Al Jazeera TV wins award for battling censorship
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Thursday March 27, 3:06 AM
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/030326/3/umdg.html

LONDON (Reuters) - Al Jazeera television, which beams into 35 million Arab homes, received an award on Wednesday for its resistance of censorship.

The accolade from the British-based Index on Censorship was given for Al Jazeera's "apparent independence in a region where much of the media is state-run."

The Index on Censorship said the channel, which came to worldwide prominence after broadcasting video tapes of Osama bin Laden, has won a reputation for credible news.

"That same quality has enraged Arab governments and the United States," the Index, a group of leading media figures, writers and people concerned with freedom of speech, said in a statement.

The Golden Raspberry award for services to censorship was given to Zimbabwe's information minister Jonathan Moyo.

Al Jazeera went on air in 1996 with a $137 million budget from Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and has since captivated Arab viewers with talk shows on subjects considered taboo by other mostly state-run stations.

Its professional, Western-network-style bulletins and scoops on major stories have earned it the respect of its audiences but brought criticism from their conservative governments.

The station's popularity soared during the first weeks of the U.S.-led war on Afghanistan as it was the only network allowed to operate by the Taliban, who then controlled the country.

The United States has accused the channel of inflaming anti-American sentiment in the Middle East by carrying the speeches of bin Laden, whom it blames for masterminding the September 11 attacks.

It complained to the Qatari government about Al Jazeera's coverage, which also raised eyebrows among other international broadcasters.

Qatar, where the channel is based, has described the station as a "perpetual headache", although the government insists it will not close it down.