Al Jazeera shows revolution in real time.
A Dylan Ratigan show panel talks about the role of Al Jazeera in Middle East revolutions and whether it can be beneficial for the region and America.
MSNBC TRANSCRIPT:
>>> governments that turn their guns on their own people have no place in this chamber. nothing is off the table so long as the libyan government continues to threaten and kill libyans.
>> that of course our secretary of state hillary clinton, tough talk as the u.s. and its allies, now set to impose sanctions on libya and the american military is repositioning itself near the north african coast, closer to libya, just in case they are called upon. and hundreds, perhaps even thousands now believed to have been killed in bloody battles for the control of that country between protesters and moammar gadhafi and his armed militia. recently reports of a severe clampdown on the western capital of tripoli where protesters in the eastern half of libya are now reportedly beginning to organize their own government. all of this playing out in realtime. not just on twitter, not just on facebook, but on televisions throughout the region and streaming on laptops around the world. much has been said about the role of the internet in these uprisings, but what role has al jazeera played in the wave of revolutions that are sweeping the middle east? take a look at this example. a side by side comparison of coverage of the libyan uprising. libyan state tv in the green. al jazeera in red. on libyan state tv, peaceful pro-gadhafi rallies are being reported. on the same day at the same time, on al jazeera, chaos and violence in the streets. opponents of the regime lying injured and bloody on the ground. no wonder gadhafi has referred to this channel as a misleading dog station. al jazeera, of course, a controversial brand here in our own country, but could it actually be good for america? and for that matter, the world? by exposing people in the middle east to alternative viewpoints to the state tv that they are fed and at the same time showing america a new face for the arab world? joins us now, ben golter, ceo of good, a company dedicated to moving the world forward through its web, magazine, videos and live events. it’s nice to have you back with us. this has been an explosive period for this network.
>> it’s one of the more amazing periods we’ve seen in history and this network’s been on the ground. for many years al jazeera wasn’t getting traction. we had the economic interest but it wasn’t enough to capture our attention. add to that the human interest in what we’re seeing. i think this is the most aspirational set of values we can hope to see and something so uniquely american.
>> why?
>> just courage and liberty in the face of such danger. we see it everybody once in a while in history and we’re seeing it now. i think americans want a direct line to that. we want to see exactly what’s going on from the source that’s closest to it. and so it’s been so wonderful to see al jazeera merge as a key voice in news right now and if you look on their traffic, and you see that they’ve tripled in the last month, it’s quite incredible. no media site enjoys that sort of growth at this pace. and i think my hope and belief is that this won’t be come down, but people will start to appreciate we need a direct line into such a critical area of the world always to be right along side msnbc as a valuable news source we’re using for our day-to-day lives.
>> joining us now is professor of middle eastern politics, international relations at the london school of economics and a favorite guest of ours since this conversation began. your thoughts on al jazeera. first off, as a provocateur, instigator, perpetuator, flame thrower for the revolution, itself.
>> you know, dylan, people have been speaking about the internet and web and twitter. people don’t realize in the middle east you have a small percentage of people who have access to the internet. fewer than 20%. the reality is al jazeera is really the biggest and the most massive influence in the middle east. in tunisia, in egypt, in libya, in algeria and yemen, people have been saying, thank you, al jazeera. what al jazeera has been able to do is connect middle easterns in very small towns, villages, together. the internet fewer. few people have access to internet. al jazeera has been able to basically destroy government’s control on the flow of information because since al jazeera now, al jazeera has been able to connect people together and tell them what’s happening in their societies. the corruption, the scandals about foreign policy. al jazeera has been playing a critical role in the democratization process, unwittingly and consciously. in fact, i would argue, dylan, al jazeera is one of the most powerful nonstate actors in the world today. in fact, in tunisia, the first spark, provided the spark that ignited the fires in the middle east. people were saying, thank you, thank you, al ja deer zeerjazeera. barack obama’s ideas and symbolism play a critical part for this generation. al jazeera has been able to tell the people what’s happened in their own societies. it has connected them together, it has really unleashed this particular longing for freedom and liberty and for open societies in the middle east.
>> fawaz, reconcile for us, if you could, for the american point of view, who it is that owns this network, who is roger ailes, who is the rupert murdoch in dowa, in qatar calling the shots at this network? how do the americans reconcile this freedom fighting liberty and courage journalism being touted in al jazeera and the middle east and being viewed by the world with the optics ten years ago as al jazeera as the network of terrorists, of the al qaeda network in this country?
>> dylan, al jazeera is owned by a very small — people, many americans don’t realize qatar owns al jazeera. qatar is one f the most western, pro-american governments in the middle east and has one of the largest american bases. the reason why there’s been tensions between al jazeera and the united states, in the last 20 years or so, in particular since the american intervention in the gulf during, after saddam hussein invaded kuwait has been on foreign policy. of course, the war in afghanistan and iraq since 9/11. that is why you’ve had a great deal of tensions, because the focus has been on foreign policy. i would argue now, in particular in the last few months, the focus now is not on foreign policy. the revolutions that are sweeping the arab world and the middle east are domestic oriented. they’re about freedom, about personal liberties. they’re about bread and butter. that’s why i would argue, i would tell my american citizens, my fellow citizen, is that for the first time in the last 20 years, the agenda of the united states and al jazeera are the same. it’s about democracy. it’s about promoting a free flow of information and i’m delighted now that the focus has shifted from foreign policy to domestic politics and internal politics in the arab world.
>> understood. quickly, good for america, ben?
>> beautiful for america.
>> fawaz, good for america?
>> i think al jazeera is spearhead, is really a vanguard in the promotion of democracy and open societies. this is the highest american values. open societies, free flow of information. also introducing the middle east to the world and introducing america to the middle east. as you well know, dylan, you’ve been saying for the last few months the violent arab have been shattered. the whole images and stereotypes. al jazeera made it very easy for americans to see what’s happening in middle eastern societies.
>> to see secular, intelligent impassioned people who have been oppressed for decades. their fathers emasculated. their mothers depressed in the kitchen and taking advantage of shared information to do something about it.
>> and peaceful.
>> totally peaceful.
>> relatively peaceful revolutions.
>> yep. absolutely.
>> it really is.
>> brilliantly so. amazing to watch. ben, it’s always a pleasure. thank you very much. check out “good” in all of its forms, the magazine, the web properties and of course on the twitter along with everything we’re doing with dylan ratigan. everything will be up on the web in a minute.