Gawker: Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera Buys German Clown to Entertain Arab Children

Michael Weiss — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:31:20 EDT

The Arabic news network Al Jazeera has signed a five-year distribution deal with Munich-based Studio100 Media to broadcast the live-action children's series "Bumba the Clown." Bumba is a moon-faced circus harlequin who plays the drums and imparts pearls of wisdom to the pre-K set (see YouTube here.) One Belgian IMDB reviewer with a 9-month-old who can't get enough raves: "The show revolves round a yellow dressed clown and his friends. There's another clown, a bear, a rhino, an elephant, an Asian girl and I think there's a bird somewhere as well. Maybe a monkey. (You can't blame me for not remembering, I hardly watch it)." So goodbye cycles of violence in Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Sudan, where Bumba will now appear regularly.

The Middle East has wanted for quality kids programming. The last big name the region had was Hamas TV's Islamist mouse Farfour, an obvious Mickey rip-off, whose voice sounded like a Kate Bush orgasm and whose mission was to drive the Jews into the sea. Once Farfour was "martyred" at the hands of a Mossad agent (see below), his cousin Nahoul the Bee buzzed in to replace him as the cuddliest little jihadist that could. It probably doesn't bode well for the Palestinian biology curriculum that insects can be related to rodents, but there you have it.

[Variety]

Al Jazeera English To Explore Hangings And So Forth

Ryan Tate — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:22:49 EDT

Al Jazeera English isn't carried by any American cable TV systems, and that's in part because "some... were disappointed it wasn't hanging people or torturing people, said a former executive... 'If it looks like the BBC, why should we add it?'" In other words, the network is floundering not just because some associate it with Islamic extremists, but because others find it not extreme enough. The new managing director of the network, a Canadian named Tony Burman, is promising to change all that and to emulate some of the "fearless, bold and provocative" coverage of Arabic Al Jazeera. The change came after a bunch of Americans and Brits left the network, saying it was being controlled more tightly out of Qatar. Outgoing anchor Dave Marash said he saw signs of anti-Americanism creeping in to coverage before he left. But a certain skepticism toward U.S. foreign policy would make for an enlightening viewpoint on cable news, if only to contrast with the increasingly opinionated coverage from the American channels. And who better to lead some sober antagonism against America than a Canadian? [Times]

Al Jazeera Too Araby For American Anchor

Ryan Tate — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:46:59 EDT

The top American anchor on Al Jazeera English left the controversial Qatar-based news network because, he said, the whole thing was getting a little too Middle Eastern. According to the Times, "headquarters in Doha provided more and more direction about the assignment of stories and the point of view... the English-language channel started to more closely resemble its larger sibling, the prominent Arabic-language channel Al Jazeera, he said." Americans and Brits have been upset about funding and alleged political interference for months. Things looked much different two years ago, when the anchor, Dave Marash, braved Stephen Colbert's show to champion the channel, arguing that Al Jazeera's English-language channel was virtually autonomous from the Arabic channel in Qatar:

See also this video of Daily Show correspondent Samantha Bee's Fox-style makeover of Al Jazeera English.

Al Jazeera's Internal Cold War

Ryan Tate — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 01:20:24 EST

After barely a year on the air, Al Jazeera English is hamstrung by the very Western-Arab tensions the channel was created to mend. The Brits and Americans are recoiling as they lose once-generous funding from the Emir of Qatar and as the channel is transformed from a relative independent into something of a lapdog for neighboring dictators. Outside critics (like the Times of London) say the channel needs less wonky internationalism and more "news from home," i.e. America and Britain. That sounds a lot like the makeover Samantha Bee was mocking in her hilarious Daily Show segment on the launch of Al Jazeera English, excerpted after the jump.