[A-DX] Englischprogramm von Al-Jazeera im Großteil der USA aus Kabelnetzen verbannt

[Martin Prochazka <prochazka_martin@xxxxxx>]

 Ein kritischer Artikel der (links-liberalen) Huffington Post über die 
Gründe, warum Al Jazeera International in den USA von den meisten 
Kabelbetreibern boykottiert wird.


Quelle: Huffington Post, 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/30/al-jazeera-english-us_n_816030.html

Al Jazeera English Blacked Out Across Most Of U.S.

First Posted: 01/30/11 05:00 PM Updated: 01/31/11 04:44 PM

WASHINGTON - Canadian television viewers looking for the most thorough 
and in-depth coverage of the uprising in Egypt have the option of tuning 
into Al Jazeera English, whose on-the-ground coverage of the turmoil is 
unmatched by any other outlet. American viewers, meanwhile, have little 
choice but to wait until one of the U.S. cable-company-approved networks 
broadcasts footage from AJE, which the company makes publicly available. 
What they can't do is watch the network directly.

Other than in a handful of pockets across the U.S. - including Ohio, 
Vermont and Washington, D.C. - cable carriers do not give viewers the 
choice of watching Al Jazeera. That corporate censorship comes as 
American diplomats harshly criticize the Egyptian government for 
blocking Internet communication inside the country and as Egypt attempts 
to block Al Jazeera from broadcasting.

The result of the Al Jazeera English blackout in the United States has 
been a surge in traffic to the media outlet's website, where footage can 
be seen streaming live. The last 24 hours have seen a two-and-a-half 
thousand percent increase in web traffic, Tony Burman, head of North 
American strategies for Al Jazeera English, told HuffPost. Sixty percent 
of that traffic, he said, has come from the United States.

Al Jazeera English launched in the fall of 2006, opening a large bureau 
on K Street in downtown Washington, but has made little progress in 
persuading cable companies to offer the channel to its customers.

The objections from the cable companies have come for both political and 
commercial reasons, said Burman, the former editor-in-chief of the 
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. "In 2006, pre-Obama, the experience 
was a challenging one. Essentially this was a period when a lot of 
negative stereotypes were associated with Al Jazeera. The effort was a 
difficult one," he said, citing the Bush administration's public 
hostility to the network.

"There was reluctance from these companies to embark in a direction that 
would perhaps be opposed by the Bush administration. I think that's 
changed. I think if anything the Obama administration has indicated to 
Al Jazeera that it sees us as part of the solution, not part of the 
problem," Burman said.

Cable companies are also worried, said Burman, that they will lose more 
subscribers than they will gain by granting access to Al Jazeera. The 
Canadian experience, he said, should put those fears to rest. In Canada, 
national regulators can require cable companies to provide certain 
channels and Al Jazeera ran a successful campaign to encourage Canadians 
to push the government to intervene. There has been extremely little 
negative reaction over the past year as Canadians have been able to view 
the channel and decide for themselves. "We had a completely different 
process and result here in Canada -- a grassroots campaign that was 
overwhelmingly successful," said Avi Lewis, the former host of Al 
Jazeera's Frontline USA. (He now freelances for Al Jazeera while working 
on a documentary project with his wife, Naomi Klein.)

Media critics have begun to push for Al Jazeera's inclusion. "It is 
downright un-American to still refuse to carry it," wrote Jeff Jarvis on 
Sunday. "Vital, world-changing news is occurring in the Middle East and 
no one-not the xenophobic or celebrity-obsessed or cut-to-the-bone 
American media-can bring the perspective, insight, and on-the-scene 
reporting Al Jazeera English can."

Al Jazeera follows a public broadcasting model similar to the BBC, CBC 
and NPR and is largely funded by the government of Qatar, which Burman 
said takes a completely hands-off approach to content. Al Jazeera is the 
scourge of authoritarian governments around the Middle East, which 
attempt to block it. The network, however, covers much more than the 
Middle East, and now has more bureaus in Latin America than CNN and the 
BBC, said Burman. "As proud as we are of our Middle Eastern coverage, we 
are in other places in the world that are never, never seen on 
television in American homes," he said.

Burman said that he will use the experience with the Tunisia and 
Egyptian uprisings in upcoming meetings with cable providers as the 
network continues its push. Comcast did not respond to requests for comment.

"Why in the most vibrant democracy in the world, where engagement and 
knowledge of the world is probably the most important, why it's not 
available is one of these things that would take a PhD scholar to 
understand," Burman said.

--
UPDATE I: A reader emails to say that Al Jazeera programming is also 
being carried by the satellite channel LinkTV, which can be found on 
channel 9410 on Dish Network and 375 on DirecTV.
--
UPDATE II: Another reader emails to say that Al Jazeera broadcasts over 
some of the Pacifica stations, including WBAI (New York, 5-6 AM, 99.5 
FM), KPFA (Berkeley, 6-7 AM, 94.1 FM) and KPFT (Houston, 5-6 AM, 90.1 FM).
--
UPDATE III: Comcast spokesperson Alana Davis responded to a HuffPost 
request for comment. "We do not offer Al Jazeera English on our video 
service," said Davis. Asked whether Comcast might reconsider its 
position, Davis said: "We can't speculate; however, we regularly examine 
our channel lineups and talk with a wide range of programmers to ensure 
that we are bringing the content that our customers want the most."
--
UPDATE IV: Free Speech TV shows Al Jazeera Headline News and The Riz 
Khan show on Dish Network channel 9415 and DIRECTV channel 348, 
according to a reader.
Stephanie Misar, marketing director with MHz Networks, an independent, 
non-profit public broadcaster, also provided details as to where and how 
viewers may be able to find Al Jazeera English. "Viewers can watch full 
time, 24/7 Al Jazeera English via MHz Networks 5 in the Washington, DC 
metro on channels: Over the air digital broadcast 30.5, Comcast 275, Cox 
474, and Verizon FiOS 457," she said in an email.

Misar added: Weekday daily AJE newscasts (8 AM and 7 PM ET) and weekend 
(7 PM ET) are available on the national channel of MHz Networks, called 
MHz Worldview, in over 35 million households across the country through 
our network of broadcast and cable affiliates in: Los Angeles- KCET; San 
Bernardino, CA- KVCR; Chicago, IL- WYCC; San Francisco,CA- KCSM; 
Washington, DC- WNVC/MHz Networks; Tacoma-Seattle, WA- KBTC; 
Cleveland/Akron/Youngstown, OH- WNEO/WEAO; Minneapolis, MN- MPS Cable; 
Miami, FL- WLRN; Denver, CO- KBDI; Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, FL- 
WCEU; Charlotte, NC- WTVI; Nashville, TN- WNPT; Salt Lake City, UT- UEN 
(statewide); Grand Rapids/ Kalamazoo/Beaver Creek, MI- WGVU; 
Spokane/Yakima, WA- KWSU/KTNW; New Orleans, LA- WLAE; Las Vegas, NV- 
Vegas PBS; Richmond, VA- WCVE; Flint, MI- WDCQ; Charleston, IL- WEIU; 
Plattsburgh, NY- Mountain Lake PBS (WCFE); Lansing, MI- LCC TV; Moline, 
IL (Quad Cities)- WQPT; Warrensburg, MO- KMOS; Topeka, KS- KTWU; 
Rochester-Austin, MN- KSMQ; Charlottesville, VA- WHTJ; St.Paul, MN- St. 
Paul Neighborhood Network; Stanford, CA- Stanford University Cable.

"The newscasts are also available on MHz Worldview nationally via 
DirecTV channel 2183. Channel numbers and service providers are 
available here.

"One on One with Riz Khan from AJE is also available on our national 
channel on Sundays at 10:30 AM ET and can be watched via the network of 
affiliates as well. MHz Networks is an independent, non-profit public 
broadcaster, bringing international perspectives and programming to 
globally-minded viewers throughout the United States."


Readers can demand Al Jazeera English here. Here are the contact pages 
for Comcast, Time Warner and DirecTV.
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Diese Mail wurde ueber die A-DX Mailing-Liste gesendet.
Admin: Christoph Ratzer, OE2CRM  http://www.ratzer.at
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Private Verwendung der A-DX Meldungen fuer Hobbyzwecke ist gestattet, jede
kommerzielle Verwendung bedarf der Zustimmung des A-DX Listenbetreibers.