Al Jazeera unveils ethics code to answer critics

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DOHA - Arabic satellite television channel Al Jazeera, accused by the United States of graphic and anti-American conflict coverage, unveiled a code of ethics on Tuesday it said would ensure balanced and sensitive reporting.

The Qatar-based channel defended its right to report "the ugly face of war" but said the new guidelines would take account of Western and Arab sensitivities when considering whether to broadcast gory images of violence.

Washington has frequently criticised Jazeera's coverage of the invasion and occupation of Iraq last year as inaccurate and anti-American, saying its broadcast of wounded Iraqis, destroyed houses and slain American troops were tasteless or inflammatory.

The channel pledged to treat its audience "with due respect and address every issue or story with due attention to present a clear, factual and accurate picture".

It said it would also respect "the feelings of victims of crime, war, persecution and disasters, their relatives, viewers and individual privacy".

The broadcasting code was announced at the end of a two-day media conference in Qatar, the maverick Gulf state which has hosted the channel since it began eight years ago.

In Washington, Richard Boucher, spokesman for the State Department, welcomed Jazeera's announcement of the ethics code.

"We've always felt it was important for high standards of journalism to be put in place. And so we welcome the action. We look forward to reading the actual guidelines," he said.

The media conference also discussed what one delegate called a growing "abhorrent" trend for journalists to be targeted, pressure on media to suppress some news in conflict zones and the gulf between Western and Arab media since September 11, 2001.

Jazeera won over millions of Arab viewers before and during the US-led war on Afghanistan in 2001 after airing exclusive footage of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden following the attacks on the United States.

During the invasion of Iraq last year, it beamed images of bloodied Iraqis and captured US troops rarely seen in the Western media. Along with Islamist websites, Jazeera has also been the main medium for militants announcing the capture or killing of hostages in Iraq.

Its journalists defended their broadcasting record, saying they had a duty to portray the horrors of conflict.

"Some people say we are taking the nightmares into people's houses and we are putting too much blood on the screens," said news editor Ahmed al-Sheikh. "If we don't report the ugly face of the war, would that mean we abided by the criteria? ... Would we be embellishing the face of the war?"

Sheikh said the channel also had to consider competition from websites which would fill any gap it left in coverage.

Jazeera's code promises to adhere to honesty, fairness and balance, to "distinguish between news material, opinion and analysis (and) avoid the snares of speculation and propaganda".

The station has irked authoritarian Arab governments as much as it has annoyed Washington. Several countries in the region have shut down the channel's offices in protest at criticism it has broadcast.

Channel director Waddah Khanfar said the new code of ethics was the result of a study of television charters around the world and would help the channel's handling of "human suffering and death from conflict zones".

- REUTERS