What Al Jazeera did right: This revolution was televised !!!
What Al Jazeera did right: This revolution was televised
February 18, 2011 
Posted by
Farheen Hussain
Al Jazeera made a conscious effort for their coverage to mirror the momentum of the revolution.
My friend, a fellow news junkie, asked me, Whats the difference between CNN and Al Jazeera?
Answer: CNN shows the missiles taking off, Al Jazeera shows them landing.
If any amongst us had doubts about this subtle difference, they were most certainly removed after following the Egyptian revolution unfold on
Al Jazeera and its sanitised coverage on other mainstream western news networks.
To further substantiate
Al Jazeeras credentials as the peoples news network that brings forth the peoples perspective devoid of an imperialist agenda, I can tell you this; Donald Rumsfeld condemned it, George Bush allegedly said he wanted to bomb it and all those hard core tea-partying, Republicans consider it their
Fox News.
For over two weeks till the ouster of Hosni Mubarak I found myself drawn into the romanticism, passion and hope that only a true peoples revolution can inspire.
I followed
Al Jazeeras phenomenal coverage of the Egyptian revolution through its live streaming on internet and Twitter accounts of its embedded journalists reporting live from the ground.
Alongside, I kept a close watch on the coverage by other western mainstream channels I had access to, namely
BBC, Sky News, CNN and for sheer entertainment,
Fox News.
The potency of media only becomes evident when it covers a movement that is as fluid, volatile, and populist, with multiple angles and perspectives as the Egyptian revolution. What a specific news network chooses to reinforce, what they choose to downplay, the language they frame it in and the approach they adopt has huge implications on the opinions the millions of viewers detached from the ground reality will formulate.
Coverage capturing the vibe
Given that
Al Jazeeras headquarters are embedded in the Middle East, and it has far more resources and networks available, it is only fair that the time they devoted to the revolution and efficiency in covering breaking news superseded that of others. However, apart from these understandable differences,
Al Jazeera made a conscious effort for their coverage to mirror the momentum of the revolution on the ground. The same coverage on
CNN or other channels would be oft interrupted by lengthy pieces on the automobile industry, snow storms in America, the Super Bowl and even preparations for the royal weddings; cunningly deflating the energy that reverberates in the viewers when watching the protests.
Diverse angles, diverse content
While
Al Jazeeras offices and journalists were attacked and the channel taken off air in Egypt by Mubaraks government, no such action was taken against other mainstream western news networks.
If anything this gives validation to the channels struggle to expose the truth. Conversely, the other mainstream western news channels found it too much to stomach that this revolution was in fact orchestrated and sustained by the secular, youth bulge of Egypt. They displayed an overwhelming need to give the Egyptian revolution an Islamist bent with anchors on
CNN and
BBC consistently
calling analysts and diplomats to comment on the likelihood of a Khomeni like takeover and obsessively discussing the Islamist credentials of the Muslim Brotherhood and their popularity amongst the Egyptian people.
For the most part, their coverage consisted of a small inset of the Tahrir Square and a stodgy analyst or suited diplomat in the foreground waxing lyrical about Mubaraks role in forging peace in the Middle East and indispensability to the west.
During the most crucial moment of the revolution, before Mubaraks address to the Egyptian people,
Al Jazeera remained anchored in the streets of Cairo and Alexandria capturing the peoples sentiment. Simultaneously, channels like
CNN were intent on humanising the dictator by
running profiles of Hosni Mubarak, as an analyst droned on about a post Mubarak Egypt, subtly pushing the false autocratic rule or Islamist takeover binary.
Lastly, true to form,
Fox News coverage of the Egyptian revolution through its bevy of blondes and right-wing evangelists, amped the sleaze factor of their channel to heights hardcore pornographers are still aspiring to reach.
Al Jazeeras people-centric approach
The sanitised coverage of western mainstream channels and usage of generic language has the impact of detaching the viewers from those engaged in the revolution.
The reality and rawness of the Egyptian revolution was captured by
Al Jazeera because it took a truly people centric approach; anchoring their journalists amongst those on the streets and letting the people tell their story not have it told by an endless stream of analysts and diplomats disconnected from the eye of the storm.
Similarly, the nuanced differences in language between channels became increasingly apparent; while
CNN, BBC preferred to use words like crisis or protests,
Al Jazeera befittingly called it a revolution.
When Hosni made the anti-climatic speech in which he declared he was not stepping down, western news channels described the protesters as deflated, whereas
Al Jazeera remained anchored in Tahrir and let the viewers at home feel the reverberation of the chants that grew louder and angrier; with the voiceover describing the mood as having shifted from, angry to volcanic.
Though it gave due coverage to all aspects of the revolution,
Al Jazeeras primal focus was interviewing the protesters themselves; after all this was the peoples revolution, why distract from their passion, their grievances and their motives.
The explosive 2003 documentary,
This Revolution will not be televised captured the real story (
http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/4437/what-al-jazeera-did-right-this-revolution-was-televised/)