AL JAZEERA INTERNATIONAL: THE HASSAN AND JOSH SHOW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 001567

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/PD, NEA/ARP
INFO NSC FOR ABRAMS, DOD/OSD FOR SCHENKER AND MATHENY
LONDON FOR ARAB MEDIA OFFICE
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPAO QA ALJAZEERA
SUBJECT: AL JAZEERA INTERNATIONAL: THE HASSAN AND JOSH SHOW

Ref: Doha 1264


1. (SBU) Summary: Pol/Econ chief participated September 2 in
the filming of an Al Jazeera International pilot program not
intended for broadcast. The program, co-hosted by two
personalities prominent in the 2004 documentary `Control
Room', still lacks polish. AJI operations are still in a
somewhat chaotic embryonic stage, with much reliance on
current Al Jazeera resources. End summary.

Background
--------------


2. (U) Al Jazeera International (AJI - see reftel) producer
Caroline Anstey approached post in late August with a
request for ambassadorial participation in the pilot of a
talk show planned for the launch of AJI (reportedly
scheduled for late 2005/early 2006). Entitled `The Hassan
and Josh Show', the pilot program is co-hosted by Josh
Rushing and Hassan Ibrahim, two personalities who played
prominent roles in the 2004 documentary `Control Room'
produced by Egyptian-American director Jehane Noujaim. The
controversial documentary focused on the Al Jazeera TV
channel's Doha-based coverage of events during the 2003 U.S.
military action in Iraq.


3. (U) U.S. citizen Josh Rushing was a CENTCOM-based U.S.
Marine Corps lieutenant assigned to escort the documentary
crew, and Hassan Ibrahim, a UK citizen of Sudanese origin
who has been employed by Al Jazeera since its founding in
1996, was an editor at the Al Jazeera Doha studios.
Rushing's unexpectedly extensive commentary in the
documentary on events related to the U.S. military action in
Iraq was reportedly not well viewed by his chain of command
and he subsequently resigned from the Marine Corps. He and
Hassan, who developed a friendship as a result of their
interaction during the documentary, are now both employees
of Al Jazeera International.


4. (SBU) The pilot program filmed with Embassy participation
in Doha on September 2 is reportedly one of several pilots
for the same show, including one filmed in Washington last
summer with the participation of NEA/PD Alberto Fernandez.
The pilots are not intended for broadcast. Their purpose,
according to producers, is to `try out' the format of the
proposed new program. Producers intend to have Josh in
Washington and Hassan in Doha, linked by satellite, with one
guest per show. Producers hope that the two hosts,
interacting with their guest from different cultural and
philosophical perspectives, will create an unusual dynamic
for the program.


5. (SBU) While post did not consider the `guinea-pig' pilot
program appropriate for the Ambassador, we did want to
establish a link to the new channel and offered Pol/Econ
Chief Rob Pyott as a substitute. The offer was eagerly
accepted, and filming took place on September 2 at the Al
Jazeera studios in Doha. Josh flew to Doha from Washington
for the event.

The show: needs work
--------------


6. (SBU) Hassan and Josh are clearly still amateur anchors
and will need considerable practice to present a more
professional and engaging program. It was agreed that the
program would deal with U.S. support for reform in the
region, with focus on MEPI. Rob made commendable efforts to
keep the dialogue on track and answered all questions
appropriately. However, Hassan brought up issues such as
Iraq, elections in Egypt and the Arab-Israeli conflict in a
haphazard manner, preventing any kind of meaningful analysis
or sustained exchange. He has both strong Arab nationalist
feelings and a strong personality. This combination
undermined the intended structure of the show and
marginalized Josh's role.


7. (SBU) Although the resulting program lacked quality, the
atmosphere before, during and after the filming was cordial.
The AJI staff as yet have no facilities of their own (their
studios are under construction here in Doha) and are
`camping' at Al Jazeera Arabic's facilities. The two
producers we worked with were UK citizen Caroline Anstey, a
documentary maker who says she has made documentaries for
the BBC and National Geographic among others; and Robb Wood,
an American citizen based in Washington. Anstey has
relocated to Doha with her husband, who is also employed by
AJI. Both Anstey and Wood appeared to be young, ambitious
professionals.

Beheadings and tapes: key issues
--------------


8. (SBU) At an 8/29 familiarization meeting with Emboffs
prior to the filming, both Josh and Hassan talked about the
criticism they habitually face, as employees of Al Jazeera
International, from non-Arab interlocutors. They said such
criticism usually focuses on two questions. One is whether
Al Jazeera has ever shown beheadings. (Both men strongly
denied that that the channel has ever done such a thing,
asserting it has always stopped tapes prior to the actual
moment of execution). The other issue is Al Jazeera's
mysterious access to Al Qaeda tapes. Hassan insisted that
the tapes reach Al Jazeera through anonymous sources. Prior
to September 11, 2001, the tapes were sent through the mail
or via DHL, he said. Now he thinks they are sent via a
zipped file which is downloaded in some unknown location (he
speculated Morocco) and subsequently passed to Al Jazeera.
He did not elaborate on the mechanism used in this last
stage.

Comment
--------------


8. (SBU) The purpose of Embassy participation in the pilot
was to show some initial openness to AJI and to get to know
some of the personalities involved. Having achieved these
objectives, we will continue to observe and report on AJI's
birth.

UNTERMEYER