Al Jazeera English targets the Daily Show demographic

And it works.

Having seen just one promotional-stunt clip on the Daily Show, “Unsigned” at Eat the Press was completely won over by the nascent, devilishly clever PR campaign from Al Jazeera English that is obviously designed to win over just his/her type: the young and the hip. (Is it possible that they’re this easy to manipulate? Yes—but only until the next PRopaganda (TM) stunt that convinces them otherwise.)

What an inspired, genius move on the part of the underexposed and under-carried Al Jazeera English network: Offer yourself up with abandon to “The Daily Show” for a long, meaty, hilarious, humanizing clip. …

The segment drove home the point that Al Jazeera is actually serious about serious news, with a pared-down no-nonsense style heavy on actual news content while at the same time humanizing the network by highlighting its employees, and the mission, which has not been overly popular, to say the least

then we get to the fair-and-balanced part of the report:

(and, in fairness, Al Jazeera is sort of associated with videos from terrorists who take credit for atrocities and shout about the glories of holy slaughter of American infidels, which sort of works against domestic viewer goodwill)

Yes, well, there is that … but never mind:

Anchors Dave Marash and Ghida Fakhry are particularly excellent sports. It’s a brilliant, hilarious segment, and is probably the best commercial Al Jazeera could have in this country. An amazing PR coup.

Being fair and balanced and print-oriented myself, I offer this perspective for your consideration—parts of an interview in the Swiss weekly Weltwoche with Al Jazeera’s editor-in-chief, Ahmed Sheikh [emphasis added]

How do you see the future of this region in which news of wars, dictators and poverty predominates?

The future here looks very bleak. …

At whom are you angry?

It’s not only the lack of democracy in the region that makes me worried. I don’t understand why we don’t develop as quickly and dynamically as the rest of the world. We have to face the challenge and say: enough is enough! …

In many Arab states, the middle class is disappearing. The rich get richer and the poor get still poorer. Look at the schools in Jordan, Egypt or Morocco: You have up to 70 youngsters crammed together in a single classroom. How can a teacher do his job in such circumstances? The public hospitals are also in a hopeless condition. These are just examples. They show how hopeless the situation is for us in the Middle East.

Who is responsible for the situation?

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most important reasons why these crises and problems continue to simmer. The day when Israel was founded created the basis for our problems. The West should finally come to understand this. Everything would be much calmer if the Palestinians were given their rights.

Do you mean to say that if Israel did not exist, there would suddenly be democracy in Egypt, that the schools in Morocco would be better, that the public clinics in Jordan would function better?

I think so.

Can you please explain to me what the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has to do with these problems?

The Palestinian cause is central for Arab thinking.

In the end, is it a matter of feelings of self-esteem?

Exactly. It’s because we always lose to Israel. It gnaws at the people in the Middle East that such a small country as Israel, with only about 7 million inhabitants, can defeat the Arab nation with its 350 million. That hurts our collective ego. The Palestinian problem is in the genes of every Arab. The West’s problem is that it does not understand this.

If Al Jazeera English becomes wildly popular with America’s target demographic, it won’t be only a PR coup; it will be the most successful propaganda campaign to date of the Long War.