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Singaporeans back licence for Jazeera, hail new perspective |
By Daniel Ong
PEOPLE in Singapore have welcomed the move by Al Jazeera English to secure broadcast rights in the city-state and said the Qatar-based news channel should be given the licence.
Some 15 people Gulf Times spoke to last week said the station’s reporting style - from an Arab perspective - gives them another viewpoint from which to look at the world and the Middle East. “Al Jazeera is a refreshing breath in our Western-centric media landscape,” said Lim May-Ann, 27.
Adrian Tan, 24, said viewers will be “given another perspective as news in Singapore is predominantly from Western media.”
Jacques DM Gimeno, 26, who has seen news on the station’s website, said the Al Jazeera programmes were better than what other networks offered. “Their features and news stories are more informative and in-depth, something rarely seen nowadays,” she said.
Al Jazeera English is currently accessible via video streaming on its website, but the quality is not good. The station had initiated talks with Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA) earlier this year for rights to telecast to the city state. As of last week, the media watchdog was still assessing the channel’s application.
“As with all foreign channels, the authorities will need to make assessments based on criteria such as public expectations and interest, as well as the ability to meet local programme standards,” said MDA’s director of media content Amy Chua.
Al Jazeera English managing director Nigel Parsons said Singapore - a close ally of the United States - is cautious about allowing it to broadcast because of criticism of the station in the US for its “biased” reporting on Iraq and “supporting terrorism”.
According to its website, the station, founded last November, balances the “current typical information flow by reporting from the developing world back to the West.”
“Yes, we will freely admit to having sympathies for the occupied people of Palestine, for example, but when we do stories about that region, they are always balanced,” said Parsons, in an interview with Reuters news agency. He declined to say what issues concerned the Singapore authorities.
Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper reported that Al Jazeera English, if awarded the licence, will be aired by one of the local pay-TV providers. The station will therefore attract a select viewership.
“These are discerning viewers who want to understand the Middle East better, not just any other ordinary Singaporean,” said Sun Weilun, 24.
Arun Mahizhnan, deputy director of Singapore’s Institute of Policy Studies, who hopes Al Jazeera will succeed in its bid, concurred. “The audience would not be casual viewers, but those who are interested in the Arabic world for political, religious or business reasons,” he said in a news interview.
Some also said Al Jazeera should be given the licence because it can act as a counter to local media. “With Al Jazeera, there is the other side to a story...this might spur our local newspapers to consider other not-so-conventional points of view,” said Cui Shaowei, 26.
Added Colin Lim, 24: “Many Singaporeans are ignorant of the situation in the Middle East largely because it’s not given much coverage here in the local media. Al Jazeera could make a difference in this aspect.”
Assistant Professor Cherian George, from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information in Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, says this is because local media have inclinations towards the West.
“It is unfortunate that some quarters in Singapore swallow Western stereotypes about Al Jazeera,” said the journalism professor. “Local media described the channel as ‘controversial’, yet there were no protests when Fox News was introduced. The channel is well known to have helped mislead Americans into war through its propaganda.”
“The main reason why Al Jazeera has a bad reputation is because it showed Osama bin Laden’s video after 9/11,” said Lim. “I believe this is a mark of the media channel’s success instead of something that should be held against them.”
Added Mahizhnan: “Any news agency that provides a reasonable level of objectivity should be allowed - and if it does, I will certainly subscribe.” |
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