TUNISIAN CHALLENGES FOR THE AL-JAZEERA MAGHREB

C O N F I D E N T I A L TUNIS 002843 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/MAG - HARRIS AND NEA/PPD - FERNANDEZ, FINVER LONDON FOR MOC - ERELI DUBAI FOR PELLETIER DOHA FOR NANTONGO E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/04/2016 TAGS: PHUM KPAO OIIP KMPI TS SUBJECT: TUNISIAN CHALLENGES FOR THE AL-JAZEERA MAGHREB PROGRAM REF: A. RABAT 2185 ¶B. TUNIS 2802 ¶C. TUNIS 2639 Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES a.i. DAVID BALLARD FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) AND (d) ¶1. (C) On December 1, Lotfi Hajji, the Tunisian correspondent for al-Jazeera Satellite Channel (JSC),outlined for PolOffs the difficulties he is having in organizing Tunisian participants for the new Rabat-based nightly JSC program on the Maghreb (Ref A). Hajji, who has written articles for aljazeera.net, said he is providing the input for the Tunisian coverage on the new JSC nightly Maghreb News Bulletin. Al-Jazeera has long been disliked by the GOT, which refuses to permit JSC to set up a satellite uplink to transmit stories for broadcast and which also refuses to accredit Hajji as a correspondent. The GOT's dislike for the channel's coverage even led to the closure of the Tunisian embassy in Doha, after the station broadcast an interview with opposition leader Moncef Marzouki calling for Tunisians to engage in civil disobedience (Refs B and C). ¶2. (C) Local observers have noted the lack of Tunisian coverage on the new program. Hajji explained that JSC is not anti-Ben Ali regime and that the coverage must be balanced to include GOT and opposition stories and participants. Although Tunisian viewers may have come to expect more anti-GOT coverage from JSC, Hajji said he is trying to vary the Tunisian news on the daily program. However, his efforts have been stymied by the reluctance of pro-GOT elements to participate in the show. Hajji said that to supplement recent coverage of the ongoing parliamentary debates, he asked several ruling Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD) party deputies to comment on the story by phone. Each time the deputies refused. Several pro-GOT opposition party members initially agreed to participate, but later backed out. Hajji said he finally arranged to have one opposition deputy speak on the Bulletin, but when the program called for his live comment, the phone rang without answer, forcing producers to scramble on air to fill the allocated time slot. ¶3. (C) Hajji defended his efforts to ensure the program is balanced, but lamented the resistance he faces. He noted that "even Libya" had allowed JSC a satellite uplink and remarked: "If it's not Channel 7 (the state-run television channel),the GOT wants nothing to do with it!" BALLARD