Al Jazeera English's future hinges on results of US elections



So far, the Doha-based broadcaster, whose staff of more than 1,200 in 29 bureaus gives it a reach into households in 100 countries that rivals the BBC or CNN, has been unable to break into the lucrative US cable market. But Tony Burman, the broadcaster's managing director, believes the choice the American people make today will have a direct impact on the fortunes of the international news channel.

"The prospect of an Obama victory in the US will turn on its head the whole American relationship with the rest of the world," he said. "I think historians will circle November 2008 as a new point of departure for international affairs. That's incredibly exciting and for an international news organisation like Al Jazeera, it's very important. We believe that not only Americans but people worldwide will look to this new era with great interest and curiosity, and will make international organisations like Al Jazeera even more important."

In preparation for this new, post-Bush era, the broadcaster, which was launched two years ago, has been recruiting in far-flung markets. In particular, it has been advertising for an array of positions throughout the Middle East and Asia, a move that Mr Burman called "an expression of our commitment to diversity of our staff", noting that it already had 45 nationalities represented. While the exact locations of new bureaus was still under discussion, he said the organisation was expanding.

"Al Jazeera is committed to strengthening its news coverage at a time when a lot of news organisations are cutting back, particularly cutting back their international coverage," Mr Burman said. "I think in that sense, our goal is to really fill that vacuum. I think that in January 2009 with the inauguration of a new US president, world interest in international affairs will be at a peak. We are positioning ourselves in a way that we can respond to that."

Already, the broadcaster has had some success getting through to US viewers, in spite of its blocked attempts to get cable carriage, by using a dedicated channel on YouTube. The broadcaster says 60 per cent of the channel's hits come from within the US. Two weeks ago, they spiked into the millions after Al Jazeera reporter Casey Kauffman's report on an Oct 12 Sarah Palin rally in St Clairesville, Ohio. The report featured supporters of Ms Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, calling Mr Obama a "negro" and saying, "I'm afraid if he wins, the blacks will take over. He's not a Christian! This is a Christian nation! What is our country gonna end up like?"

It got the attention of Colbert I King, a columnist at the Washington Post, who wrote in a piece titled "A Rage No One Should Be Stoking" that "it is no accident that the English-language operation of Al-Jazeera, the Arab-language news network, tried to capture and broadcast to the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere a glimpse of America's more sinister side... Was this fodder served up by Al-Jazeera to feed anti-American sentiment overseas? To be sure. But the camera didn't lie. Did Al-Jazeera, however, record the whole truth?"

Mr Burman said he resented the notion that the report was an example of anti-Americanism, and responded in a letter to the Washington Post that Al Jazeera's international news channels, both English and Arabic, have devoted "more air time to covering this campaign than perhaps any other network" and that the overarching story that America seemed poised to elect its first black president "reflects exceptionally well on Americans and its democracy".

In his five months since taking the helm of the station, Mr Burman has grown accustomed to defending it against charges of anti-Americanism, often associated with the station because of its feisty Arabic-language sister station's choices to run Osama bin Laden videos. During the past summer, he travelled to Burlington, Vermont - one of two places in the US where the station was available on the airwaves - to defend the network against charges that it supported militants and was anti-American and anti-Israeli, the Burlington Free Press reported.

He has said he believes it is a combination of political and commercial factors that keeps the channel off the air in most of the US, a situation that will change when the administration changes. He points to the channel's ability to shape the debate about the US election from its YouTube presence alone as evidence that the American public is hungry for a news outlet that will cover territory that home-grown broadcasters, because of their own political and commercial pressures, are too cautious to touch.

"It was just good journalism," he said of Casey Kauffman's piece. khagey@thenational.ae

MATCH INFO

Euro 2020 qualifier

Fixture: Liechtenstein v Italy, Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)

TV: Match is shown on BeIN Sports

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher:  Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
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Cracks in the Wall

Ben White, Pluto Press 

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg

Roma 4
Milner (15' OG), Dzeko (52'), Nainggolan (86', 90 4')

Liverpool 2
Mane (9'), Wijnaldum (25')

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs: 2019 Haval H6

Price, base: Dh69,900

Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder

Transmission: Seven-speed automatic

Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
25-MAN SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Francis Uzoho, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Daniel Akpeyi
Defenders: Olaoluwa Aina, Abdullahi Shehu, Chidozie Awaziem, William Ekong, Leon Balogun, Kenneth Omeruo, Jamilu Collins, Semi Ajayi 
Midfielders: John Obi Mikel, Wilfred Ndidi, Oghenekaro Etebo, John Ogu
Forwards: Ahmed Musa, Victor Osimhen, Moses Simon, Henry Onyekuru, Odion Ighalo, Alexander Iwobi, Samuel Kalu, Paul Onuachu, Kelechi Iheanacho, Samuel Chukwueze 

On Standby: Theophilus Afelokhai, Bryan Idowu, Ikouwem Utin, Mikel Agu, Junior Ajayi, Valentine Ozornwafor

SPEC SHEET

Display: 10.9" Liquid Retina IPS, 2360 x 1640, 264ppi, wide colour, True Tone, Apple Pencil support

Chip: Apple M1, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Memory: 64/256GB storage; 8GB RAM

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, Smart HDR

Video: 4K @ 25/25/30/60fps, full HD @ 25/30/60fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR, Centre Stage; full HD @ 25/30/60fps

Audio: Stereo speakers

Biometrics: Touch ID

I/O: USB-C, smart connector (for folio/keyboard)

Battery: Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours on cellular

Finish: Space grey, starlight, pink, purple, blue

Price: Wi-Fi – Dh2,499 (64GB) / Dh3,099 (256GB); cellular – Dh3,099 (64GB) / Dh3,699 (256GB)

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Thank You for Banking with Us

Director: Laila Abbas

Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum

Rating: 4/5

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo 

 Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua

 Based: Dubai, UAE

 Number of employees: 28

 Sector: Financial services

 Investment: $9.5m

 Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. 

 
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