July 19, 2004

Aljazeera introduces, tramples on code of ethics
Posted by Jon Henke

Al Jazeera now has a code of ethics.....


So, viewers will be treated "with due respect", and the channel will "address every issue or story with due attention to present a clear, factual and accurate picture".

Those are their principles, but if you don't like them, they have others. In the very same story, Al Jazeera reports on Taysir Alouni, an Al Jazeera correspondent in Spain being prevented from leaving the country "on charges that he has links with al-Qaida". Al Jazeera writes...

Investigators in Spain have enforced limitations on Alluni's movement for months, but have not found any evidence to back their accusations.
They "have not found any evidence"? Funny, but the Spanish case against him involves quite a lot of evidence. And lest you think this had "slipped by" Al Jazeera, read what they had previously reported....
...Judge Balthasar Garzon determined there was sufficient evidence to hold the 56-year-old further and not release him after his week long detention. A copy of his decision says evidence suggests Alouni joined an Islamist group in 1995 that may be a support group for al-Qaida.
That's "due respect" from Al Jazeera. They can't even make it all the way through the story announcing their "code of ethics" before violating it.

More, I think, than the insurgents, this is what we are fighting in the Middle East: control of information. As long as the entrenched Middle Eastern interests control it, they control a billion.

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