VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDOA #1659 3201438
ZNR UUUUU ZZH ZUI RUEWCSE1491 3201433
R 161438Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY DOHA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0000
INFO ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME
RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS DOHA 001659 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/PD, NEA/ARP 
INFO NSC FOR ABRAMS, DOD/OSD FOR SCHENKER AND MATHENY 
LONDON FOR ARAB MEDIA OFFICE 
DUBAI FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY HUB 
CENTCOM FWD FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KPAO QA
SUBJECT: AL JAZEERA ENGLISH LAUNCHES - FINALLY 
 
 
¶1. MORE THAN TWO YEARS AFTER ITS INITIAL CREATION IN 2004, THE 
ENGLISH-LANGUAGE VERSION OF AL JAZEERA - NOW KNOWN AS AL JAZEERA 
ENGLISH (AJE) - LAUNCHED TO GREAT FANFARE IN DOHA NOVEMBER 15. 
 
¶2. IN LAUNCHING THIS PROJECT, THE AMIR OF QATAR HAS DISBURSED 
UNDISCLOSED, BUT UNDOUBTEDLY VAST, SUMS OF MONEY TO MATCH UP AN 
IMPRESSIVE LINE-UP OF RESPECTED FIGURES IN JOURNALISM WITH 
CUTTING-EDGE HIGH-DEFINITION TV TECHNOLOGY. BROADCASTING FROM FOUR 
GEOGRAPHIC CENTERS (DOHA, KUALA LUMPUR, LONDON AND WASHINGTON), AJE 
BOASTS 20 NEW BUREAUS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, AS WELL AS FREE ACCESS 
TO THE EXISTING 42 BUREAUS OF THE AL JAZEERA ARABIC CHANNEL. SOME 30 
SEASONED CORRESPONDENTS FROM A WIDE RANGE OF COUNTRIES ARE STAFFING 
THE NEW BUREAUS. 
 
¶3. THE TWO YEARS PRECEDING AJE'S LAUNCH HAVE BEEN FILLED WITH RUMORS 
AND SPECULATION CONCERNING BOTH ITS CONTENT AND THE NATURE OF ITS 
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE AL JAZEERA ARABIC CHANNEL. 
 
THE CONTENT 
----------- 
 
¶4. THE QUESTION OF CONTENT HAS BEEN ANSWERED IN SMALL PART BY THE 
FIRST 24 HOURS OF AJE PROGRAMMING.  IN FULFILLMENT OF ITS PROMISE TO 
FACILITATE "THE FLOW OF NEWS FROM SOUTH TO NORTH" AJE FOCUSED ALMOST 
EXCLUSIVELY ON NEWS FROM THE DEVELOPING WORLD IN ITS FIRST 24 HOURS. 
ITS FIRST LIVE NEWS BROADCAST FEATURED (IN THIS ORDER) STORIES FROM 
GAZA, DARFUR, IRAN AND ZIMBABWE, FOLLOWED BY ITEMS FROM SOMALIA, 
CONGO AND BRAZIL, INTERSPERSED WITH BREAKING NEWS UPDATES ON A 
TSUNAMI WARNING IN JAPAN. THE NEWS SEGMENTS WERE LONGER IN LENGTH 
 
SIPDIS 
THAN IS USUAL ON CABLE NEWS PROGRAMS - AGAIN IN FULFILLMENT OF THE 
CHANNEL'S PROMISE TO PRESENT NEWS AT A SLOWER, MORE DETAILED AND 
THOUGHTFUL PACE. OVER THE HOURS, THE FIRST NEWS BROADCAST MOVED FROM 
DOHA ANCHORS TO ANCHORS IN KUALA LUMPUR, LONDON AND WASHINGTON. NEWS 
ITEMS ON THE U.S. AND THE UK WERE CONSPICUOUSLY FEW (THE AMERICAS 
SEGMENT FEATURED A STORY BY FORMER CNN CORRESPONDENT LUCIA NEWMAN 
FROM BRAZIL). 
 
MIDDLE EAST COVERAGE 
-------------------- 
 
¶5. THE FIRST STORY ON THE NEW CHANNEL WAS FROM THE GAZA STRIP, 
FOCUSING ON HAMAS AND ISLAMIC JIHAD ROCKET ATTACKS LAUNCHED INTO 
ISRAEL FROM THE STRIP AND ON THE RECENT ISRAEL MILITARY ACTION IN 
GAZA. THE STORY FEATURED CORRESPONDENTS IN BOTH GAZA AND JERUSALEM; 
TOGETHER WITH SHOTS OF A BANDAGED BABY GIRL AND GRIEF-STRICKEN 
PALESTINIAN MOTHERS AND CHILDREN SEARCHING THROUGH RUBBLE. LATER, 
THE CHANNEL COVERED THE DEATH OF AN ISRAELI WOMAN HIT BY A 
PALESTINIAN ROCKET AND FEATURED SHOTS OF, AND COMMENTARY FROM, 
PASSIONATELY ANGRY ISRAELI CITIZENS. 
 
THE TERMINOLOGY QUESTION 
------------------------ 
 
¶6. ONE OF THE CENTRAL QUESTIONS OBSERVERS HAVE BEEN POSING WITH 
REGARD TO AJE IS WHETHER OR NOT IT WILL DISTANCE ITSELF FROM 
"LOADED" TERMINOLOGY SUCH AS REFERENCES TO "MARTYRS" RATHER THAN 
"SUICIDE BOMBERS." THIS IS A QUESTION YET TO BE ANSWERED FULLY, 
ALTHOUGH ON NOVEMBER 16, NEWS OF A RETALIATORY ISRAELI STRIKE ON THE 
HOUSE OF A PALESTINIAN BELIEVED TO BE LINKED TO THE ROCKET ATTACKS 
LAUNCHED FROM GAZA WAS FEATURED ON THE BELOW-SCREEN AJE ROLLING 
TICKER AS "ISRAELI ROCKET HITS FIGHTER'S HOUSE IN GAZA," GIVING THE 
SENSE THAT AJE TRIED TO FIND A BALANCE BETWEEN LABELING THE 
INDIVIDUAL A "TERRORIST" AND A "RESISTANCE FIGHTER," BOTH LOADED 
TERMS DEPENDING ON THE CULTURAL CONTEXT. 
 
RIZ KHAN INTERVIEWS ISMAIL HANIYA AND SHIMON PERES 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶7. RIZ KHAN, THE FORMER CNN ANCHOR, ROLLED OUT HIS NEW SHOW NOVEMBER 
16 - "A LIVE INTERACTIVE SHOW LETTING VIEWERS QUESTION WORLD 
LEADERS, NEWSMAKERS, AND CELEBRITIES, ADDRESSING KEY ISSUES AND 
TRENDS IMPACTING LIVES AROUND THE GLOBE" - WITH BACK-TO-BACK 
INTERVIEWS WITH PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER ISMAIL HANIYA AND ISRAELI 
VICE PRIME MINISTER SHIMON PERES, BOTH OF WHOM ANSWERED QUESTIONS 
FROM KHAN AND QUESTIONS SENT IN BY VIEWERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. 
 
COMING HIGHLIGHTS 
----------------- 
 
¶8. AJE IS ADVERTISING AN IN-DEPTH SPECIAL PROGRAM PROFILING SYRIAN 
 
PRESIDENT BASHIR AL ASSAD AND ANOTHER PROFILING SAMMI AL HAJJ, THE 
SUDANESE AL JAZEERA CAMERAMAN DETAINED SINCE 2001 IN GUANTANAMO BAY. 
THE CELEBRATED DAVID FROST INAUGURATES HIS WEEKLY SHOW, "FROST OVER 
THE WORLD" ON NOVEMBER 17, REPORTEDLY WITH AN INTERVIEW WITH BRITISH 
PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR. THE FULL AJE PROGRAM LINE-UP CAN BE 
VIEWED AT THE AJE WEBSITE(HTTP://ENGLISH.ALJAZEERA.NET), RE-LAUNCHED 
NOVEMBER 15 TO "MATCH THE LOOK AND FEEL" OF THE NEW CHANNEL. 
 
ADVERTISING 
----------- 
 
¶9. AJE HAS MADE CLEAR THAT IT DOES NOT DEPEND ON ADVERTISING FOR 
OPERATING REVENUE, AND ITS MANAGING DIRECTOR, NIGEL PARSONS, HAS 
ACKNOWLEDGED TO POST THAT THERE IS A "POLITICAL" RELUCTANCE BY SOME 
ADVERTISERS TO SEEK AIR-TIME WITH AL JAZEERA. PRESENTLY ADVERTISING 
ON AJE ARE ENTITIES SUCH AS NOKIA, ETIHAD AIRLINES, QATAR AIRWAYS, 
QATAR FINANCIAL CENTER AND DUBAI HOLDINGS. 
 
WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION 
---------------------- 
 
¶10. ACCORDING TO COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR LINDSEY OLIVER, THE CHANNEL 
LAUNCHED TO 80 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS VIA CABLE AND SATELLITE. AJE PRESS 
MATERIALS CLAIM LAUNCH PLATFORMS IN AFGHANISTAN, AUSTRALIA, BELGIUM, 
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA, BULGARIA, CROATIA, CYPRUS, DENMARK, ESTONIA, 
FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, GHANA, GREECE, HONDURAS, HONG KONG, 
INDONESIA, IRELAND, ISRAEL, ITALY, JORDAN, KENYA, KUWAIT, LATVIA, 
LEBANON, LITHUANIA, MALAYSIA, MALDIVES, MALTA, MIDDLE EAST, NEW 
ZEALAND, NORWAY, POLAND, PORTUGAL, QATAR, ROMANIA, SOUTH AFRICA, 
SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, THAILAND, THE NETHERLANDS, TURKEY, 
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, UNITED KINGDOM, UNITED STATES, AND UGANDA. "IN 
ADDITION TO CABLE, ADSL, MOBILE PLATFORMS AND SATELLITE, AL JAZEERA 
ENGLISH WILL BE AVAILABLE AS A LIVE STREAM TO THE ONE BILLION USERS 
OF THE INTERNET WORLDWIDE," SAID THE PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. 
 
U.S. DISTRIBUTION 
----------------- 
 
¶11. OLIVER, ECHOING PREVIOUS POST CONVERSATIONS WITH AJE MANAGEMENT, 
ACKNOWLEDGED DIFFICULTY IN PENETRATING THE U.S. MARKET BUT REMAINED 
OPTIMISTIC ABOUT FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES. AT LAUNCH, THE FOLLOWING 
LIMITED DISSEMINATIONS WERE AVAILABLE IN THE U.S.: 
 
-- GLOBECAST (WWW.GLOBECAST.COM) A FRENCH-OWNED COMPANY WHICH 
MANAGES WORLD TV SERVICE, A 200-CHANNEL BOUQUET, FOR THE US MARKET. 
WORLD TV SERVES AN ESTIMATED 500,000 HOMES IN THE U.S. WHO LARGELY 
RECEIVE IT DIRECT-TO-HOME FROM INTELSAT. 
 
-- FISION (HTTP://WWW.FISION.NET/) A HOUSTON-BASED COMPANY PROVIDES 
400 DIGITAL TELEVISION CHANNELS TO HOUSTON SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
-- JUMP TV (HTTPS://WWW.JUMPTV.COM/EN/CHANNEL/ALJAZEERA/ ) BILLS 
ITSELF AS AN "ONLINE TV NETWORK." IT ALREADY OFFERS AL JAZEERA 
ARABIC AS WEBCAST OVER THE INTERNET. 
 
-- VDC (WWW.VDC.COM) AN INTERNET-STREAMING OPERATION WHICH UTILIZES 
INTERNET PROTOCOL TELEVISION (IPTV) TECHNOLOGY. 
 
 
POST-LAUNCH 
----------- 
 
¶12. THE ROLL-OUT WAS SLICK AND PROFESSIONAL, WITH AJE STAFFERS 
EXPRESSING RELIEF AT THE RELATIVELY HITCH-FREE LAUNCH. CHARLOTTE 
DENT, AJE'S PUBLIC RELATIONS CHIEF, TOLD PAO NOVEMBER 16 THAT THE 
CHANNEL HAS BEEN "DELUGED" WITH EMAILS FROM INTERNET VIEWERS IN THE 
U.S. AND CANADA WHO ARE "DISAPPOINTED" AT NOT BEING ABLE TO VIEW AJE 
PROGRAMMING VIA CABLE OR SATELLITE. DENT SAID COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR 
LINDSEY OLIVER PLANS A RETURN TRIP TO THE U.S. NEXT MONTH TO 
RE-CONNECT WITH SATELLITE/CABLE PROVIDERS. "THE RESPONSE HAS BEEN 
PHENOMENAL, FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. ONCE U.S. CARRIERS REALIZE WE 
ARE NOT SUCH A GAMBLE, I THINK THE SITUATION WILL CHANGE," SAID 
DENT. 
 
¶13. DENT SAID THE MOOD AT AJE NOVEMBER 16 WAS ONE OF "TOTAL ELATION" 
AFTER A HITCH-FREE LAUNCH. SHE SAID THE CHANNEL IS CURRENTLY AIRING 
12 HOURS DAILY OF LIVE NEWS PROGRAMMING (FROM NOON TO MIDNIGHT GMT), 
WITH THE REMAINING HOURS COVERED BY RECORDED PROGRAMMING AND, WHEN 
NECESSARY, LIVE BREAKING NEWS UPDATES. SHE SAID THE PROPORTION OF 
LIVE NEWS PROGRAMMING WILL RISE TO 14, 16, 18 ETC., UNTIL IT REACHES 
 
24 HOURS A DAY, PROBABLY BY THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2007. 
 
AJA AND AJE - GETTING ON MUCH BETTER NOW 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶14. ONE REMARKABLE TURNAROUND THAT HAS BEEN IN THE MAKING OVER THE 
LAST SEVERAL MONTHS IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AL JAZEERA ARABIC 
AND AJE. INITIALLY HALLMARKED BY DISTRUST AND HOSTILITY, WITH THE AJ 
ARABIC STAFFERS OPENLY EXPRESSING FEARS THAT THE 
"WESTERNER-DOMINATED" AJE WOULD HIJACK AND/OR DILUTE THE AL JAZEERA 
BRAND AND IDENTITY, THE RELATIONSHIP HAS EVOLVED INTO FAMILIARITY 
AND EVEN SOME COLLEGIALITY. CHATTING WITH AJ ARABIC STAFFERS AT AJ 
STUDIOS NOVEMBER 15, PAO WAS SURPRISED AT THE WARMTH AND PRIDE IN 
THE LAUNCH EXPRESSED BY STAFFERS AT THE ARABIC CHANNEL. SIMILARLY, 
THE TONE AT THE FRIENDS OF AL JAZEERA BLOG 
(HTTP://WWW.FRIENDSOFALJAZEERA.ORG), WHICH HAS LONG BEEN 
CHARACTERIZED BY HOSTILITY AND OFTEN DOWNRIGHT VENOM, ECHOED A 
SIMILAR SENSE OF COLLEGIALITY AND ACHIEVEMENT AROUND THE LAUNCH. AJE 
STAFFERS, IN THEIR TURN, ARE CONSISTENTLY CAREFUL TO RECOGNIZE, IN 
PUBLIC AND IN PRIVATE, THAT AJE IS BUILT "ON THE HERITAGE OF OUR 
SISTER CHANNEL." 
 
¶15. PART OF THE CAUSE OF THIS TURNAROUND IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE FACT 
THAT WADAH KHANFAR, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE ARABIC CHANNEL, WAS 
NAMED EARLIER THIS YEAR AS DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE OVERALL AL 
JAZEERA NETWORK (WHICH NOW INCLUDES AJA, AJE, AJ SPORTS, AJ DIRECT - 
SORT OF AN ARABIC C-SPAN -, AJ DOCUMENTARY, THE AJ MEDIA TRAINING 
CENTER AND THE AJ RESEARCH CENTER). KHANFAR'S CONSIDERABLE ENERGIES 
HAVE SINCE BEEN DIRECTED AT UNIFYING THE TWO CHANNELS, BOTH 
PHYSICALLY AND CONCEPTUALLY. THE PHYSICAL RELOCATION OF AJE TO THE 
SAME COMPOUND AS AJA ALSO INCREASED THE STAFFS' FAMILIARITY WITH 
EACH OTHER AND LED TO REDUCED TENSION. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶16. AJE HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN TO PROVE ITSELF, AND THE COMING MONTHS 
WILL SHOW WHETHER IT CAN FOLLOW UP THE SUCCESS OF ITS LAUNCH BY BOTH 
MAINTAINING AND EXPANDING ITS CURRENT ESTIMATED AUDIENCE OF 80 
MILLION. A TOO-EXCLUSIVE FOCUS ON NEWS FROM THE "SOUTH" MAY WELL 
RISK ALIENATING VIEWERS FROM THE "NORTH," AND MALADROIT HANDLING OF 
"HOT" MIDDLE EAST TOPICS COULD ALIENATE EITHER OR BOTH ARAB AND 
NON-ARAB AUDIENCES. OTHER QUESTIONS OF KEY INTEREST WILL BE THE 
EXTENT TO WHICH AJE AND AL JAZEERA ARABIC INFLUENCE EACH OTHER; AND 
WHERE THAT MUTUAL CYCLE OF INFLUENCE WILL TAKE BOTH THE ENTIRE AL 
JAZEERA NETWORK AND THE OVERALL PHENOMENON OF MIDDLE-EAST-CENTERED 
NEWS GENERATION. 
UNTERMEYER