As Egypt Erupts, Al Jazeera Offers Its News for Free to Other Networks
Qatar-based cable news network Al Jazeera is not available on United States cable systems — except in local markets in Vermont, Ohio and Washington, D.C.
But that hasn’t stopped the major American news outlets from relying on the international news network for critical reportage on the growing unrest in Egypt.
Al Jazeera has more journalists on the ground, in-country, than any American news organization.
“Al Jazeera Arabic and English have seven teams in Cairo plus multiple reporters in Alexandria, Suez and Ismailia,” a company spokesperson said.
“The revolution is not being televised, it’s being streamed,” the rep added.
In order to make the news available worldwide, Al Jazeera has decided to make its content available for “other news sources to use through their Creative Commons website,” the company said. That means news outlets are free to use the organization’s reports and live footage, without getting permission, so long as the borrowers give credit.
Al Jazeera is popular in Egypt, as it is throughout the Arab world. But the 30-year strongman President Hosni Mubarak’s regime is no fan of the network’s coverage, and Al Jazeera says the regime has tried to disrupt the organization’s reporting.
On Thursday, Mubarak’s regime pulled the plug on Egypt’s internet service, making Al Jazeera’s multiple streams of coverage inaccessible to Egyptians.