A free press for all
Iraqis are frequently reminded by their American administrators that they will receive the gift of democracy - yet a pillar of that ideal, an independent-minded, free-speaking media, is being denied them. Free speech, it has become apparent, is a matter of interpretation.
The United States-installed Iraq Governing Council on Wednesday announced regulations barring the media from coverage that could incite violence, disorder or religious or racial tensions, advocate the return of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party or represent it directly or indirectly. Singled out were the popular Arab satellite television stations Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, which were banned from reporting on government activities for two weeks for 'irresponsible actions'.
Their airing of audio and video tapes said to be of Mr Hussein, terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and members of his al-Qaeda network have been frequently criticised by US President George W. Bush and his officials for 'encouraging terrorism'.
Without referring to the council's decision, a US State Department official said on Wednesday: 'We remain concerned about Al-Jazeera's broadcasting of al-Qaeda's tapes and the potential that represents for enhancing communications among terrorists.'
He said the US 'firmly supports the principles of free speech and free press and regards them as standards that nations aspiring to democracy and international acceptance must uphold'.
Until the ban is lifted, Al-Jazeera, based in Qatar, and Al-Arabiya, with its headquarters in Dubai, will be unable to send journalists to press conferences given by officials in Iraq.
Egyptian-born, US-based media analyst Mohammed el-Nawawy, the co-author of Al-Jazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East, has observed the channel since its inception in 1996 and believed the criticism was unfair and unwarranted. He said many of its journalists had been trained in North America and Europe and their newsgathering methods were the same as those of the mainstream western media. The biggest difference was that news was presented from an Arab position.
A glance at Al-Jazeera's English-language Internet website confirmed that assessment.
Such views were not unusual in the Muslim media, but Al-Jazeera's presentation was, said Dr el-Nawawy, a professor of communications at Stone Hill College in the US state of Massachusetts. The objective was to present as many sides to a story as possible, a method considered the basis of western journalism, but rarely done in the mostly state-controlled Arab media.
'Without exaggeration, Al-Jazeera has changed the face of the media in the Arab world in an unprecedented way,' he said. 'They have courageous programmes that delve into all kinds of issues - not just political, but also social, religious and economic. The debates broadcast by Al-Jazeera won't be seen on any other Arab network.'
A report on the Israeli parliament's decision to expel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from the occupied territories had included interviews with Israeli analysts, one of whom had said his country had a right to defend itself against terrorists. No other Arab television station would dare air such an opinion, Dr el-Nawawy said. 'The key is that what Al-Jazeera has been doing is promoting and endorsing the western journalistic style of independence, and freedom of speech and expression.' Criticism for reports about the Ba'ath Party and al-Qaeda or airing tapes purportedly from their leaders was 'sad and frustrating'.
Journalism ethics researcher Kelly McBride put some of the problem down to a lack of cultural understanding on both sides of the argument. Newsroom culture also came into play.
'The extent to which news reports can be cleansed of bias and unfairness and imbalance has more to do with the culture of the newsroom than where the journalist was trained or what that particular bias is,' Ms McBride said from the Poynter Institute in the Florida city of St Petersburg.
Al-Jazeera, based in the heart of the Persian Gulf, funded by Arab money and with 35 million viewers in the Middle East, capably represents its environment and audience. As a broadcaster, it is therefore no less biased than CNN or the BBC.
Yet the Bush administration seems unwilling to comprehend this reality. If the US wants Iraqis to have democracy, in whatever form that eventually takes, it must allow them access to all manner of opinions - not just the ones it wants them to hear.
