Al Jazeera Forum Day One

Day 1

A day of meeting greeting and networking. After registration we were taken on a tour of the al-Jazeera studios, unfortunately briefer than expected,but there are 300 delegates here so time was limited. Strange, to be sat in 'the Control Room', where so much of the of al-Jazeera's coverage of the Iraq war was co-ordinated.

I was struck by how open the staff and journalists were, there was no 'Off Limits' areas, and everyone seemed happy to chat and answer what questions they could.

The rest of the day was spent wandering around chatting to all sorts of people [don't worry, we will get into the name dropping later], daunting for those of us who are not natural networkers, in the opulance of the Doha Sheraton...

The evening was a joint press conference from al-Jazeera, and al Jazeera International.

Steve from the FOIA blog should be pleased, as when a questioner challenged Wadah Khanfar [Managing Director of al-Jazeera] about the al-Jazeera memo, he responded by quoting the Cabinet Office response to the first FOIA request for disclosure, that they hold information relevant to the request...

They are pusuing their own FOIA request, and thir legal team is exploring other, as yet unspecified routes to gain disclosure..

Plans for the future of al-Jazeera channel, notably the plans or an Urdu version for al-Jazeera were outlined, there was discussion of future funding arrangements and the potential for becoming self funding rather than funded directly by the Qatari government. Questioned about pressure on al Jazeera to limit or censor their content by outside agencies, they were clear, editorial content is a decision for al Jazeera, and they don't respond to outside pressure, pointing out that they are 'shot by both sides, accused of being a mouthpiece of Osama Bin Laden by the US, and as being a mouthpiece for the Americans by 'insurgents' in Iraq .

Perhaps more interesting for Western, or non Arabic speakers was the al-Jazeera International press conference taken by Nigel Parsons, and graced by the presence of that doyen of the Breakfast Television sofa, Sir David Frost.

The English speaking version of al-Jazeera is due to be launched in the spring, and they are in the final stages. There was little detail on the faces, or programme content, to the annoyance of many assembled journalists.

The channel is trying a new approach to global broadcasting by having four regional offices who will use local producers to report and make bulletins on their own areas. The offices will be in Washington DC, Kuala Lumpar, London and Moscow.

As they say, it's always prime time somewhere...

Having said that, there are some outstanding problems, not least that they have no deal with any provider for the US. However, they appear to be optimistic, believing that they will be judged on their merits, once people see the channel. Remember that few of their vocal critics have ever watched the channel or speak Arabic.

They are also saying that they are prepared for greater pressure being put on their broadcast centres, which won't be under the 'protection' of the Emir of Qatar. Additionally, they hope al Jazeera international will be seen as a seperate entity to the al Jazeera Channel, something we think is unlikely.

We are looking forward to the arrival of the English channel, which should shake up the media, much like the Arabic channel has.