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Aljazeera's English experiment in
trouble
By Iason Athanasiadis
The recent shock firing of star journalist
Yvonne Ridley - the last of nine journalists to leave
the struggling website in as many months - has raised
the question of whether Aljazeera's high-profile English
news service will fold.
"A lot of people are
holding their breath to see what will happen in the next
few days," one Aljazeera Net journalist told Asia Times
Online. "Decisions will be made according to these
developments."
The move to dismiss Ridley came
just four months after she joined the Doha-based news
operation, more famous for its trailblazing
Arabic-language television service than its English one.
Far from being merely a prestige signing, Muslim convert
Ridley seemed an ideal choice for Aljazeera Net's
managers, and she has written several prominent articles
on the website.
"Until I know why I've been fired,
or given written notice, I can't say anything other
than that I'm completely devastated and puzzled," Ridley
told the Asia Times Online from Doha.
Ridley
achieved international attention following her detention
by the Taliban in the days leading up to the United
States bombing of Afghanistan. Her subsequent conversion
to Islam and move to Aljazeera caused a media sensation
in the United Kingdom, where she once worked for the
Express.
Ridley's departure has been unpopular
with staff. It is said to be a product of the wider
struggle between foreign journalists and local
management over work rights. Ridley campaigned hard to
extend the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) to Qatar.
She opened the first NUJ branch in the Middle East,
signing up most Aljazeera Net staff.
Before her
arrival, journalists on the news site often worked
12-hour shifts, six days a week, without overtime pay or
time off. The management often refused staff wanting to
spend the weekend in nearby Dubai exit visas to leave
the country.
Aljazeera had been seeking to
expand its Arabic-language product into English since
mid-2002. While Aljazeera Net was meant to be a
short-term precursor to a fully-fledged,
English-language TV station, it has been dogged by
problems. After a nine-month delay in coming on line,
staff-shortages and several firings, it finally launched
in September to widespread accusations of bias in its
coverage.
When contacted in Doha, former site
manager Joanne Tucker - who parted ways with the site
during management restructuring at Aljazeera Net last
August - refused to comment on the future of the
website.
"I don't know why all this fuss is
taking place," said Jihad Ballout, Aljazeera's press
spokesman. "Miss Yvonne is quite senior and I'm sure she
has her way of pursuing her job, and perhaps it doesn't
go down well with her superiors. She's entitled to
express herself as an employee," he added. "I don't know
if this is beneficial to anyone, really. I tend to
believe that different views are not conducive to good
business."
Ballout attributed the sacking to
"conflicting points of view", refuting suggestions that
Ridley was sacked for securing more rights for her
journalists. He also defended the Aljazeera English
manager who took the decision.
A senior member
of management interviewed by Asia Times Online stated
that work conditions will be "improved, things will be
much better than before and within a year we'll expand".
Sources close to Ridley say that she intends to
fight her dismissal, both legally and by focusing the
international media spotlight on the satellite giant.
Aljazeera has made a number of senior management
and editorial changes in recent months, following a
period of intense pressure from the White House and
close US ally the Emir of Qatar. The station parted ways
with its director following the war in Iraq; pulled
caricatures of the World Trade Center bombing from its
website; and appointed a new manager who is one of a few
Arab journalists to have interviewed US administrator in
Iraq L Paul Bremer and who has been responsible for
improving relations between the Aljazeera bureau in
Baghdad and the Coalition Provisional Authority there.
The Ridley episode has raised tensions inside
Aljazeera Net and heightened the ill feeling felt by
journalists at the way in which they have been treated
by Qatari management. "All that talk about bridging
cultural gaps has turned out false and the managers here
are interested in having docile Filipino and Indian
workers," one staff member told Asia Times Online.
In a bid to lessen the dismay felt by staff at
Ridley's sacking, management finally rushed out the
contracts it owed its journalists. In some cases
journalists had been on trial for 10 months, waiting to
sign up. "They [management] said that they will shut the
site down and I think they're waiting to see how many
people will sign on to their contracts [before
deciding]," a source said.
As for Ridley, she
has declared that she will be staying put. "I've got no
intention of leaving Doha, I have many friends in this
region and am launching a book called Ticket to
Paradise, a thriller with fictional characters
involved in all sorts of dirty dealings, swinging from
New York to the Middle East."
(Copyright 2003
Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact content@atimes.com for
information on our sales and syndication policies.)
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