DCM CONVEYS USG CONCERN OVER LEBANON CONFLICT

C O N F I D E N T I A L DOHA 001301

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/30/2011
TAGS: KPAO PREL QA ALJAZEERA
SUBJECT: DCM CONVEYS USG CONCERN OVER LEBANON CONFLICT
COVERAGE TO AL JAZEERA

REF: DOHA 923 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Ambassador Chase Untermeyer, reasons 1.4 (b&d)


1. (C) Summary: During a courtesy call with Wadah Khanfar, Al
Jazeera Network Director-General, DCM conveyed USG concerns
about the channel's coverage of the recent Lebanon conflict.
Khanfar said November 1 is the expected launch date of Al
Jazeera English channel and that a replacement for himself as
manager of the Arabic channel would not be named until the
end of the year. End summary.


2. (U) DCM, accompanied by PAO, made a courtesy call on Wadah
Khanfar, Director-General of the Al Jazeera Network (AJN) and
Managing Director of Al Jazeera Arabic. Highlights of the
conversation included:

Al Jazeera coverage of the Lebanon conflict
--------------


3. (C) DCM mentioned that the USG had serious concerns about
Al Jazeera's coverage of events in Lebanon, sometimes related
to reporting inaccuracy and sometimes to the inflammatory
nature of the coverage. "At times the correspondents appear
to be, not reporting the news, but participating in it," DCM
noted. Khanfar reiterated that AJ takes questions of accuracy
seriously and that it is policy that any mistakes made should
be corrected. With regard to tone, he said, the question is
less clear-cut. The most strenuous attempts to be objective
and report both sides cannot overcome the strength of the
mood on the Arab street in the case of Lebanon, he said. The
fact is, the majority of people interviewed on the ground
were critical of American policy in "not restraining Israel"
and this was inevitably reflected in the coverage. He noted
that, in addition, where the correspondents were Lebanese, it
became very difficult for them to maintain objectivity. DCM
then asked if AJ attempted to correct this bias by importing
non-Lebanesecorrespondents. Khanfar said AJ had done this
whn it was still reporting from Iraq for that very rason
(all but one of its correspondents were nonIraqi),but that
in ebanon's case, the conflict truck unexpectedly during
summer vacation period, making it difficult to eplace
correspondents on the ground at short notie.

Al Arabiyya's coverage of the Lebanon conflit
-------------- -


4. (U) Khanfar said that, in his judgment, Al Aabiyya lost
its way early on during the conflictby attempting to follow
the official Saudi line (critical of Hezbollah) in its
coverage. "In terms of statistics and viewership, they lost
completely, and Al Jazeera won," said Khanfar.

Launch date for Al Jazeera English (AJE)
--------------


5. (U) Khanfar said the currently scheduled launch date for
AJE is November 1 but that he was not sure whether it would
be met. He blamed the French video technolocy company Thomson
for the delay. He said AJ had made a "strategic mistake" in
opting to use high-definition technology for AJE. The
technology is new and not stable, he said, noting that the
company began to develop the needed software only after the
contract was signed. They had contracted to complete the
contract "in April, and now it is August," he complained. He
also noted that Al Jazeera has now signed two contracts for
distribution in the United States, and expected to sign more
during the coming weeks. But he could not give an idea of the
level of penetration AJI expects to attain before the launch
or say in which markets AJE would initially be available. AJ
has also signed a contract for broadband delivery so that
viewers who can't receive cable service will be able to view
AJE via computer.

Khanfar's replacement at Al Jazeera Arabic
--------------


6. (U) As he has said previously (reftels),Khanfar said he
expected that a replacement for himself as manager of Al
Jazeera Arabic would be named at the end of the year, after
the launch of AJE. He said he thought the replacement would
likely be a Qatari. Note: One name that has been mentioned by
observers is Qatari national Ahmed Al Kholaifi, who is an AJN
board member. Al Kholaifi currently occupies a senior

position in the Ministry of Public Works and is much occupied
with preparations for the Doha Asian Games. Rumor has it that
although Al Kholaifi does not have media experience, he would
represent a compromise in the issue, which has pitted Khanfar
against other AJN Board members, notably Amcit Mahmoud
Shammam (reftels). End note.
UNTERMEYER