Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Saturday Morning News
Arab Language News Channels Becoming Influential in Middle East
Aired March 08, 2003 - 07:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well before September 11, had you ever heard of Al-Jazeera, the 24-hour Arab language news channel? Probably not. Now, of course, Al-Jazeera is something of a household name in the U.S., even if most of us still do not get it on our TVs.
Al-Jazeera may be the best known Arab language newscast, but it is by no means the only one. If you're curious to know who else is out there, take a listen. CNN senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar has been surfing the channels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN. SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): New faces in the media war for hearts, minds and influence, as war looms. This is Al Manar's 24-hour TV news operation. The U.S. administration calls it a Hezbollah mouthpiece. Hezbollah, the party of god, on the State Department's terror list. Ibrahim Mousawi is the English language broadcast editor, and he has big plans for war coverage.
IBRAHIM MOUSAWI, AL MANAR EDITOR: It's going to be on pretty professional lines. We have three teams in Iraq, and so they are Iraqis and they are going to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and what happens there.
MACVICAR: Broadcasting from the Gulf state of Qatar, the most powerful of the Arab satellite channels, Al-Jazeera, gears up for its nightly newscast. The newsroom is small. There's only one real studio. But more than 35 million viewers tune in, giving it the biggest voice in the region.
IBRAHIM HILAL, AL-JAZEERA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: We have an agenda of accurate information., and even if this accurate information is frustrating the American administration.
MACVICAR: Al-Jazeera made its breakthrough in Afghanistan. American critics then called it "the voice of bin Laden." Now the network is accused of being the voice of Iraq.
MOHAMMED AL JASSEM, AL-JAZEERA GENERAL MANAGER (through translator): The truth is, we represent all of those: bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Ariel Sharon, the Mossad, the CIA, because that is where the news is.
MACVICAR: The U.S. administration may not like Al-Jazeera, but this time its editors expect to have their correspondents on the ground with U.S. forces.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the American mentality now. They need us to convince the hearts and minds of the Arab audience that we are doing the right thing.
MACVICAR: Regimes throughout the region can't stop people watching, but they have closed Al-Jazeera's bureaus and tried to subject their correspondents to the restrictions faced by many newspaper editors.
DR. LABIB KAMHAWI, JORDANIAN POLITICAL ANALYST: We can write about tomatoes and potatoes and fashion. And maybe you can get away with it, maybe not.
MACVICAR: More and more, there are media voices getting away with it, delivering perspectives that people here say matter and that will likely shape how people think about this threatening war and what comes after. Sheila MacVicar, CNN, Qatar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well before September 11, had you ever heard of Al-Jazeera, the 24-hour Arab language news channel? Probably not. Now, of course, Al-Jazeera is something of a household name in the U.S., even if most of us still do not get it on our TVs.
Al-Jazeera may be the best known Arab language newscast, but it is by no means the only one. If you're curious to know who else is out there, take a listen. CNN senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar has been surfing the channels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN. SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): New faces in the media war for hearts, minds and influence, as war looms. >
Aired March 8, 2003 - 07:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well before September 11, had you ever heard of Al-Jazeera, the 24-hour Arab language news channel? Probably not. Now, of course, Al-Jazeera is something of a household name in the U.S., even if most of us still do not get it on our TVs.
Al-Jazeera may be the best known Arab language newscast, but it is by no means the only one. If you're curious to know who else is out there, take a listen. CNN senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar has been surfing the channels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN. SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): New faces in the media war for hearts, minds and influence, as war looms. This is Al Manar's 24-hour TV news operation. The U.S. administration calls it a Hezbollah mouthpiece. Hezbollah, the party of god, on the State Department's terror list. Ibrahim Mousawi is the English language broadcast editor, and he has big plans for war coverage.
IBRAHIM MOUSAWI, AL MANAR EDITOR: It's going to be on pretty professional lines. We have three teams in Iraq, and so they are Iraqis and they are going to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and what happens there.
MACVICAR: Broadcasting from the Gulf state of Qatar, the most powerful of the Arab satellite channels, Al-Jazeera, gears up for its nightly newscast. The newsroom is small. There's only one real studio. But more than 35 million viewers tune in, giving it the biggest voice in the region.
IBRAHIM HILAL, AL-JAZEERA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: We have an agenda of accurate information., and even if this accurate information is frustrating the American administration.
MACVICAR: Al-Jazeera made its breakthrough in Afghanistan. American critics then called it "the voice of bin Laden." Now the network is accused of being the voice of Iraq.
MOHAMMED AL JASSEM, AL-JAZEERA GENERAL MANAGER (through translator): The truth is, we represent all of those: bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Ariel Sharon, the Mossad, the CIA, because that is where the news is.
MACVICAR: The U.S. administration may not like Al-Jazeera, but this time its editors expect to have their correspondents on the ground with U.S. forces.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the American mentality now. They need us to convince the hearts and minds of the Arab audience that we are doing the right thing.
MACVICAR: Regimes throughout the region can't stop people watching, but they have closed Al-Jazeera's bureaus and tried to subject their correspondents to the restrictions faced by many newspaper editors.
DR. LABIB KAMHAWI, JORDANIAN POLITICAL ANALYST: We can write about tomatoes and potatoes and fashion. And maybe you can get away with it, maybe not.
MACVICAR: More and more, there are media voices getting away with it, delivering perspectives that people here say matter and that will likely shape how people think about this threatening war and what comes after. Sheila MacVicar, CNN, Qatar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well before September 11, had you ever heard of Al-Jazeera, the 24-hour Arab language news channel? Probably not. Now, of course, Al-Jazeera is something of a household name in the U.S., even if most of us still do not get it on our TVs.
Al-Jazeera may be the best known Arab language newscast, but it is by no means the only one. If you're curious to know who else is out there, take a listen. CNN senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar has been surfing the channels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN. SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): New faces in the media war for hearts, minds and influence, as war looms. >
