Offers a first look at the all-Arab news network and its controversial role in the Arab world. <P>Al-Jazeera, the independent, all-Arab television news network based in Qatar, has emerged as ambassador to the Arab world in the events following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, and the war waged in Afghanistan. More than a channel reporting the news as it happens, Al-Jazeera (Arabic for "the peninsula") has access to the Arab world and is "scooping" the western media conglomerates. It has emerged as an international relations actor on the world stage with its exclusive access to Osama bin Laden and members of the Taliban. Its reputation has been burnishing quickly through its daily exposure on CNN in the U.S., even as it strives to maintain its independence as an international free press news network. <I>Al-Jazeera</I> sheds light on the background of the Al-Jazeera network, how it started, how it operates, the kinds of programs it broadcasts, its effects on Arab viewers, the reactions of the West and Arab states, its implications for the future of news broadcasting in the Middle East, and its struggle for a free press and public opinion in the Arab world.