Al Jazeera

Regarding "Nasdaq Joins in Ban of Al Jazeera," March 26: Without a doubt, Al Jazeera is the most respected Arab broadcast -- respected for its independence and closely followed. At present, its Web site is showing hospital pictures that American sites and television are not allowing us to see, no doubt in the hope that we shall remain sheltered from the true horrors of war. That the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq should ban Al Jazeera is troubling. More troubling yet is that the Web site is hacked to prevent viewers from knowing what the Arab world currently sees.

The Iraqi government shut down Al Jazeera's Baghdad operations indefinitely Saturday, extending a one-month closure order imposed after the Arabic satellite channel was accused of inciting violence. Officials at Al Jazeera reacted with outrage and said in a statement that the move ran "contrary to pledges made by the Iraqi authorities to pursue a policy of openness and to safeguard freedoms of the press and expression."

Thanks to Hussein Ibish and Ali Abunimah for their Oct. 22 commentary, "The CNN of the Arab World Deserves our Respect." It's about time two experts from the Arab American community set the record straight about Al Jazeera's credibility as a news organization. As America engages in its war against terrorism, it is our responsibility as Americans to educate ourselves about Arab culture and Middle Eastern politics. We can only be truly educated if this includes the Arab American community's perspective.

In cafes and living rooms across the Middle East, the whirling montages and breathless journalists of Al Jazeera are defining the narrative of Tunisia's upheaval for millions of Arabs riveted by the toppling of a dictator. The Qatar-based television network, as it does with the Iraq war and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, is airing visceral, round-the-clock coverage in a region of authoritarian states that rarely allow government-controlled media to show scenes of unrest. Al Jazeera is a messenger, pricking the status quo, enraging kings and presidents.

Re "News Should Flow in Iraq," editorial, Aug. 15: The Times, citing the critical importance of freedom of expression, was correct to condemn the closure of the Baghdad bureau of Al Jazeera by the Iraqi government. Al Jazeera has always given extensive airtime to U.S. government spokesmen and the government we brought to power. Without its Baghdad bureau, Al Jazeera no longer is in a position to balance its coverage of the opposition with interviews with the U.S.-sponsored government, which has partially disappeared from Arab television.

The Obama administration is courting the pan-Arab television network Al Jazeera in an attempt to improve a history of testy relations with one of the most influential news outlets in the Middle East. The new policy of engagement has been apparent in recent weeks as a State Department media outreach office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, has sought to place Arabic-speaking diplomats on Al Jazeera to lay out Washington's talking points about the protests roiling the region. State Department officials, including chief spokesman Philip J. Crowley and Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, have gone on Al Jazeera more than a dozen times in the last month.

Arabic satellite TV network Al Jazeera says it plans to hire more than 300 people globally in a bid to launch an English-language news channel before the end of next year. The network said last month it planned to launch the channel to counteract what it said was the Western networks' unbalanced reporting.

Veteran British broadcaster David Frost will go on-air next spring with Al Jazeera International, the English-language channel of the popular Arab satellite broadcaster, the network announced. Frost, who broadcast his final "Breakfast with Frost" program for British Broadcasting Corp. in May, would be among the "key on-air talent" on the 24-hour news and current affairs channel, Al Jazeera said in a statement. It quoted Frost as saying he was excited about his new job.

Hackers diverted people trying to view the Web site of Arab television network Al Jazeera to pornography and to a page that showed a U.S. flag and the message "Let Freedom Ring." Hackers impersonating an Al Jazeera employee tricked Web addressing company Network Solutions Inc. into making technical changes that in effect turned over temporary control of the network's Arabic and English Web sites. The changes were being fixed, said a Network Solutions spokesman.

Kuwait shut down the local Al Jazeera bureau, saying the Arab world's most popular satellite TV network is not objective. Saad Enezi, the bureau's chief, said he was not sure whether the closure was temporary or permanent. The Kuwait News Agency quoted an unidentified Information Ministry official as saying the decision was prompted by "this channel's bias and its lack of objectivity in reporting the events that took place in Kuwait recently." The official did not elaborate.