Al Jazeera Al Jazeera!

Just in case anyone thought I had forgotten, I hadn’t! And so this post is named for a very "special" cousin of mine who I know is secretly jealous! hehe.

Yes, whilst in Doha a very nice friend of mine, a Mr A, was kind enough to give us a tour of where he works as a producer. So, M and I had the chance to not only see the inner workings of Al-Jazeera English but also Al-Jazeera Arabic and boy were we excited! We got in the taxi expecting it to take us to one of those major high rise, elegant looking buildings that you find in the heart of the district where her father works- the Manhattan of Doha- but, instead we pulled up to a complex of what looked like warehouse type buildings. It looked more like an air force complex than what we expected of Al Jazeera. Not as exciting, but I guess that was our fault. The main gate had security though so yay!

Anyway, Mr A had hooked us up with passes at the front gate so we picked them up with our IDs and made our way inside. They were also not as exciting as first expected- just a simple paper document saying we were allowed to be there for the next 2 days. Yawn! We wanted badges or something. We were expecting a security pass or something resembling a back stage pass at Wembley. Again, not quite what we were expecting but still, we were at Al Jazeera!

Mr A gave us a full tour of Al- Jazeera with information about all the different stages that go into producing the final news we see on TV; The research, writing, editing, recording etc etc. It was very interesting though I think at moments he thought it might be boring us but really it was much more than we were expecting. We were just happy enough to be at AL-Jazeera and a simple look around would probably have satisfied us. Though I was hoping for a quick interview with one of the newsreaders or presenters or journalists or something...... but let’s not be picky. We were at Al-Jazeera. Sorry, did I tell you I was at Al-Jazeera. Haha!

It was like the first time I visited the BBC but better (Don’t tell the BBC I said that!). I guess I have grown used to the BBC now and this was just a bit of a novelty. After seeing it all the effect did wear of a little but we are allowed to feel all giddy and excited about certain things once in a while right? Although, I do think M was a lot more excited than myself. Bless!

I think the best part was just being able to see the news desk and watch them broadcasting live. It’s silly but you’re thinking, “I’m there whilst the news is being told, this is wicked!”. It was also funny to see the way the newscasters acted when the camera was not on them, relaxed, sat back, with a little bit of a sullen look of boredom. Funny considering at any moment they will be back on and into their role again. In many ways they are just much actors as those stars up on the big screen.

The whole place was also a lot smaller than expected. One was left thinking, “This is the place that creates all that fuss?”, apparently nearer the start of Al-Jazeera a certain Egyptian president, I think, left feeling the same way.

We also got a quick tour around Al-Jazeera Arabic, although Mr A didn’t know as much about this side of the TV news network so it wasn’t quite the same. However, it was interesting to see the old Al-Jazeera newsroom and news desk where it all started- that was really really small. It is now wonder the President was so surprised. Also, their reception has artefacts from throughout the Al-Jazeera story including the jacket and belongings of the cameraman that was killed when the Al-Jazeera headquarters in Iraq was bombed within the first few days of the invasion. A rather grim reminder of the cost of being a journalist in a warzone, and sometimes the particular risks involved when working for one of the most hated news agencies around, hated those in power.

Anyway, it was overall thoroughly interesting and entertaining and then to top it all off Mr A managed to get us entry to the Doha Debates which we had been trying to do since before I arrived in Doha. So the next evening we were lucky enough to attend the live TV debate which won’t be aired until January- although the exact date I am not sure on. The topic of debate was rather interesting and it was good to see a face I recognised on the panel arguing the intricacies and often simply the variances in the meaning of the title itself- a certain professor Tariq Ramadan. The title: “Education is worthless without Freedom of speech”. What are your opinions I wonder on this rather heavy topic. I wouldn’t really have known which way to vote, to be honest, as I agreed with both arguments. Mainly because they were both looking at the statement and taking the meaning they wished to see and then arguing for that point, so both were correct in the arguments they made. I’ll leave it to you to watch the actual debate.

Overall then, a thoroughly enjoyable and educational trip to Doha- even if it still weirded me out a bit! ;o)