[Cooper:] Well, the controversial Arab news network, al-Jazeera, has been broadcasting for a decade now. And in that time, it has made plenty of enemies in the West. It was the first network to air messages from Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders, and has drawn some pretty fierce criticism for showing footage of dead U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Now, another provocative move today, it launched a sister, 24- hour news channel, called al-Jazeera English. Take a look.
[Unidentified Male:] Welcome to al-Jazeera.
[Cooper:] From its headquarters in Doha kutter...
[Unidentified Male:] It's November the 15th, day one of a new era in television news.
[Cooper:] Al-Jazeera English showed off reporters around the world, trying to establish itself instantly as a global network.
[Unidentified Female:] I'm Heidi Matasa in Darfur.
[Cooper:] Darfur, Iraq, President Bush's trip to Russia.
[David Folkenflik, Npr Media Correspondent:] They want to reach out of a variety of different places across the globe. This is a different approach from al-Jazeera, which, you know, we tend to think of as a network with a regional basis and regional aspirations.
[Cooper:] Al-Jazeera English says it can be seen in 80 million households via cable and satellite TV, but not here in the United States, where the Bush administration has branded its Arab language sister network as pro-terrorist.
[Donald Rumsfeld, Defense Secretary:] If anyone here lived in the Middle East and watched a network like al-Jazeera, day after day after day, even if you were an American, you would begin to believe that America was bad.
[Cooper:] Americans will only be able to view it on the Internet because no major cable provider in the U.S. is willing to carry it.
[Folkenflik:] People have to really opt in. They have to go looking for it.
[Cooper:] Bankrolled by Kutter's royal family, al-Jazeera English has opened 20 new bureaus around the world, and hired more than 500 people. That includes some big name western journalists from CNN and other news organizations, such as ABC's David Marash, and the BBC's David Frost.
[Folkenflik:] They're saying, look, we're not radicals. We're not Islamists. We're journalists. And we believe in the notion that this will be a global news service, that we will try to tell stories that have been ignored by some of the other Western agencies.
[Cooper:] Will any of this help? Can al-Jazeera English step out from the shadow of the Arab language network and attract American viewers?
[Folkenflik:] That is a steep challenge to surmount. The one thing they do have going for them, of course, are the deep pockets of the amir. But it's a very difficult challenge to overcome when you have people for both commercial and to some degree, perceived ideological reasons, being very hesitant about carrying it on their own cable systems.
[Cooper:] Well, David Marash, a longtime reporter at ABC's "Nightline," as you just heard, is one of the Western journalists who signed on to work for al-Jazeera English. He is the U.S. anchor for the new channel. I talked to him earlier today about his new job. How does al-Jazeera English differ than the Arabic al- Jazeera?
[David Marash, Anchor, Al-jazeera English:] Well, we're two different channels with two different audiences. And therefore, two different missions. They're really a regional channel that serves Arabic speakers, mostly in the Middle East and in North Africa. And they serve particularly their interests and report particularly that region. We'll be more diverse in our viewpoint. We'll be more global in our coverage. And we're going to stick to the same tradition, though, a very American style reporting. No fear, no favor, and no punches pulled.
[Cooper:] You know, obviously, al-Jazeera, the Arabic station, is viewed as anti-American by many in the U.S. Donald Rumsfeld accused al-Jazeera of vicious lies. And he said, quote, "They have a pattern of playing propaganda over and over and over again. What they do is when there's a bomb that goes down, they grab some children and women and pretend that the bomb hit the women and children. Obviously, you've heard those accusations before. Does it concern you?
[Marash:] Well, it would concern me if there was any evidence that it was true, but there is no evidence to support these really groundless and vicious charges. Al-Jazeera has gotten quite a name for itself because it became the distribution method of choice of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al- Zawahiri, and the rest of the al Qaeda group.
[Cooper:] There are those who say, look, al-Jazeera just puts on these tapes, unedited, and allowing these people basically a free voice to spread their messages of hate.
[Marash:] Well, first off, they're never put on unedited. They're never put on live. Always, they're treated as news. The most interesting and newsworthy parts of the statement are excerpted. And then they're not just thrown on the screen, but they're almost always surrounded by commentary analysis and varying other points of view.
[Cooper:] So, al-Jazeera English, will you call terrorists, terrorists? And militants, militants? I mean, is there there must be debates going on in that newsroom that you're taking part in, in terms of language, in terms of coverage, all of that. Take us through that process. It's got to be a difficult process, to say the least.
[Marash:] Well, clearly, when words travel, their meanings or their resonances are changed. And so we do have to be careful. But what I would say and what I think our newsroom policy is going to be is that context defines everything. If you are talking about, for example, the motivation of a suicide bomber, you would have to talk about martyrdom as one of the motivations. That's not calling him a martyr, but it's saying that his ambition for martyrdom undoubtedly played a role in his decision to become a suicide bomber. Again, if the tactic is someone carrying a weapon, blowing himself up with it and taking out groups of people, the proper term for that is suicide bomber. And when you are talking about it in the context of its political impact, attacking civilians, causing random damage for political effect, is called terrorism. That is the word we will use.
[Cooper:] So, in the world of al-Jazeera English, there are terrorists?
[Marash:] Oh, absolutely.
[Cooper:] Well, David, as a colleague, I wish you luck. As a competitor, I don't wish you too much luck. But thanks so much.
[Marash:] Thanks, Anderson.
[Cooper:] Well, if you think al-Jazeera English stirs up emotions, remember the O.J. Simpson trial? Coming up, a 360 exclusive. Christopher Darden, a former member of the O.J. prosecution team, talks about Simpson's new book about the murders. The title, "If I Did It." And our panel of experts will be taking your calls about the book. Call us toll-free at 877-648-3639. Jeff Toobin, Lisa Bloom from "Court TV," and Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky, from John Jay College, a forensic expert, all to take your calls. Coming up.