Eric Mueller comments: THIS item is interesting to me for what it says about "message discipline. (Almost as worthy of note is the fact that the White House would feel the need to "discipline" a network for remarks made by people it interviews, particularly when those remarks don't even concern the White House or its incumbent, but deal, rather, with the activities of the Zionist colonial state in Palestine.) Whoever wrote the headline is unaware of the difference between its and it's. Not too sharp for Newsweek! I make no comment on the author's name. Arabist Eric Mueller is this website's expert on Middle Eastern affairs.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/836167.asp?cp1=1

Live From America: Arab TV

Al-Jazeera is expanding it's [sic] Washington bureau

NEWSWEEK Nov. 25 issue -- The satellite TV station Al-Jazeera, purveyor of a new audiotape that most U.S. officials believe proves bin Laden's alive, is about to get more international attention. The Arabic-language network plans to quadruple the size of its Washington bureau (from six to 24) by the year-end.

THE QATAR-BASED CHANNEL, which some call the Arab CNN, wants to assign accredited correspondents to U.S. beats like the White House, Pentagon and State Department. Though the network's pipeline to bin Laden makes some American security officials nervous, the Bush administration invited Al-Jazeera staffers to a recent fast-breaking Ramadan banquet at the White House.

But U.S. officials are keeping an eye on Al-Jazeera's programs, which sometimes include anti-U.S. rhetoric and conspiracy theories packaged as news. One example: on Nov. 13, a talk show featured former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who was labeled as an ex-GOP representative from Louisiana (Duke once served in the Louisiana House of Representatives).

Duke used the air time to vent an assortment of anti-Semitic canards, saying Israel sat on warnings of 9-11, and Israelis in the Twin Towers were warned to evacuate two hours before the attacks. The State Department lodged a protest with Al-Jazeera over the Duke broadcast.

An aide to the network's Washington bureau chief said he was "quite shocked" to learn about the Duke interview, which the aide deemed "inexcusable," adding, "It sets us back terribly."

An administration official said Al-Jazeera would be subject to the same kind of "message discipline" -- reduced access for hostile coverage -- that the White House uses to goad American media outlets.

Mark Hosenball