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Al-Jazeera drew US viewers on Web during Gaza war
2009-01-24
DOHA, Qatar - American viewership of Al-Jazeera English rose dramatically during the Israel-Hamas war, partly because the channel had what CNN and other international networks didn't have: reporters inside Gaza. Muzi.com News 10086884-1 (muzi.com)But the viewers weren't watching it on television, where the Arab network's English-language station has almost no U.S. presence. Muzi.com News 10086884-2 (muzi.com) Instead, the station streamed video of Israel's offensive against Hamas on the Internet and took advantage of emerging online media such as the microblogging Web site Twitter to provide real-time updates. Muzi.com News 10086884-3 (muzi.com) During the 22-day conflict that ended last weekend, the station and its Arabic language sister, as they often do, aired far more graphic pictures than U.S. networks of dead and injured Palestinian children and women. Muzi.com News 10086884-4 (muzi.com) The images, viewed widely across the Mideast, generated enormous sympathy for Gazans in the Muslim world. Muzi.com News 10086884-5 (muzi.com) "Gaza ... was a breakthrough opportunity to make an impact with people who are less aware of Al-Jazeera than we'd like," said Tony Burman, managing director of the English-language channel in Qatar. Muzi.com News 10086884-6 (muzi.com) "There is an alternative perspective our channel provides, and Gaza was a good example," Burman said. Muzi.com News 10086884-7 (muzi.com) Al-Jazeera had another draw: Its reporters were inside Gaza while international networks such as CNN were barred by Israel from sending reporters in throughout the entire war. Israeli TV focused mostly on Israeli casualty reports and Hamas rocket barrages. Muzi.com News 10086884-8 (muzi.com) "Having reporters in Gaza -- which others did not have -- that's what made Al-Jazeera stand out and that's important on the Internet," said Jeff Jarvis, who teaches journalism at the City University of New York and writes about media on his Buzzmachine.com blog. Muzi.com News 10086884-9 (muzi.com) Overall, the station's Web video stream saw a 600 percent jump in worldwide viewership during the Gaza offensive -- and about 60 percent of those hits came from the United States, according to the station's internal numbers. Muzi.com News 10086884-10 (muzi.com) Outside figures also point to big gains in U.S. online interest, suggesting the war gave the Arab station its first significant chance to break into the American market. Muzi.com News 10086884-11 (muzi.com) Traffic to Al-Jazeera's main Web page, which includes both the English and Arabic sites, spiked once Israeli airstrikes began on Dec. 27, according to Amazon.com Inc.'s Alexa Web tracking site. Muzi.com News 10086884-12 (muzi.com) Those figures show the share of Internet users visiting the site shot up about 22 percent over the last three months, with most of the gains coming since the start of the Gaza conflict. Muzi.com News 10086884-13 (muzi.com) The jump in viewership reflects wider trends in global media, where the Web increasingly is the place where viewers go to watch video and social networking sites and citizen journalism are merging with traditional news coverage. Muzi.com News 10086884-14 (muzi.com) Al-Jazeera English and Arabic are both bankrolled by energy-rich Qatar, a U.S. Arab ally that also supports the militant Hamas rulers of Gaza and which recently suspended its low-level ties with Israel to protest the Gaza offensive. Muzi.com News 10086884-15 (muzi.com) Feisty and sometimes graphic coverage of global carnage is an Al-Jazeera specialty, as is bracing commentary that has shaken up the Arab world and rattled the West. Muzi.com News 10086884-16 (muzi.com) Since Al-Jazeera English went on the air in November 2006, it has struggled to gain a spot on traditional American airwaves. The station says only three small cable operators offer the network in Ohio, Vermont and Washington, D.C. Muzi.com News 10086884-17 (muzi.com) None of the biggest U.S. cable systems carries Al-Jazeera English, claiming viewer interest is not sufficient. Muzi.com News 10086884-18 (muzi.com) The former Bush administration had accused Al-Jazeera's Arabic station of anti-American bias. Some members of the administration criticized the network after the Sept. 11 attacks because of its access to and willingness to air tapes of Osama bin Laden. Muzi.com News 10086884-19 (muzi.com) A frustrated President Bush even talked of bombing the Arabic-language channel's headquarters in 2004, according to a leaked British government memo. Muzi.com News 10086884-20 (muzi.com) The publicly owned cable system in Burlington, Vt. that carries Al-Jazeera English, has faced pressure and even calls for a ballot initiative to remove the channel by a group that claims the station is anti-American. Muzi.com News 10086884-21 (muzi.com) But the Internet has made it possible for the network to reach American viewers despite the limitations of its cable television broadcasts. Muzi.com News 10086884-22 (muzi.com) The English channel has a different staff and separate budget from the Arabic network. Its executives say they have no political agenda in coverage of the Mideast. Muzi.com News 10086884-23 (muzi.com) Politics aside, there is little question that the Gaza war gave the station a viewership boost -- similar to what CNN got on cable in the 1991 Gulf War. Muzi.com News 10086884-24 (muzi.com) From its start, Al-Jazeera English has offered grainy, low-resolution access to the same broadcasts shown on cable television through its Web site. Higher-quality transmissions were also available for a price. Muzi.com News 10086884-25 (muzi.com) A few months before the Gaza offensive began, the network began the same broadcasts on a new Web-based platform known as Livestation, which allows users to watch high-quality broadcasts online live and for free. Muzi.com News 10086884-26 (muzi.com) The service, which is being developed by a London-based technology company partially backed by Microsoft Corp., has also signed up a number of other news networks, including Bloomberg Television and BBC World. Muzi.com News 10086884-27 (muzi.com) Livestation said Al-Jazeera English footage viewed on its site jumped to 17 million minutes worldwide over a two week period during the Gaza conflict, up from 3 million minutes in a similar time period before the conflict began. Muzi.com News 10086884-28 (muzi.com) The service did not break down those numbers by specific country. But it said that over one full week of the Gaza conflict, the number of U.S. viewers to Al-Jazeera English on Livestation surged by six times the usual level. Muzi.com News 10086884-29 (muzi.com) The boost in viewership was also reflected on YouTube where viewers can watch individual television reports. Over the past month during the Gaza crisis, Al-Jazeera was the most viewed English-language traditional news channel on YouTube's "News and Politics" category. Muzi.com News 10086884-30 (muzi.com) The network, like its global rivals, is pushing aggressively into other online media. It set up a page dedicated to Gaza coverage on the "microblogging" site Twitter and is experimenting with interactive maps. It also actively seeks photos and other eyewitness accounts from viewers. Muzi.com News 10086884-31 (muzi.com) Ayman Mohyeldin, the network's 29-year-old correspondent who reported on Israel's military offensive live for 22 days, became a well-known figure to many viewers. Muzi.com News 10086884-32 (muzi.com) Dressed in a bulletproof vest and helmet, the U.S.-educated journalist of Egyptian descent described in great detail life and death during Israeli air raids. He now has at least one fan club on Facebook. Muzi.com News 10086884-33 (muzi.com) ___ Muzi.com News 10086884-34 (muzi.com) Surk reported from Doha and Schreck from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Muzi.com News 10086884-35 (muzi.com) ____ Muzi.com News 10086884-36 (muzi.com) On the Net: Muzi.com News 10086884-37 (muzi.com) Al-Jazeera English site: http://english.aljazeera.net/ Muzi.com News 10086884-38 (muzi.com) Muzi.com News 10086884-39 (muzi.com)
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