Media experts expect Qatar's Al-Jazeera television news channel to review its coverage of Egypt following President Hosni Mubarak’s visit to Doha on Wednesday, which aimed at bolstering the troubled relations between the two countries.
“There have been noticeable changes in the past regarding the channel’s policies towards certain countries after Qatar's relations with those countries improved,“ said media expert Yasser Abdel Aziz. “It happened, for example, when Qatar's relations with Saudi Arabia picked up.”
Until now, Al-Jazeera has not modified its coverage of Egypt's upcoming parliamentary elections on Sunday, continuing to focus primarily on the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) opposition movement. Immediately following an interview with Mubarak on Wednesday, the channel aired an interview with MB General Guide Mohamed Badie, in which the latter lashed out at Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party.
The channel’s website also quoted Badie as saying that the MB had turned down an earlier proposal by government officials to rig 2005 parliamentary elections in the group's favor.
Al-Jazeera Cairo Bureau Chief Samir Omar denied that the channel was overly-focused on the MB. “If you read any Egyptian newspaper, you'll find that the MB and the ruling party are the two main players in the Egyptian political arena,” he said.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
