In this study of the news agency Al-Jazeera, Hugh Miles examines one of the fascinating new media companies--one whose fortunes are tied in with world events. Miles traces Al-Jazeera's beginnings in the BBC Arab Service and its sponsorship by the government of Qatar, which aims to be a modernized state. He explores Al-Jazeera's controversial status: the professionalism for which it is respected by many, and the claims by others that it is not fair and balanced in its reporting. Accused by the Islamic world of being pro-Western (and even of spying), yet reviled by many in the West, particularly Americans, Al-Jazeera has changed the way other media outlets cover the region--among other things, it has employed women as on-the-air reporters. Miles recounts the difficulties and dangers to journalists of working in a war zone, whether menaced by threats from the government of Saddam Hussein before the Iraq War, or by American pinpoint bombing like the one that took out the agency's Baghdad bureau. After 9/11, Al-Jazeera has become both more important and more controversial. Miles considers its role as part of the "domino effect" of bringing democracy to the Middle East, but notes that it is also, like CNN, a business.

A revealing look inside one of the most controversial news organizations in the world reveals a fledgling Arab-language network struggling to balance its commitment to time-honored standards of journalism with the needs of its audience in the Middle East. Reprint.

A revealing look inside one of the most controversial news organizations in the world reveals a fledgling Arab-language network struggling to balance its commitment to time-honored standards of journalism with the needs of its audience in the Middle East. Reprint.