[ Listen to an audio recording of Riz Khan's talk, courtesy of DesiYou.com ]
"Other channels show the missiles being fired; we show them landing,” said Riz Khan about Al-Jazeera’s commitment to news from the Middle East. Khan, a trailblazing South Asian journalist who recently joined Al-Jazeera International added, “When I told George H. W. Bush that I left CNN to help Al-Jazeera launch their channel in English, his eyebrows went up.” Khan was the evening’s keynote speaker who offered witty and offbeat remarks, tying them to the issues of international journalism.
Al-Jazeera started out as a darling of the US government because it offered a regional perspective from the Middle East. “But after we started showing the casualties since the declaration of war on terror, they didn’t like us,” he said. But Khan said that he is traveling around the world defending Al-Jazeera and the misperceptions people have about them. “We are committed to bringing in the other side of the story,” he said. “People’s notion about Al-Jazeera being Al-Qaeda’s propaganda outlet is wrong.”
“No one reads news with an independent point of view,” Khan added. “People’s feelings are always slightly tilted towards one side.”
Khan feels that too many moderates in the Muslim world are unwillingly to say that they condemn terrorism. “The image of Muslims is hijacked by those who would have it a certain way,” he said.
Khan also said that the threat to Al-Jazeera does not come from the government but some fanatics. Despite facing constant antagonism in the United States, Khan said that the team has a commitment to the Arabian people. “To my viewers, I have nothing to hide,” he added.
Khan strongly feels broadcast journalism is a medium for challenging opinions, not propagating them. “Although I may agree with people’s views, my job is to counter-argue with them,” he said. “That doesn’t happen in the Arab world, and that is why Al-Jazeera is unique.”
Al-Jazeera International, a new channel in English, is scheduled to begin broadcasting later this year.
