Al Jazeera

While watching CNN or BBC, the shoddy propaganda becomes immediately transparent. In the good old days when US used to tell a lie, it would stick to it for a long time. Not any more thanks to alternative information channel like Al-Jazeera, the Qatar based TV station who bring in diverse range of opinion and images unimaginable only a decade ago.

Launched in 1996 by a group of disillusioned BBC journalists, it receives funding from the Qatari Crown prince, Emir al-Thani and reaches over 35 million homes daily and is one of the most successful news service.

Of all the major global networks, Al-Jazeera has been alone in proclaiming that the Iraq war should be viewed as an illegal enterprise. It has broadcast the horror of the bombing campaign, the screaming infants and the corpses. Al-Jazeera has painted a powerful picture of western media's double standards. The British media condemned al-Jazeera's decision to screen a video clip of two dead British soldiers but did not think twice before showing images of dead, captured or humiliated Iraqi soldiers.

But there are risks too. Al-Jazeera journalists and their organistion had been targeted many times. Extreme pressure was placed on the channel to show more positive image of the Iraq occupation. In fact the Qatar government was requested to control the channel. It would be unimaginable to have any other country's government complaining about the CNN's coverage.

Washington keeps saying that it wants to encourage democratisation in the Middle East but attempts to throttle Al-Jazeera certainly indicates otherwise.

Recently the release of Al-Jazeera's film Control Room has made box office record in the US. This only proves that propaganda approach is losing its effectiveness because it has become the victim of its own spin.