Since 9/11, when the whole turned their faces to understanding — or criticizing, for some — the Middle East and its Islamic population, one channel managed to rise as a spokesman for the Arab population in the world, the voice of what the people in the Middle East, as well as in other Muslim nations, think.
Even though Al-Jazeera only became famous in the post-9/11 era, with the publishing of video messages from terrorists, the channel is older than many people think. It was created in 1996 by the Emir of Qatar, becoming the first non-state channel to arrive in many Middle Eastern homes, bringing a level of freedom of speech unknown to the region. It also managed to leverage its sudden worldwide fame, as well as the infamous reputation as a spokesperson for terrorists given it by the Bush administration, to become known as a channel with a different point of view.
Ten years later, in November 2006, Al-Jazeera launched its English-language channel to respond to high demand, quickly reaching nearly 100 million homes worldwide, becoming in less than six months the third most watched English-language 24-hour news channel in the world, behind only the BBC and CNN. Even in Israel, the place one would least expect to find an Al-Jazeera audience, the channel serves around 550,000 homes. And even though it’s seen by some as biased toward Arabs, in Israel people still take in consideration the freedom of speech. As Eytan Gilboa, a university professor in Israel puts it, "[Al-Jazeera] is very critical of Israel, and biased and highly problematic. But you don’t ban it."
Based on these principles, and on the Western curiosity to see the world the way the Arabs see it and thus better understand what they think, Al-Jazeera has been broadening its reach throughout the planet. However, that doesn’t seem to be good enough for American viewers. When requesting to enter the lineup of cable companies in the U.S., the channel got rejected by every single one of them, except for a handful of local carriers. It was thus forced to cut a deal with YouTube. Al-Jazeera will now offer some of its programs in English on the YouTube Web site, which will mostly serve as an introduction into mass media, a way to drive viewers to its Web site and maybe, in the near future, build the proper pressure for bigger cable companies to take the Middle Eastern media under its wing.
What would make a highly accepted channel in the world be thoroughly rejected in the U.S., for no apparent reason? A deal with Comcast was nearly done, according to Nigel Parsons, the managing director of Al-Jazeera English, when suddenly Comcast pulled out of the deal. "We suspect there was outside pressure, including of a political nature," Parsons said.
On the other hand, cable companies claim that Al-Jazeera simply wouldn’t have a market in the U.S. or that they have other priorities in terms of channel selection at the moment. Jerome Espy, spokesman for Comcast Detroit, said that even though Comcast has bandwidth to spare for channels "that fit a certain niche," there already is programming to cater for the large Arab community in the city.
Faced with an array of evasive responses and an inevitable suspicion of political motivation, Al-Jazeera execs are left with nothing but disappointment at not being alllowed into what is, by far, the largest market in the world for the media, in a country that has been deeply involved with the Middle East and Islamic culture, politically, militarily, and even culturally. In the U.S., the only sources for some knowledge on Arab culture are university specialists summoned to talk on TV shows or to write articles for newspapers and magazines, and declarations from government agencies.
Parsons defined the situation perfectly. "It’s extraordinary that while the rest of the world is happy to watch us… the U.S. stands in splendid isolation." Even at YouTube, there were worries that associating with Al-Jazeera could give the latest Internet prodigy a bad name. "Having a branded channel does not represent an endorsement of that channel’s content," said Julie Supan, YouTube’s head of communications.
Another point in question is the media coverage of the issue. On the major newspapers and other media in the U.S., there was no mention of the struggle from the Arab channel to get into the cable companies’ lineup, only reports regarding Al-Jazeera’s YouTube venture. Most of the commentary was positive, complimenting the move as an addition to the diversity of opinions in the American media, as if the channel had never tried to get on American televisions, which would have a much bigger impact than just a few programs on a website. Only a few, smaller media in the US mentioned Al-Jazeera’s denial on American cable and the suspicion of political motivations.
In a country that has always boasted about its political and personal liberties, the voice of the Arab community — a community of roughly 1.2 million in the U.S. — is yet to be heard, even through the Internet.