AL JAZEERA: ADDRESSING THE PROBLEMS, CHANNELING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000845

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/03/2018
TAGS: PREL KPAO PGOV QA
SUBJECT: AL JAZEERA: ADDRESSING THE PROBLEMS, CHANNELING
GOODWILL

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOSEPH E. LEBARON, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D
).

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KEY POINTS AND COMMENTS
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-- Al Jazeera insiders believe that poor guest selection for
news programs and talk shows is undermining the network's
professionalism. Common mistakes, chaotic management and
personal biases all affect guest selection, but USG
cooperation can positively address some of these
shortcomings, according to contacts.

-- Interviews of USG officials conducted by Al Jazeera
Arabic and English over the past month appear to indicate
that Al Jazeera staff are willing to treat us more
professionally, a factor that some attribute to goodwill
within Al Jazeera on the heels of the U.S. election.

-- Embassy intends to take advantage of this positive trend
by seeking placement of more U.S. voices, both official and
private, on Al Jazeera in the coming months and closely
monitoring the performance of producers and interviewers. Al
Jazeera's audience of 40-50 million Arabs is too large and
important for us to do otherwise.

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POOR GUEST SELECTION
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1. (C) Several Al Jazeera employees, including interview
producers, assessed that the network's most formidable
obstacle to providing balanced, professional broadcasts was
an often unsatisfactory set of guests willing to appear.
Interview producers complained that the Al Jazeera Washington
bureau "does little to help us" find appropriate U.S.-based
guests, and those that they could find are often reluctant to
appear on Al Jazeera, given its negative reputation in the
United States. Other guests were willing to appear, but not
during many of the network's live prime-time broadcasts,
which air at awkward times in the United States.


2. (C) Al Jazeera's Quality Control Chief, a Sudanese
journalist named Jaafar Abbas, said simply that the interview
producers were "idiots" and that Al Jazeera Director General
Wadah Khanfar had no control over them. Personal biases and
incompetence were more to blame than anything else for the
quality of guests that appear on Al Jazeera Arabic. This is
a problem, he said, that pervades every news piece, not just
those related to the United States. "How do you explain, for
example, that Yassir Arman is always called to comment on
behalf of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, and not
Pagan Amun or anyone else who is actually from southern
Sudan?" he asked.


3. (C) Abdulaziz al-Mahmoud, a board member of Al Jazeera
and formerly the head of its website, made it clear to PAO
that there was no love lost between him and Wadah Khanfar --
whom he considers corrupt and untrustworthy -- but said that
he did not believe the poor selection of guests on the
network was an editorial decision. It's more a problem of
chaotic conditions in the newsroom and a lack of coherent
management than intended malice, he stated.

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HAND-HOLDING APPEARS TO WORK
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4. (C) PAO met with a number of interview producers, editors
and other Al Jazeera employees to discuss ways of remedying
the problem of guest selection. Al Jazeera staff suggested
that Embassy provide names of well-known Americans who may be
willing to appear remotely on the network to discuss the news
of the day. PAO agreed in principle, noting that it would be
useful for post to show producers how to search for
academics, authors, think-tank members and former USG
officials and state officials who could offer their views on
specific topics.


5. (C) Embassy also arranged for six live and taped
interviews from November 25 to December 2 on Al Jazeera
Arabic and English with the USAID Administrator, the USAID
A/A for Public Affairs, the A/S for International
Organizations, and the President's Special Envoy for Sudan.
While each interview required talking to 3-4 different people
within Al Jazeera and preparations sometimes bore out the
accusations of "chaos in the newsroom," the interviews were
generally professional, focused on agreed-upon topics, and

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were aired in a straightforward manner.


6. (C) One exception came during A/S Hook's interview on Al
Jazeera's "Inside Story," when a guest that PAO had not been
apprised of joined the show and was given the lion's share of
available broadcast time. The interview producer apologized
repeatedly, claiming that she thought someone else had
informed PAO of the last-minute guest.

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GOODWILL IN THE AIR?
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7. (C) Asked why USG officials seemed to be receiving more
balanced treatment on Al Jazeera recently, Abdulaziz
al-Mahmoud replied that the election of Barack Obama was a
significant factor. "Everyone is hanging their hopes on him
and is waiting to see what he will do, so we are giving him
the benefit of the doubt," he said.
LeBaron