Al Jazeera: The Inside Story of the Arab News Channel That Is Challenging the West

by Hugh Miles

Book Overview

With more than fifty million viewers, Al-Jazeera is one of the most widely watched news channels in the world. It's also one of the most controversial. Now, journalist Hugh Miles uncovers the true... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802117899
• ISBN13: 9780802117892
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 438 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.6" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A timely introduction to the most popular Arab news channel

This book was written in 2003-4, and covers the time from Al Jazeera's beginnings in the 1990s to 2004, so it is very up-to-date. Miles' writing is clear and lucid, and I highly recommend this book. There were many things here that I didn't know about Al Jazeera. I didn't know it was still running at a loss, that 120 of its initial staff came from the short-lived BBC Arabic service, that it had such a grassroots network of volunteer contacts among its viewers, that its staff had been killed by American forces, that it was banned from several Arab countries (and, for a while, by the Palestinian Authority) for criticizing their governments, that it almost interviewed Ariel Sharon, or that several of its loyal Arab viewers think it is American/Israeli-backed. Given the impressive speed at which Mr Miles wrote this book, it is unsurprising that it has gaps. Questions could have been asked that were not. For example, I would have liked him to have asked whether al Jazeera would be in the black even without the Saudi advertising embargo, as the figures he provides indicate that it would not be. And there are much larger issues, such as why they decided not to show beheadings of Western-oriented hostages when they show horrific footage of nonArab-on-Arab violence from Israel, why they had to interview US Army Spokesman Josh Rushing outdoors rather than indoors, and so on. But time, pages, and one person's perspective (however broad), are finite. Mr Miles is an Arabic-speaking British journalist who treats Al Jazeera like any other news organization. Of course, for any American who watches Fox (which includes other reviewers of this book), this is very biased. They should go to the English Al-Jazeera website, which I shall now visit more often. As one reviewer here has said, "a TV channel that offends EVERYBODY must be doing something right".

Six hours ahead

A TV channel that offends EVERYBODY must be doing something right. Since its quiet appearance in 1996, Al-Jazeera has continuously added viewers. It wasn't long before TVs in Europe and North America were tuning in to the one station that seemed to speak with a plausible Arab voice. What immediately distinguished this from other Arabic news and discussion programmes was its willingness to broadcast everybody's views. Although funded by the Emir of Qatar, Al-Jazerra was not a voice of its host government. It kept its news strictly factual and offered air time to voices dissenting from government policies. Anything going on the Arab world was discussed. Consequently, many contrasting views were aired, some of which criticised various governments in the region. But opinions and news were, and are, kept separate. Discovering the phenomenon of Al-Jazeera had been discussed but had never been given an overview, Hugh Miles set out to rectify that lack. This son of a diplomat had solid credentials for researching the history of the new news channel. Fluent in Arabic, Miles was able to talk to station management, reporters and viewers in various places. His summation is an excellent example of investigative reporting, well presented. By the time Miles began his project, the subject had already undergone both amazing growth and intemperate vilification. He explains how Arab governments find Al-Jazeera a fomenter of sedition and rebellion. Some see it as a tool of the Isreali government seeking to destabilise Arab rulers, while others are certain it's an arm of the CIA. Americans, especially the Bush regime, view it as a mouthpiece for terrorist societies and probably anti-Isreal. Viewers, Miles finds, all have their own opinions about Al-Jazeera's political orientation, but still make it their first choice for Middle East news. The key event in Al-Jazeera's progress was, of course, the 9/11 attacks on the WTC and Pentagon. Any news from the Arab world suddenly became of great importance and Al-Jazeera was clearly the leading voice. That situation probably led Al-Queda to use it as a conveyance for pronouncements to the world. Al-Queda tapes broadcast on Al-Jazeera immediately led to the branding of the station as a "voice of terrorism". Station management laughs at that, particularly when the western news channels are breaking down the doors to use Al-Jazeera news clips they cannot obtain elsewhere. The competition at one point was stiff enough to lead CNN to write a contract giving it Al-Jazeera video clips six hours ahead of the other broadcasters. The invasion of Afghanistan intensified the situation, since Al-Jazeera was the only news source on the ground when attacks began. There's a risk being at the forefront of a battle to report events. Americans, certain that Al-Jazeera was "the mouthpiece of Al-Queda", "accidently" destroyed the Kabul office. Later, in Baghdad, more "accidents" occurred, this time killing one reporter. Al-Jazeera was the sole

Response to "A Kid's Review"

I noticed a striking contradiction in said review . Hugh Miles in fact grew up in Saudi Arabia and Jordon only to leave for Oxford as a young adult and study Arabic Literature . The statement that he is biased because the Al Jazeera website advertizes anti-Sematic thoughts , is clearly contradictory . The book is not a summary of the content of the material Al Jazeera broadcasts , moreover this book is a look into the reaction of the people by its frankness . Western and Eastern response could not have been more misunderstood than it was on the case of Al Jazeera . In a sense , Al Jazeera has quasi-introduced the fifth ammendment to its audience , and not in theory , for it (Al Jazeera) is not promoting freedom of expression , rather living it out . I believe this is the core argument of what Miles has tried to articulate in his book .

An eye-opener

I've read this book and I really enjoyed it. It's a real eye-opener about a real contraversial TV station, and written with a lot of style and wit. I don't know where the "Verbose and Repetitive" reviewer (below) gets his or her information, but I respectfully disagree that the author regurgitates stuff we've known about for years from the international press. This book has some good "inside" stories like how a Jazeera journalist got to interview Al Qaida plotters in Pakistan. It also stirs up the debate about US vs Arabic media, and shows them all to be pretty hypocritical. If you watch TV news, it's good to know what you're watching, and this book gives you a big insight. (And, yes, there is another book on Jazeera, but look at it for two minutes and you'll see why it's not a patch on this one)

A Definite Award Winning Book about the Mysterious Channel

An insightful outlook of a dimension not previously discussed anywhere. A winner in credibility, intelligence, and objectivity. A book that should most definitely become a documentary because of its honesty and challenging language, but even more importantly one that should be translated into Arabic!