Those of us who keenly follow international news must have been aware of the high level of commotion / interest that the official launching of the 24 hours English News Channel of Al Jazeera caused in the Western media. Referred to as the ?little matchbox? by the current President of Egypt, Al Jazeera offers dynamite potential in redefining what makes news.

Launched some ten years back and bankrolled by the Emir of Qatar, Al Jazeera shot to fame in the aftermath of 9/11 when it offered a post attack interview of Bin Laden. The decision to run a 24 hour English channel is indicative of the global ambition that Al Jazeera intends to cover and reach. In fact, in the last decades or so, there has been much talk of a genuinely rooted South / East perspective of the world which would tell, present and represent in a different way the real issues and stories happening in Africa, the Middle and Far East. There is no doubt that international news networks of the likes of CNN International and BBC World have gone a long way in covering news across the world but their selection and treatment of news have always had a Western bias. Despite the multi ethnic news anchors and reporters that represent the ?face? of CNN International and BBC World, perspectives and analysis have remained essentially western centric. Evidence of such practice abounds and only recently I witnessed it in the Democratic Republic of Congo where I had been invited as an international observer for the first and second presidential election rounds. CNN?s well-respected Jeff Koinange who is the network?s Africa correspondent (and a Keyan by birth) ?decided? only to interview and feature observers from the Carter Centre and this was done systematically for all the news items that he ran on the DRC 2006 elections! Not that there was a shortage of international observation missions (more than 1500 international observers from across the world were present) but it proves that despite the international veneer, reporting remains hegemonically rooted.

The threat that is posed by AL Jazeera?s English Channel is that it has the potential to challenge in the medium to long term the world presence of CNN and BBC. Broadcasting in English to the world has remained until now the sole prerogative of the Anglo Saxon world. What is interesting and perhaps more importantly smart about Al Jazeera is that it uses the existing western model of news production and distribution developed and popularized by international networks such CNN and the BBC. Al Jazeera to a certain extent indeginized the international news model, firstly to suit and appeal to its Arab viewers and now by going ?English? to the whole world. Its successful ?poaching? strategy, which has lined up household names of the likes of David Frost, Riz Khan and Rageh Omar demonstrates that the ?little matchbox? is more than ready for business. The choice of new news location such as Qatar and Kuala Lumpur together with the inevitable Washington DC and London attest to the fact that these cities will become important anchorage points for the treatment and reporting of news. In fact, traditional news centres such as Washington DC, New York, London and Paris will increasingly be questioned and loci viewed until now as peripheral will become the new centres of news making.

A quick overview of the news items that Al Jazeera has run since the launch of its official English channel demonstrates its willingness to tell untold or marginalized stories and to give due visibility to unknown places. In fact, one of the recurrent criticisms that have been levied against the western media is its ?penchant? to portray a picture of gloom and doom of the South. The question that is being posed is whether Al Jazeera?s English Channel will be able to rectify this without slipping into pure celebratory and glorified portrayals.

In-depth news analysis is also a prominent characteristic of this 24 hour news channel through flagship programmes such as ?Frost over the world?, ?People and Power? and ?Every Woman?. In fact, the decision to inaugurate ?Frost over the world? with an interview of British Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks for itself. The recent murder of Lebanese Minister Pierre Gemayel was extensively covered by all news organizations but it offered Al Jazeera the ?opportunity? to demonstrate the extent to which it is ready to mobilize resources. It shifted its Doha anchorage point to Beirut, deployed five reporters on the streets of Beirut and practically devoted 24-hour news and comments with key analysts from the Middle East and the rest of the world. Of course, due reflection is required on the problem of information saturation and fatigue that one news item can cause to a global viewership.

Another interesting observation about Al Jazeera and for that matter was adopted as a deliberate policy since its inception is the prominent presence of women as news anchors and reporters. A news organization that has its roots in the Middle East where the status of women is under valued and yet it demonstrated its willingness to showcase women in roles of responsibility and authority. Going global will hopefully demystify certain arcane views about the Arab women as solely house and husband bound!

The purpose of this short piece is not to unquestionably praise Al Jazeera?s English Channel but on the contrary to reflect on what I believe is the beginning of a shift in the making of news, which in the short term will essentially be geographical and maybe in the long term ideological. In fact, the production and distribution of news is a money making money industry ? a business model that the Western media has ?perfected? and now the South / East wants a share and this is aptly represented by the coming of Al Jazeera International. However, global viewers are no doubt aware of the information overloadin in which they live and here I wish to quote Will Hutton who wrote in The Observer of 19th November 2006:

"Optimists say that the democratisation of information is vastly empowering, against which not even the last bastion of thought control, the Chinese Communist party, can hold out. The capacity to abuse and spin information on twisted websites or biased television will be short-lived because it will be challenged by true information. Good information ultimately chases out the bad."

Let us hope that the hallmark of Al Jazeera?s English Channel will be good, balanced and truthful journalism.

Roukaya KASENALLY