Osama bin Laden in the Next Office Over, or Day 66 in Doha

Remember that bucket list from oh-so-long-ago? See the bottom of this post for an updated version!

Today I went to tour Al Jazeera with the IMPAQT group from Pittsburgh. It was great to catch up with some of them and meet others (and talk about taboo things like drinking and dating).

Darbi, a Student Affairs coordinator, got us a wonderful and chatty PR person to lead us around the stations explaining the channels. They have different stations (and different buildings) for Al Jazeera Arabic, English, Documentaries, some Training and Learning Center, and a few others that I forget.

We first went in the Al Jazeera Arabic. They broadcast this channel 24 hours a day from Doha, from this city on a peninsula (which is what "Al Jazeera" means, either "the island" or "the peninsula"). While we were on the newsroom floor, an anchor was presenting live from the studio, so we were in the background! We all made our "Al Jazeera debut," as Christina, our tour guide, announced.

The Arabic channel is going on 14 years, while the English channel just got started in the 2000s. Actually, the story behind the Arabic channel is that the Emir (of the UAE I think?) supported BBC coming in to create an Arabic channel, but then they lost their funding when there were editorial differences.

Al Jazeera is Qatari government-funded, but it does not give any veto powers to its sponsor. In fact, it has a great code of ethics that was posted in a few places around the building.

After coming to the East, I had a greater regard for Al Jazeera, which is locally known as a very fair and unbiased source.

But that's not the case back in the US or other Western nations. Christina was talking about someone that asked her if Osama bin Laden was in the same building. She jokingly told them that he was in the office next door, but there is very little that Americans know about the station. That one exception is the bin Laden interview.

The English channel newsroom was two floors, and they broadcast out of it half the day, with four hours a day going to Washington DC, four hours to London, and four hours to Kuala Lumpur, "following the sun."

They weren't scheduled to be broadcasting, but again, we saw a newscaster talking about sports. Christina was also very proud of the 21-meter-long video wall behind the presenter, the biggest in the industry.

After a very informative tour (and some great side stories with some of the interviewers), we went back to CMU for "Pizza and Politics." The discussion topic was, very aptly, why do campus exchanges? I think they are invaluable for those that get a chance to go, but this was more about those that can't go but want to gain knowledge as well.

And it is tough, trying to include people in my little adventure. I'm hoping this blog helps, and staying connected via Facebook or Skype, but I would encourage everyone to try some sort of cultural immersion experience. As someone mentioned during the discussion, it is learning about others that you are able to learn about yourself.

And here's my bucket list thus far:

• Take a picture in front of a "Warning: Camels" sign
• Ride a camel
• Go to camel races
• See the sunrise at Bandar (a park by the port)
• See the inland sea
• Go dune surfing/skiing/boarding
• Go dune bashing/buggying
• Smoke shisha
• Barbecue on the beach
• Take a "cross-country road trip" (the 1.5 hours to get to the west coast)
• Visit the Islamic Arts Museum
• Meet a student from every other school in Education City
  • VCU
  • Cornell
  • Texas A&M
  • CMU-Q
  • Georgetown
  • Northwestern
• See the night sky in the middle of the desert (close to the city, there is lots of light pollution)
• Go clubbing in Doha
• See the souk
• Eat Qatari food
• Go in a mosque
• See rain
• Walk along the Corniche (seaside boardwalk)
• Go to the Pearl (man-made island)
• Ride a dhow
• Visit the Al Jazeera station headquarters