US should wake up and use Al-Jazeera

The US has learned from its war in Afghanistan that winning an information battle can sometimes be more important than scoring a military victory. Now that the US and the Middle East are on a collision course over military action against Iraq, American officials need to exert more effort to communicate with the Arab people through effective channels like the Al-Jazeera satellite network.

An obstacle to this is the misguided perception that Al-Jazeera is an anti-American network that increases Arab animosity toward the US. While Americans may be most aware of - and perhaps prejudiced about - the network for its broadcasts of audiotapes of Osama bin Laden, the reality is that Al-Jazeera is a mere vehicle for information, a vessel through which ideas and opinions from all possible sides are disseminated and public discourse is forged.

Since its inception in 1996, Al-Jazeera, Arabic for "the island," has won the respect of millions of Arab viewers. Based in the island nation of Qatar, the TV network has been hailed - even by some US officials - as a beacon of free press, a bold initiative in journalism, and a revolutionary force among Arab media long constrained by state control. Indeed, one indicator of its journalistic independence is that Persian Gulf region ministers of information, uncomfortable with the network's reporting, have organized a boycott of businesses that advertise on the network.

The network has an approach to the news that was unthinkable in the Arab world a decade ago. Before Al-Jazeera, there were no public affairs interviews, no talk shows, no free debate, no viewer participation, and hardly any live coverage. With its vivid debates, daring commentary, and multiple perspectives, Al-Jazeera appears to be breaking new media ground by venturing into a realm of open discussion rarely attempted by other broadcasters in the region - so much so that it has been perceived as serving as a de facto forum for pan-Arab political debates.

Al-Jazeera's motto is "The Opinion and the Other Opinion." Run by Western-trained Arab journalists who claim financial independence - though it was initially founded and financed by the Emir of Qatar - the network commits itself to presenting opposing views. Because it provides representatives of opposition groups with a high-profile platform that resonates around the region, it is the most trustworthy and credible news channel among Arab viewers, who've always been critical of their own media.

CNN's minute-by-minute coverage of the Gulf War in 1991 made that network the primary source of news in Arab viewers' own backyard. Whether they had a command of English or not, their need to watch what had been denied them became more pressing than understanding foreign languages.

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