October 10, 2001
Since the end of the cold war, the Voice of America's radio programs have metamorphosed from government echo into real journalism. The station, which broadcasts in 53 languages worldwide, is for many people the only available counter to their governments' propaganda. Surveys of men in Afghanistan last year showed that 67 percent listened to the V.O.A. every day. The need to maintain a credible alternative source of news for Muslims today makes the administration's efforts to censor the V.O.A. all the more objectionable. The V.O.A. today is an independent agency, but it is government-funded and still susceptible to State Department and Congressional pressure. The advent of war should be an occasion to strengthen its independence.
Last month the V.O.A. obtained an interview with the Taliban's leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar. Although such an interview is indisputably newsworthy, the State Department asked the V.O.A. not to broadcast it. The station hesitated for several days and then included a few excerpts in a larger report. Even this limited use of Mullah Omar's remarks has now inspired calls in Congress to turn the V.O.A. back into a voice for American policies. Others want to recreate Radio Free Afghanistan, which existed during the Soviet occupation, as an ideological alternative to the V.O.A. A second station broadcasting in Pashto and Dari would undoubtedly drain reporters and resources from the V.O.A.
In addition, Secretary of State Colin Powell told the leader of Qatar last week that he was concerned about the inflammatory rhetoric used by the Qatar-based Arabic-language satellite television station Al Jazeera. The emir of Qatar told reporters after the meeting that Mr. Powell had asked him to rein in Al Jazeera. The station is the most important and independent broadcaster of news in Arabic. Its journalism has aroused the ire of various Arab governments, much to its credit.
Al Jazeera has angered some Americans by replaying, several times, a 1998 interview with Osama bin Laden. It is surely Mr. bin Laden's favored news outlet, the one he chose to disseminate the video made after the Sept. 11 attacks. Al Jazeera is also the only station permitted to have a reporter inside Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. All These broadcasts are legitimate and valuable, and news organizations worldwide have repeatedly run Al Jazeera's tapes and reported its scoops.
The more worrisome feature of Al Jazeera is that it often slants its news with a vicious anti-Israel and anti-American bias. Islamic radicals dominate its talk shows, and the station reported that Jews were told not to go to work in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 — promoting the rumor, widely believed by Muslims, that Jews were behind the attack. Its biases mirror public opinion in the Islamic world, but this deeply irresponsible reporting reinforces the region's anti-American views.
The correct response to Al Jazeera, however, is not to ask Qatar to censor it. The Islamic world has far too much censorship already. Instead, Washington should shower Al Jazeera with offers of interviews with American officials or respected Muslims who can counter the anti-American propaganda. The station's Washington bureau chief has complained that officials rarely agree to interviews, while the channel has broadcast interviews with Foreign Minister Shimon Peres of Israel, Colin Powell and Tony Blair. If Al Jazeera becomes so ideological that it is not interested in non-radical views, then the West can start its own Arabic satellite channel.
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