Politics of Association and Media Making

It is undoubted that contemporary media making holds immense power over the socio-political climate of the world. Yet when the freedom of the media is curbed in developing countries, it’s a given that these countries do not have the unbounded freedom of expression and freedom of speech enjoyed by ‘developed’ countries like the United States. However, of late, this very freedom is put on stand by the politics that are put on display vis-a-vis non-mainstream media broadcasters like the cable news network Al-Jazeera English (AJE). The conservative voices in the America appear to label the station “as hav[ing] a tendency to promote terrorist acts” and “a jihadist recruiting front”.

Be that as it may, where is the freedom of choice for the citizens of the country? In a recent article in the Columbia Journalism review, we are told this: “Only viewers in Washington, DC; Toledo, Ohio; and Burlington, Vermont—the three locations where a service provider offers AJE—could watch the channel’s Tunisia and Egypt coverage on TV.”

A latest attack on AJE is seen in the way conservatives in America have reacted to the inclusion of an AJE journalist “as this year’s keynote speaker at a gala fundraiser for a museum that honors an American Revolutionary War hero.”

Voices of fear and prejudice can be heard within the conservative movement  against this inclusion:

“However, that’s not how it seems to Mackenzie Andersen of East Boothbay, who said she accepts the “commonly held belief that [Al-Jazeera] is a front for recruiting jihadists.

“First of all, I think the event should be called off. I think there should be an investigation into who, exactly, is behind making this happen,” she said. “By honoring Al-Jazeera, they’re creating respectability. They’re making it socially acceptable.””

Albeit the fear in rooted in the lack of knowledge and experience of viewing AJE, in a country openly controlled by pro-Israel sentiment, an Arab based news network is exactly what America needs to even be remotely considered as promoting freedom in media making.