Bush, bombs, BBC

Al-Jazeera exec mulls challenges facing Arab satcaster

By ALI JAAFAR

LONDON -- The knocks keep coming for controversial Arabic newsie Al-Jazeera.

With the furore over a leaked memo alleging President Bush wanted to bomb the satcaster's HQ in Doha, Qatar, still rumbling on, Al-Jazeera's managing director Wadah Khanfar has flown to London to meet government officials.

While the two men accused of leaking the memo to the Daily Mirror appeared in a London court last week, Khanfar sat down with Variety to set out the satcaster's position as well as its plans for 2006.

"We are shocked actually (about the memo). We think this concerns journalists all over the world, not just Al Jazeera," says the 38-year-old exec.

"We never thought the leader of a great country would even let such a thought cross his mind. We still hope that the American values, and the American legacy of attracting people all over the world to its model of freedom and democracy, means that this did not actually happen."

While the veracity of the alleged memo is far from proven -- and may ultimately prove little more than a tempest in a tea cup -- the Qatar-based satcaster is facing other challenges.

As it approaches its 10-year anniversary, and prepares to launch an English-language service, it finds itself in an increasingly crowded market with the likes of Al-Arabiyah and LBC-Al Hayat encroaching on its audience of 40 million across the Mideast.

Last month's announcement that the BBC is to launch its own Arab language news channel will further increase competition.

"We are not scared of competition. In fact, we would like to see more competition in our particular part of the world," Khanfar contends. "The Arab world needs many news networks to give viewers the choice to see things from different angles. This is healthy. It's the essence of democracy."

A bigger problem for the satcaster remains its perception in the West, particularly among the American administration, that it has become a mouthpiece for Islamic terrorists.

Accusations of aiding the insurgency in Iraq and an anti-Western bias continue to be leveled at the station.

Khanfar accepts some of the charges.

"I don't deny that sometimes we have made mistakes or that some of our correspondents may have become more emotional to a story than was required by our code of ethics," he says. "These mistakes have been corrected and we apologize for them. But this is a mistake that a lot of journalists have made. We are human after all."

Khanfar's admission may go some way to appeasing the barbs aimed at the satcaster but it is unlikely to satisfy the most vociferous complaints -- a fact he has become all too aware of as the head of what remains, with the notable exception of Fox, the most hotly-debated newscaster in the world.

But he also defends the newsie's approach.

"Some of our journalists have come to us after 30 years working with the BBC and other international networks. We don't use the screen to settle our disputes. We believe our mission is to build bridges and push the agenda of reform and democracy in the Middle East," Khanfar adds.

It is ironic that he seems most hurt by the comparison to Fox, something he dismisses as, "not fair at all."

The Mideast is facing its most precarious and potentially exciting period in a generation. Genuine strides are being made in democratic reform, though Iraq continues to be bloody and Syria, Lebanon and Iran all face uncertain times.

Al-Jazeera says it intends to take a front seat across the region.

"We are going to have a very crowded agenda throughout 2006 as far as the Middle East is concerned," Khanfar says.