with the cadence of southern US vernacular, his nickname
was Altee.
Nobody, I mean nobody in the South could have a one syllable first
name.
That's why god needed to force himself on an underage virgin to
concoct a son, Jayzus: to save southerners.
(notice my two-syllable first name allowed me to survive to
adulthood)
Ruthless|1.29.05 @ 10:17PM|#
Come to think of it, we also had Alton on our track and field
squad. Al Ton was the discus-thrower.
Al Tee was our pole vaulter back when poles were inflexible. He was
lucky to clear 9 feet with that thing.
|1.29.05 @ 10:30PM|#
Jennifer,
Yeah, you're right. That's better. I thought of that but it didn't
occur to me to say it that well.
|1.29.05 @ 10:50PM|#
Rick Barton: The Mash rerun channel: Al Lanalda
Out of many amusing entries, that is my favorite so far, followed
by Al Yankovich and the original, Al Roker.
|1.29.05 @ 11:01PM|#
The 24-hour anti-alcohol channel:
Al Anon
The hide-n-seek channel:
Al E Ali Oxenfree
The Four Tops channel:
Al Be There to Love and Comfort You Al Be There With the Love I'll
See You Through
|1.29.05 @ 11:08PM|#
The
post-nuclear-holocaust-Pat-Frank-novel-we-all-read-in-high-school
channel:
Al Ass Babylon
The stomach-acid relief channel:
Al Kaseltzer
|1.29.05 @ 11:18PM|#
Jazz channel:
Al Jarreau
Arabic "Lilith Fair" channel:
Al Anissmorisette
Financial channel:
Al Angreenspan
Kevin
|1.30.05 @ 11:48AM|#
Food Channel: Al Amode
White Supremicist Channel: Al Abaster
Parable Channel: Al Agory
The US is at fault for everything channel: Al Franken
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