Al-Jazeera to be privatized but

[KipWellsFan]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/13/...a.ap/index.html

 

Al-Jazeera's future worries journalists

Qatari government requests privatization plan for TV network

 

Sunday, February 13, 2005 Posted: 5:35 PM EST (2235 GMT)

 

DOHA, Qatar (AP) -- The U.S. government may view Al-Jazeera as little more than an anti-American mouthpiece, yet the journalists who work at the satellite TV station consider it the only bastion of free press in an authoritarian Middle East. And the prospect of being sold to the highest bidder has many deeply worried.

 

An order by the ruler of this small Persian Gulf country to come up with a privatization plan for the pan-Arab station -- owned by the Qatari government since its start in 1996 -- has many wondering who will buy, and what the station will look like in the future.

 

"Our editorial policy is the red line," the station's director, Wadah Khanfar, said in a recent interview. "The moment we feel the privatization issue will interfere with our editorial policy, the project will be abandoned."

 

Not everyone is so sure. At the station's headquarters here, many employees have begun expressing worries about the channel's future -- and how privatization might affect the newsroom, said a senior editor, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity.

 

Few details are known about the privatization plan, or why the Qatari government is pushing it.

 

The idea has been under discussion for over a year, Al-Jazeera executives say, but gained momentum when this kingdom's emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, ordered the government to produce a plan on how to turn the channel into a private shareholding company.

 

Khanfar said a final report on privatization was recently presented to the station's board of directors. But he would not release details, except to say the board would meet within the next few weeks to discuss it.

 

It is widely expected the station will be listed on Qatar's stock market, with most shares available for purchase only by Qatari nationals and citizens from Gulf Cooperation Council countries and a minority stake open to foreign investors.

 

Saudis -- who already own many of the Arab world's media companies -- would be eligible to buy under those rules, as their country is part of the GCC.

 

The station has a wide viewership across the Arab world. But it has also been heavily criticized by some Arab governments, including Saudi Arabia, mostly because -- unlike Arab state-run media -- it airs the views of local opposition figures and their criticisms of their countries' rulers.

 

The station's offices have been closed in some Arab countries, including Iraq.

 

"Pressure has not stopped since Al-Jazeera's foundation," Khanfar said.

 

The network also has been criticized by a number of senior U.S. officials for its coverage of the war on Iraq and for broadcasting videotapes and audiotapes purportedly from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden or his aides. Al-Jazeera says it is merely presenting both sides of the story.

 

In Washington, a State Department official said the U.S. government hasn't been pushing for the station's privatization, and doesn't have a position on who should own the station. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. But the Bush administration has taken issue with the station's reporting, with U.S. officials calling it biased and irresponsible.

 

Many Al-Jazeera employees believe the opposite. Intense and almost constant U.S. pressure on the Qatari government to rein in the station is believed by many employees to be related to the privatization issue, the senior editor said.

 

The Bush administration has on occasion privately called in Qatari diplomats for talks in Washington to try to influence the station's coverage, according to an Egyptian official with knowledge of one such meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

"The [Qatari] government has been helpful," Khanfar said. "It was under pressure, but it never pressured us. It funded us and took a step back. ... The government is the trustee for the independence of the channel."

 

What role Qatar's government might play once the company goes public, however, is unclear. The government has said in the past that Al-Jazeera's independence is part of its efforts to introduce political reforms and move toward transparency and democracy.

 

Qatar funds the station with roughly $100 million a year, and Al-Jazeera generates other revenue from advertisements, sponsorship deals, program sales and subscriptions in Europe and North America, although Khanfar said it remains a losing enterprise.

 

"I doubt that there are any 24-hour news channels that are making a profit. We're no different," he said.

 

The station is believed to have the Arab world's biggest market share, estimated at 35 million people, but also faces de facto advertising boycotts from some countries, including Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's largest advertising market at $1 billion.

 

"The Saudis won't advertise with us," Khanfar said. "We still have an outstanding account that we haven't been paid for, for over a year."

 

As it moves toward privatization, the station also has plans to launch an English-language channel, a documentary channel and a children's channel, all before the end of the year -- the deadline issued by the emir for presenting the privatization plan to the country's Cabinet.

 

Khanfar said recruiting for those new ventures -- from outside the station's ranks -- has already begun.

 

"Al-Jazeera is here to stay," he said.

 

I'm interested to see how this story develops.