Al Jazeera, Behind The Cameras: GQ Reports

GQ:

On a cold March evening in Manhattan, Ayman Mohyeldin rode in the back of a black Lincoln Town Car on his way to an appearance on The Colbert Report. Mohyeldin (pronounced moh-hee-deen) is the Cairo correspondent for Al Jazeera English, which helps explain two things: (1) accustomed to the temperate winters of the Triumphant City along the lazy Nile, he was sorely underdressed for the windy stabs of Manhattan, and (2) after his network's critically acclaimed coverage of the Egyptian uprising, he was in town to take his star turn on Stephen Colbert's hot seat, constituting what promised to be a pop-cultural coming-out for Al Jazeera in the United States. Hunkered over his BlackBerry as the passing lights of the city tracered overhead, Mohyeldin kept up an evening-long ticker of e-mails and tweets to his 30,000-plus friends and followers. This is gonna be crazy, he pecked. Oh boy...bracing myself for a grilling...

Read the whole story: GQ

Comments

[RudyHaugeneder]

01:41 PM on 05/25/2011

I learn more about what is really happening in the world by watching two hours of AJE than I would watching 200 hours of any other news network -- or combination of networks, including the BBC and even Canada's CBC.
America's news networks have/are failing us miserably, including, unfortunately, news sites like the one you are reading.

[fredgladys]

09:41 PM on 05/24/2011

To get the 'real' news, if there is such a thing you need to go to many different sources with different viewpoints. While this takes time and effort it will give you a wider view on the world and its happenings. There is always the other option, watch only Faux news and live in a fools paradise.

[fairwayhill]

06:47 PM on 05/24/2011

At least there is one TV explaining that so called "lsrael" is stolen Palestine.

[MIKEinNYC]

09:06 PM on 05/24/2011

We need to recall that that Israel was created by the United Nations, the representa­tive of the world community, pursuant to international law. In fact, the UN is the embodiment of internatio­nal law. How many other countries can say that it was establishe­d by the world community?

And it's not as if Jews do not have a connection to that place. They do. Even their detractors admit as much. It's even in the koran. As such, it can be sensibly argued that Israel is the most legitimate country on earth.

If you want to allege that the land was stolen complain to the UN. It was the UN that took it from Arabs and gave it to Jews to solve the problems created by the Germans. In fact, when you come right down to it, the Germans are to blame for Middle East dilemma. Go complain to them. Go tell them to pay some compensation to displaced Arabs.

The Israelis are just as much victims as the Palestinian Arabs. You try living under siege for 63 years. It's bound to make you nuts.

[MIKEinNYC]

12:20 AM on 05/25/2011

I watch Al Jazeera and read their website and I like it. They report from Israel regularly and I have never once heard them spout the nonsense that you are attributing to them.

[Rianna]

05:36 PM on 05/24/2011

Hillary Clinton was right. You really get the real news when you watch AJ. I wonder why it still is not available in all States, why the American people don't have easy access to the "real" news, and who is preventing Al Jazeera from being shown here.

[Kanzi]

03:31 AM on 05/25/2011

You can watch it live on their website. I suppose AJ's viewers were usually Arabic speaking and mostly watch the Arabic channel, which is available.