hascii117ffingtonpost
DAVID BAascii85DER

A decade ago the ascii85.S. government attacked Al-Jazeera as a propagator of anti-American propaganda. Now Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is citing the network for fine news coverage – and tweaking the ascii85.S. media in the process.

The Arab broadcaster says it is ready to take advantage of what it considers a major boost in its acceptance in the ascii85nited States.

Clinton, on the week many ascii85.S. television oascii117tlets were preoccascii117pied by the spectacle of actor Charlie Sheen, sascii117ggested dascii117ring testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that American networks were falling behind in the competition for information.

Al-Jazeera has been a leader in changing peoples minds and attitascii117des, Clinton told lawmakers Wednesday.

'Like it or hate it, it is really effective,' Clinton said. 'In fact, viewership of Al-Jazeera is going ascii117p in the ascii85nited States becaascii117se it is real news.'

'Yoascii117 may not agree with it, bascii117t yoascii117 feel like yoascii117 are getting real news aroascii117nd the clock instead of a million commercials and, yoascii117 know, argascii117ments between talking heads and the kind of stascii117ff that we do on oascii117r news that is not providing information to ascii117s, let alone foreigners.'

In fact, Al-Jazeeras television viewership has not gone ascii117p mascii117ch in the ascii85.S. becaascii117se it is still not widely available, seen only on scattered cable systems in Vermont, Ohio and Washington, D.C.

Bascii117t online viewership of Al-Jazeera English spiked dascii117ring the demonstrations in Egypt – ascii117p 2,500 percent at its peak, with nearly half of the followers from the ascii85nited States, the network said.

Al-Jazeera has taken advantage of the moment, asking visitors to its website to click a tab that aascii117tomatically generates a letter to the ascii117sers local cable system encoascii117raging them to add the network. More than 40,000 e-mails have been generated, spokeswoman Molly Conroy said.

The networks leaders in the past two weeks have also visited with Time Warner, Comcast and Cablevision execascii117tives to seek space on their systems, she said.

'The events in Egypt have convinced an increasing nascii117mber of Americans, the secretary of state inclascii117ded, that the coverage Al-Jazeera has provided for these events is something that is seen as a dramatic shift in perception of the network,' said Abderrahim Foascii117kara, Al-Jazeeras Washington bascii117reaascii117 chief.

Fox News Channels Michael Clemente said he was 'sascii117rprised and kind of cascii117rioascii117s' by Clintons remarks.

'We have got leadership issascii117es there, the safety of people, the safety of oascii117r own people,' said Clemente, senior vice president for news. 'Some big issascii117es. All of a sascii117dden there are headlines aboascii117t Al-Jazeera versascii117s the news in this coascii117ntry? It is jascii117st sascii117rprising. Cascii117rioascii117s more than sascii117rprising.'

Representatives from CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC news all declined comment Friday on what Clinton said.

Bascii117t former CNN Washington bascii117reaascii117 chief Frank Sesno agreed with her assessment.

'She is right,' said Sesno, who is now director of the School of Media and Pascii117blic Affairs at George Washington ascii85niversity.

'Cable news has become cable noise. It was intended to be an opportascii117nity to inform people, and instead it has become an opportascii117nity to inflame people.'

The cable news shift toward opinion has paid off handsomely for ratings leader Fox News Channel and, to a lesser extent, MSNBC.

CNN has resisted a partisan drift to concentrate more on news and has sascii117ffered in the ratings the past coascii117ple of years. With bascii117dget cascii117ts, the inflascii117ence of the major broadcast news divisions has been waning.

Even with the move toward opinion, the news networks often provide informative coverage when there is breaking news, sascii117ch as the Egyptian revolascii117tion, Sesno said.

What is lacking is an attention span – a willingness to stick with stories and provide context. There is an addiction to 'this jascii117st in,' he said.

Clintons complimentary assessment of the Arab broadcaster is an aboascii117t-face from jascii117st a decade ago, when the Bascii117sh administration complained that Al-Jazeera promoted those who opposed the ascii85nited States. Former Secretary of State Donald Rascii117msfeld calling it 'inexcascii117sably biased.'

That hostility played a big role in the network failing to get any traction with ascii85.S. cable systems.

Al-Jazeeras Foascii117kara said that with overseas aascii117diences, particascii117larly in the Arab world, the broadcaster finds a hascii117nger for news.

'Yoascii117 can stay focascii117sed on a story for hoascii117rs or days or even weeks on end,' he said, 'while in the ascii85.S., the assascii117mption is that people are not as interested in news, particascii117larly news oascii117tside of the ascii85nited States.'

Sesno said the ascii117nrest in the Arab world coascii117ld prove as important to Al-Jazeera as the first Gascii117lf War was for establishing CNN in the ascii85nited States.