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Rumblings at Al Jazeera English
From the Friends of Al Jazeera blog: Well it looks like my husband and I (and our children) will be leaving Doha sooner than planned. Al Jazeera International (or Al Jazeera English as we were forced to call it after objections from the Arabic news channel) was launched 13 months ago. Since then two things…
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Reporting from Zimbabwe: Al Jaz vs. AP
Meanwhile, over at the Associated Press: The government commandeered buses and state railroad cars to carry President Robert Mugabe’s supporters from across the country for a march and rally near Harare Friday. The rally was a show of strength for Mugabe before a party meeting next month at which his continued leadership was likely to…
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Al Jazeera English: an email exchange
I wrote an anniversary review of Al Jazeera English recently, pointing out the dilemma of running a globally “progressive-minded” news channel on behalf of a despotic regime. Here is an email exchange with someone at Al Jazeera English in Doha, responding to that piece: …I am a tad disappointed with your recent Press Gazette article…
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Review: Al Jazeera English – one year on
Here’s a piece I wrote for Press Gazette on Al Jazeera English, one year on. In the gardens of Versailles you can visit a charming monument to France’s conservative, construction-crazed 18th-century monarchy. It’s the Petit Hameau, an idealised village built at the whim of Marie Antoinette as a way of “connecting” with the great unwashed.…