Al-Jazeera Launches Site In English

Tuesday March 25, 9:08 AM
Al-Jazeera Launches Site In English
(From The Wall Street Journal)
By Josef Federman
The Wall Street Journal Online

Al-Jazeera went live early yesterday with its English-language Web site -- and the Qatar-based satellite network immediately assumed a posture likely to provoke Western readers.

The site (english.aljazeera.net) has promised to offer a different perspective than those of Western media and has stuck to its word. Its graphic photos of dead U.S. soldiers, pointed headlines and opinionated articles -- many of them without reporters' bylines -- will provide plenty of fodder for critics of the Middle Eastern news organization. The content is produced separately from its Arabic-language counterpart.

The al-Jazeera Arabic satellite channel, which drew criticism for airing Osama bin Laden's unedited comments after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijack attacks in the U.S., attracted further rebukes Sunday by broadcasting Iraqi television footage showing five U.S. prisoners of war. Articles on the English-language site's first day were sure to antagonize American readers. One feature looked at the influence of the Israeli lobby in Washington. Another, headlined "Coalition of the Willing Has Become a Joke," made light of the "obscure" countries in the U.S.-led coalition. Another, titled "Misinformation Basra," cast doubt on American military assertions about its military success in the southern Iraqi city.

Yet the site also showed its potential as an information resource. An eyewitness account from a correspondent in Baghdad described damage from U.S. bombing to civilian areas and a historic palace. Like many other articles, the item gave no information about its writer and was simply attributed to "al-Jazeera."

Managing Editor Joanne Tucker, a former BBC journalist who holds dual U.S.-British citizenship and speaks Arabic, has promised Western-style standards of journalism. She said she stands by all the articles but conceded that the site has to do more to clarify what is news and what is opinion.

Al-Jazeera has correspondents in nearly all of Iraq's major battle zones, including Basra, Mosul and Baghdad, Ms. Tucker said. She said readers can expect bylined pieces, more breaking news and eyewitness reporting as the site develops. "Right now, we just wanted to get the site live," she said.

The site had a bare-bones appearance on its first day and was limited to coverage of the Iraqi conflict. In time, it plans to offer broader coverage of Mideast events. Traffic to al-Jazeera was light, Ms. Tucker said. "I don't think anybody really knows about it."