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Arabia
Qatar may privatize Al Jazeera network
2005-01-31
A privatization of Al Jazeera may not change the content of the news but at least would take the heat off the Qatari government, according to the New York Times. Al Jazeera often has been critical if not misleading in covering the American military presence in Iraq.

The news operation has an audience of between 30 and 50 million people. It also has been the source for broadcasting tapes of Al Qaeda terrorists.

"We really have a headache, not just from the United States but from advertisers and from other countries as well, said a Qatari government official. The media complex has denied allegations that its immediate coverage of bombing attacks in Iraq indicate it has had advanced knowledge of terrorist activities.

Al Jazeera also reports daily on the Israeli "occupation" of Judea, Samaria and Gaza and generally portrays Israel in a negative light.

Arab countries also have been the target of Al Jazeera criticism, which has angered Saudi Arabia, Iran and Egypt. Qatar subsidizes the news operation with $40 million annually, one-third of its budget.
Posted by:Destro

#7  Gotcha, Bulldog. My apologies.
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-01-31 10:26:55 PM  

#6  Who are the big advertisers on Jihadi TV?
Posted by: Classical_Liberal   2005-01-31 8:50:03 PM  

#5  Now, if the US would only privatize its versions of Al Jareeza, PBS and NPR.
Posted by: jackal   2005-01-31 8:33:27 PM  

#4  tw - mhw was transposing recognized with influence. Not me. That's why I commented.
Posted by: Bulldog   2005-01-31 7:11:15 PM  

#3  Is Coke or McDonald's number 1, I wonder...

Think about it, Bulldog, you and I know about Al Jazeera, even though we don't watch it. And I think the sample group is indeed appropriate -- who would be more concerned with which brands are most recognized and/or influential? Both are critical realities in their eyes -- recognized is for selling product, but influential is for placing ads where they do the most good.
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-01-31 11:27:57 AM  

#2  mhw - I'm not really sure how much relevance a "survey of almost 2,000 ad executives, brand managers and academics" can claim to have. And they were rating some nebulous concept called 'influence', not recognizability.
Posted by: Bulldog   2005-01-31 10:05:55 AM  

#1  report today at:

http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/31/technology/apple.reut/index.htm

is that Al Jazeera is the 5th most widely recognized brand in the world
Posted by: mhw   2005-01-31 9:53:45 AM  

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