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Exclusive to al-Jazeera
Thursday, July 10, 2003
For the Season Two premiere, WIDE ANGLE goes behind the scenes of Al-Jazeera's broadcast headquarters in the Arabian Gulf state of Qatar during its nonstop coverage of the recent war in Iraq. Watched by millions of people in the Arab world, the first Arabic all-news network had continuous access to events in Iraq. Exclusive to Al-Jazeera shows the network's similarities to its western media counterparts -- and the differences. In a tense newsroom scene, the network's top executives defend their decision to broadcast footage of U.S. prisoners of war and uncensored images of dead coalition soldiers. The station's English translator juggles Rumsfeld voice-overs with calls home to Iraq to check on his family. And when Tarek Ayyoub, the network's correspondent in Baghdad, is killed by US artillery fire, the shocked Al-Jazeera staff call him "a martyr." Exclusive to Al-Jazeera reveals that by the end of the war, the Al-Jazeera network is planning an English-language feed, grieving over a lost colleague, and four million subscribers larger.
 Watch a preview video
Producer Ben Anthony has been making documentaries for 10 years on a range of subjects from the plight of lonely farmers in the British countryside to the adventures of travelers in far flung corners of the world like Azerbaijan and the Amazon. His recent work includes a series for the British ITV network called FARMER WANTS A WIFE, which was nominated for a BAFTA award; a film for Channel 4's WIFE SWAP series; and a documentary about composer John Barry and the music from James Bond films, which aired on Channel 4 (UK) and won Best Arts Documentary award at the Montreux International Festival.
Photos: Julian Jones
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