A little over three months ago, political science professor Rebekah Tromble informed her Global Governance class that they would all take part in a semester-long class project of their own design. Last night in Watson Forum, the 14 students from Tromble's class presented their case on bringing the news channel Al-Jazeera to DePauw cable.
"It started off as just a project, but we spent two months with this. And if you spend two months on something you have to get involved," said junior Paromita Sen.
Al-Jazeera, launched in 1995 from Doha, Qatar, was the first 24 hour Arab news station in the world. It is currently broadcast to more than 220 million households in more than 100 countries and has received numerous awards for its content and reporting. In America, there has been much controversy over the cable news network.
In 2003, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called Al-Jazeera's reporting of the war in Iraq "vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable."
Thursday night, the student panel defended the station, reasoning that the presence of the Al-Jazeera English news channel at DePauw would "provide independent, impartial news for an international audience" and would "offer…a diversity of perspectives." The students all gave their input about the station, offering critiques, advantages and differences in broadcasting, and the final challenge of bringing it to DePauw.
The students have been filling petition forms for support from the campus. They are also contacting professors to write letters to the university voicing their backing of Al-Jazeera.
"I've been pleasantly surprised," Tromble said. "I really expected there to be more obstacles…there were moments where I was a little afraid everything might de-rail, but they were really committed to it."
Sophomore Jennifer Brinduse said that she signed the petition and is "completely for Arab news at DePauw," but still was not swayed by the presentation. She has questioned some of the practices of the station after two correspondents of Al-Jazeera left this past year.
"I think there were a lot of criticisms [of Al-Jazeera] that were not presented. But overall, I think it's a good thing for Al-Jazeera to be here," Brinduse said.
It seems the biggest hurdle will be the station's accessibility at DePauw. Certain cable providers do not include Al-Jazeera as part of their available channels (there has been a large movement through the Al-Jazeera English website for a demand of the station through all cable providers). DePauw's current cable supplier offers the channel, but not in the current package.
"The chances are quite good, but the question that still has to be answered is what is the financial issue," Tromble said.
Sen feels that right now, the results of their efforts and response from the campus have been "more symbolic than anything." Regardless, she feels "it's great that 14 students can start a conversation on campus."
Students will be around campus with petitions to sign until May 12. The class hopes to present their case for Al-Jazeera, along with the support from students and faculty to DePauw administrators sometime in the near future.