The Truth About Al Jazeera

Thanks for the tip. I read Miles' "Al Jazeera" last year and highly recommend it. At seven quid from Amazon it's a must read. Another book worth checking is Marc Lynch's "Voices of the New Arab Public: Iraq, Al-Jazeera and Middle East Politics Today", which came out earlier this year. I haven't read it yet (it's on my list) but Lynch - aka Abu Aardvark - runs an excellent blog for those interested in the media in the M.E. and it has had excellent reviews.

Thanks Ron, well, if you liked that, there's our interview with Commander Steve Tatham, author of Losing Arab Hearts and Minds: The Coalition, Al Jazeera and Muslim Public Opinion.

I should point out one serious error Miles' makes. He states -

"When Israel invaded Jenin in the spring of 2002, Al Jazeera’s exclusive television reports from within the besieged city thoroughly dispelled rumors of a “massacre,” leading to a U.N. special investigating committee appointed by the secretary-general being unceremoniously disbanded."

This is completely false. As the Guardian noted May 1, 2002-

"The UN last night conceded defeat over its attempt to investigate the alleged massacre in Jenin refugee camp after the Israeli cabinet risked international fury by blocking the inquiry.

The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, condemned the Israeli decision to refuse to cooperate with any inquiry unless a series of demands - deemed unworkable by investigators - had been met. He admitted he had run out of options in proposing to disband the inquiry before it had even begun.

The collapse of the inquiry designed to establish the truth about the events inside Jenin was greeted by dismay by Romano Prodi, the European commission president, who said the bar on the UN team was "unacceptable"."

Somebody should point out Miles' error since it seriously detracts from his useful book.