The signal for the Arabic-language Al Jazeera channel is being disrupted, the Qatar-based broadcaster said Tuesday. The signal for the Arabic-language Al Jazeera channel was being disrupted in unprecedented ways during its coverage of the protests in Egypt, the Qatar-based broadcaster said Tuesday.
“We have been working round the clock to make sure we are broadcasting on alternative frequencies,” a spokesman for Al Jazeera said in a news release. “Clearly there are powers that do not want our important images pushing for democracy and reform to be seen by the public.”
The channel did not elaborate on those “powers,” but Al Jazeera’s reporters and producers in Egypt have been working under intense pressure from authorities in that country.
In a show of solidarity, 10 channels in the region have started to simulcast Al Jazeera’s broadcasts, according to Al Jazeera. Twitter messages from viewers said A Hewar, Al Jadeed, Al Karama, Al Suhail, and Aden were among the channels that have participated in the simulcast.
The spokesman said, ”We appreciate the extraordinary support from the 10 channels across the region who interrupted their own programming to live-broadcast our signal to their audiences.”
Al Jazeera has been widely credited with extensive coverage of the protests in Egypt for the last week.
During that time, authorities have apparently tried to block access to the channel inside Egypt, just as they have blocked Internet access and some mobile phone access. Al Jazeera said Tuesday that “signals on the Nilesat platform were cut and frequencies on the Arabsat and Hotbird platforms were disrupted, continually forcing millions of viewers across the Arab world to change satellite frequencies throughout the day.”
A spokesman said in an e-mail message that the Nilesat interruptions had been happening for two days. The interruptions on Arabsat and Hotbird happened for the first time Tuesday.