Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DOHA793
2006-05-24 12:58:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Doha
Cable title:  

AL JAZEERA ACCORDING TO WADAH KHANFAR

Tags:  PREL KPAO QA ALJAZEERA 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DOHA 000793 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
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: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPAO QA ALJAZEERA
SUBJECT: AL JAZEERA ACCORDING TO WADAH KHANFAR

REF: A. DOHA 312

B. DOHA 467

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DOHA 000793

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
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: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPAO QA ALJAZEERA
SUBJECT: AL JAZEERA ACCORDING TO WADAH KHANFAR

REF: A. DOHA 312

B. DOHA 467


1. Summary: (U) On May 21, a Broadcasting Board of Governors
(BBG) delegation met with Wadah Khanfar, Director-General of
the Al Jazeera Network (AJN) and Managing Director of the
Arabic Al Jazeera TV channel. Khanfar told the delegation
that Al Jazeera, reflecting regional developments, has
entered the third of three major phases it has passed through
since its inception in 1996. He talked at length about the
new Al Jazeera English channel and also confirmed his
intention to step down as MD of the Arabic channel to focus
on his responsibilities as DG of the overall network, but he
did not discuss a timeline or the identity of his
replacement. End summary.


2. (U) On May 21, a BBG delegation led by Governor Joaquim
Blaya met in Doha with Wadah Khanfar, currently serving as
both Director-General of the overall Al Jazeera Network (AJN
- reftels) and Managing Director of the Arabic language Al
Jazeera TV channel. The delegation included Brian Coniff, BBG
Executive Director; Bert Kleinman, President of the Middle
East Broadcasting Networks (MBN -- in charge of Al Hurra TV
and Radio Sawa); and Mouafac Harb, Executive Vice President
of MBN.


3. (U) Responding to questions, Khanfar described Al
Jazeera's beginnings, noting that Al Jazeera's "edge" then
and now is that the channel is seen as an integral part of
the socio-cultural fabric of the Middle East region and an
entity that "understands the cognitive map of the people in
this region." Khanfar noted that Al Jazeera's 10th
anniversary is coming up on November 1, 2006 and told the
delegation that, in his view, Al Jazeera has entered the
third of the three phases it has passed through since its
inception in 1996.

The first phase: 1996 - 2001
--------------


4. (U) The leitmotif of the first period was Al Jazeera's
motto: "The opinion and the other opinion," said Khanfar. Al
Jazeera stood out as a voice challenging the status quo and
in particular the policies of Arab governments. Its focus was
on the region, and its themes were regionally-focused, with
emphasis on reform, democracy and corruption.


The second phase: 2001-2005
--------------



5. (U) In the second phase, the focus moved to the
international arena, to global issues such as the War on
Terror, with coverage of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine as
"hotspots" in that context, said Khanfar. The focus shifted
to global political issues, with the Arab world as one unit
and America, Europe and the West as another, he said. In this
phase, Al Jazeera developed "war reporting" as an
organizational skill for the first time as it reported on the
"hotspots." In this phase, Arab domestic politics took a back
seat both in the regional perspective and in Al Jazeera's
perspective, he said.

The third phase: 2005 - present
--------------


6. (U) This third phase began with Egypt's Kifayah movement,
and was consolidated by elections and pro-reform movements in
Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq and Palestine, said Khanfar.
The mood started to change and Al Jazeera began to return to
the issues that had concerned it in its first phase --
democracy, reform and Arab issues. "Now, if you look at our
headlines, you see most of the issues that are discussed are
regional issues," including political Islam, good governance,
democracy, Middle East economic and women's issues, internal
struggles among Palestinian factions, and so forth. This
third phase includes the establishment of Al Jazeera English
and the effect of that establishment, he added.

Al Jazeera "English"
--------------


7. (U) Khanfar pointedly called the English-language channel
scheduled for launch latter this year "Al Jazeera English."
(Comment: There has been controversy over usage of the
nomenclature "Al Jazeera International" for the English
channel, with opponents of that usage arguing that such a
label implies that the English channel is international while
the Arabic channel is not. This is another manifestation of
the ongoing tension between the Arabic and English AJ
concepts, with those in the Arabic "camp" claiming this
development over nomenclature as a victory. End comment.)
When asked about this, Khanfar said that the matter is being
discussed by the AJN board, and that his proposal is to
change the name of the new channel to "Al Jazeera English"
and to use the label "International" to describe the whole
non-Arabic AJ operation, and not just as the logo of an
individual channel. This would simplify matters should AJN
decide to branch out into another language channel -- Al
Jazeera French, or Al Jazeera Turkish, for example. The
actual logo for the English channel would be the classic Al
Jazeera logo with "English" written underneath it in English.
Any new language channels would similarly have their
mother-language appearing in native script under the classic
AJ logo, he said.

The new channel
--------------


8. (U) As he did in Ref B, Khanfar tried to emphasize that
the English channel will be an editorially separate entity
from the Arabic channel. Each channel will have its own
editorial board, he said. He added that there will be an
overall AJN Editorial Board, consisting of the two boards
combined, which will meet periodically "for coordination"
purposes (Note: This appears to be a closer merging of
editorial functions than was apparent during Ref B
conversations. End note.) The English channel will not
necessary use the same terminology as the Arabic channel,
since "Every language has a mind of its own," he said. AJ
Arabic already has a code of conduct, derived from its code
of ethics, and the English channel is developing its code,
along with its own style guide, he said. "The BBC style guide
will not be very far from the Al Jazeera English style guide.
We are not inventing a new way of reporting here," he said.
The new thing Al Jazeera is bringing to the table is its
focus on field reporting, said Khanfar. 70 percent of news
bulletins are field reporting, he said, and "we give and will
give field reporting a high priority."


9. (U) Asked about the launch date of the new channel (Note:
Initially announced for spring 2006, it has since slipped to
early summer and then to the fall. End note),Khanfar laughed
and said: "Very soon." He said the delay relates to the
installation of technical equipment. The decision was taken
early on that the new channel would use high-definition TV
technology, which necessitated connecting its four regional
hubs (Doha, Kuala Lumpur, Washington, London) using broadband
fiber-optics. The decision stands, but has led to technical
delays because of technology's complexity, he said. (Note: In
addition, the AJ English studios in Doha, which are being
constructed next to the AJ Arabic studios, are clearly still
not ready for use and occupancy. End note.)


10. (U) Asked about AJ English distribution problems in the
U.S., Khanfar acknowledged that AJ has a significant
perception problem in the US, where it is often perceived as
"the beheading channel" or "the mouthpiece of terrorists."
But the network has signed one contract in the US and is
working toward more, he said. AJ English will also be
available free via an internet connection to US and world
users, he said, so that anyone with a broadband connection
can watch it, and even those with a slower connection will be
able to watch, although with reduced quality.

Personnel and bureaus
--------------


11. (U) AJ Arabic currently has 40 bureaus and 75
correspondents worldwide, said Khanfar. He said AJ English
will be working out of these same bureaus, and that probably
7 or 8 additional bureaus will be added, including in places
such as India and the Philippines, where AJ does not
currently have bureaus. He estimated that the total overall
number of employees of both the English and Arabic channels
combined does not exceed 2,000. Less than a quarter of these
positions are editorial, he said, estimating that each
channel has approximately 160 journalists, producers and
editors, with the remainder providing technical and
administrative support.
Who will lead AJ Arabic after Khanfar?
--------------


12. (U) Asked about his plan "to replace himself" as head of
the Arabic channel (Ref B),Khanfar acknowledged that holding
down the two jobs he is currently performing for an extended
period of time is demanding and unrealistic, not least
because of the sharply different perspective required for
each. He said he has raised the issue with the AJN board (Ref
A),which will "make a decision," but did not provide details
on timeline or the identity of his replacement. (Comment:
rumor and speculation are rife in Doha about the identity of
his replacement, as well as about the nature and extent of
his power as Director-General of the Al Jazeera Network, and
his reportedly contentious relationship with some of the AJN
board members. End comment.)

AJ Arabic translated
--------------


13. (U) Khanfar referred to several existing agreements
whereby the content of the Arabic channel is broadcast abroad
in foreign languages using simultaneous interpretation. He
said about 6 hours a day of translated AJ coverage is
broadcast in Malaysia in the Malay language, with one to two
hours daily also broadcast in Indonesia and in Urdu and Hindi
in India. He said the channel is looking at entering into an
agreement in Turkey for the same purpose. The system does
have problems, he acknowledged. He had just returned from a
trip to Kuala Lumpur, where he said there were problems with
the fact that the translators don't have the contextual
knowledge they need, resulting in inaccuracies in
translation.

Privatizing Al Jazeera
--------------


14. (U) Asked about his Ref B comments, in which he noted
that part of his task as DG of AJN is to select a business
model for the eventual listing of AJN on the stock market,
Khanfar indicated that a note of caution has been injected
into that plan. He said he wanted over the next five years to
introduce more of a business model into Al Jazeera's
operations, partly in order to make the network at least
partially self-dependent with revenues from advertising. But
he said that a total listing on the stock exchange is
unlikely. Those with money to invest in the region usually
have political connections, he said, and AJN would not want
to create a situation where investors inimical to the AJN
ethos were able to gain a controlling interest in the
network. What is being considered now is a possible partial
listing on the stock exchange to avoid such an eventuality,
said Khanfar.

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


15. (SBU) The Al Jazeera Network is clearly a much bigger
animal than the already unwieldy Al Jazeera Arabic channel
and has yet to define many key aspects of itself, including
the relationship between the Arabic and English channels, the
technical details of the framework AJN will provide for the
overall operation of the different AJ entities, and the
distribution of power within that framework. Chatter about
tension between Khanfar and Nigel Parsons, the Managing
Director of Al Jazeera English, continues, with some
speculating that Parsons will leave the English channel soon
after its launch, and others claiming that Khanfar is trying
to infiltrate the English channel with employees loyal to
him, since he currently has no loyalty base from which to
attempt to control the new channel. The identity of Khanfar's
replacement at AJ Arabic is also the source of much
speculation, given that Al Jazeera politics, like Qatari
politics, are personality driven and the inclinations of his
replacement are likely to have a significant impact on the
channel's operations.
UNTERMEYER