Control Room

Released 2004
Stars Hassan Ibrahim, Samir Khader, Josh Rushing, Deema Khatib, Tom Mintier
Directed by Jehane Noujaim

This documentary peers into the controversial and often dangerous operations of the 7-year-old Al Jazeera news network. Although it often enrages its own people, the news outlet has become the most accepted informational resource in the Arab community. Filmmaker Jehane Noujaim gains extraordinary access to Al Jazeera journalists and examines the risks they confront on a daily basis.

Summary from www.netflix.com

This is an interesting behind the scenes look at Al Jazeera. It rambles a bit and feels rushed, but it has extraordinary access to one of the most powerful voices in the Arab world. It's always fun to go behind the scenes of a news organization so we can be reminded that news is put together by human beings who all have their individual biases. A good news organization will collectively try to control those biases in an attempt to be objective. NBC, CBS, and ABC are good examples of organizations that try to be objective from an American perspective, while Fox and Al Jazeera are good examples of organizations that want to be as biased as possible to 1) advance their political agenda and 2) make as much money as possible. Both prey on people's prejudices to foster a divisive "us against them" attitude that no legitimate news organization should strive for. The sad part about Al Jazeera is how they have an opportunity to promote peaceful change in the Middle East but instead promote violence. A couple of the producers mention their agenda is to wake up the Arabs, to promote action, but they don't seem to care what form that action takes. That's exactly what I expected from Al Jazeera before I watched the movie, but I wouldn't have expected it after learning how civilized, intelligent, thoughtful, and professional they are. They aren't people who hate America, but they hate America's policies in the Middle East--especially the Iraqi war. I can't blame them since I completely agree with the latter point, but I was taken aback by their positive feelings toward America. They seemed to genuinely admire the country and what it stands for. Samir even made the comment that he had faith in America's constitution to bring America back to its ideals, and the implication was his faith was rattled when nothing prevented Bush from starting a personal war. It's difficult to see something or someone you idolize fall from grace, and that seemed to be their perspective. Despite their obvious admiration (Samir even wants to send his son to an American college), they make their money by criticizing the U.S., which is certainly their right and, I say, obligation. I just wish they would learn the difference between constructive and destructive criticism. They're a pioneer in Arabic media criticizing Arabic governments, and they haven't had a chance to learn the difference between constructive, negative and destructive criticism. People are dying because they don't know the difference. --Bill Alward, January 27, 2005