BOSTON, 28 July 2004 — Americans tuning into television coverage of this week’s Democratic convention will see signs for media outlets like CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS, but not Al Jazeera after the Arab satellite channel was asked to remove its banner near the podium.
The 24-hour Qatar-based news outlet won over millions of Arab viewers before and during the US-led war on Afghanistan in 2001 after showing exclusive footage of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. During this week’s convention in Boston, where Sen. John Kerry will be officially nominated to run for the White House, the TV channel had erected a colorful $30,000 banner that would have been seen by millions of television viewers as part of the convention backdrop.
But it was ordered to remove the sign by convention organizers, who said the decision was made for aesthetic reasons. In its place is now a 20-foot long “JohnKerry.com” banner. “We’ve taken down other signs, like Comcast’s,” convention spokeswoman Peggy Wilhide said, noting that of 33 organizations that have skyboxes, only 40 percent have signs displayed.
Al Jazeera, which has 16 staff covering the event, has been accused of peddling propaganda by the Bush administration.
The station’s offices in Baghdad were bombed by the US military during the war in Iraq, killing one journalist.
Al Jazeera has also found it hard at times to work in the United States. The New York Stock Exchange banned its reporters from the stock exchange floor. Al Jazeera was not immediately available for comment.
