Al Jazeera Global Distribution

Today several sites have reported Al Jazeera's global distribution of programming, which includes over 50 hours from Al Jazeera English's documentary strand Witness, the Arabic-language content includes Al Jazeera Documentary Channel's four-part documentary "Arab Christians" and, from the Al Jazeera Satellite Channel, "The PLO" - a 13-part documentary looking at the creation, establishment and existence of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.

As the push of Al Jazeera, particularly the English station, for a more global audience continues, specifically in North America, there are several interesting aspects surrounding their initiatives, like the global distribution one above:

1.) The availability of high quality content is always an issue in broadcasting, whether it be news, in-depth investigating, entertainment, etc. In content distribution networks and companies, there is always a HUGE competition for dynamic content because it is often so scarce. In the wake of newspapers crashing, foreign news bureaus, both print and broadcast, being closed left and right, the footage made available by Al Jazeera should logically be in very high demand.

2.) As a "conciliatory media" (el-Nawawy & Powers, 2008), AJ pro-actively promotes a free-flow of ideas, as seen through their Creative Commons Repository. This is where Al Jazeera video footage is free and open for the public to use under special licensing. The concept of a creative commons promotes the theory of an open use of content in order to spur a dynamic flow and layering of new creativity. This approach steps away from the stringent, stifling and prevalent copyright paradigm running rampant in every creative industry today.

Founder of the creative commons, Lawrence Lessig sees Al Jazeera's efforts as, "teaching an important lesson about how free speech gets built and supported. By providing a free resource for the world, the network is encouraging wider debate, and a richer understanding." This seems to align with el-Nawawy and Power's exploration of how Al Jazeera "[opens] new venues for freedom of expression and [provides] a platform for dialogue", making it a broadcaster that is interactive with audiences rather than a one-way stream of information.

So why won't North American cable companies engage in this creative commons?

In a news environment that screams for more and more content, a connection with AJA & AJE seems like a sound business move. Al Jazeera was the only broadcaster in Gaza when it was under siege. And the audience not wanting Al Jazeera English is a fallacy in many respects. From November to January, during the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the Web audience for Al Jazeera English shot up 22 per cent, 600 per cent when it came to video reports. (Vue Weekly)

So, using this blog to rant a little, my question to the North American broadcasters reading this is:

Why? Why not? Why not open up the airwaves to Al Jazeera?