From WNYKRZE in New York, this is NPR's On the Media.

I'm Bob Garfield.

And I'm Brooke Gladstone.

Again and again, we find inaccurate, false, wrong reports that are, we think, designed to be inflammatory, that appear on this network.

That was State Department spokesman Richard Boucher in a

press briefing on Tuesday. He was talking about Al Jazeera, the influential news network funded by the

Arab Emirate of Qatar that's been harshly panned by the U.S. government. The U.S. claims that Al Jazeera,

with its fabrications and bias, is making an already bad situation in Iraq

that much worse. And this week's Secretary of State, Colin Powell, said that relations between

America and Qatar were clouded by its coverage of the war. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera claims that its

reporters are frequently harassed and arrested by American troops in Iraq.

Others charge America with hypocrisy for celebrating press freedom while intimidating Al Jazeera.

Robert Tappan is the Director of Strategic Communications for the Coalition Provisional Authority based in Baghdad.

He says that Al Jazeera's coverage and that of Dubai-based network Al-Arabia has only worsened in recent weeks.

Robert, welcome to the show.

Thanks very much.

Why do you think Al Jazeera's coverage has gotten worse over recent weeks?

Well, I think that Al Jazeera benefits in terms of its notoriety and popularity, actually, when it exploits

the situation at hand. As you know, over the last two weeks, we've had an intensification

of military conflict. And at the same time, we also see news organizations such as Al Jazeera trying to inflame and incite the passions of people where their relatives are perhaps losing their lives or in the midst of military conflict.

So Al Jazeera is just feeding the rumor mill and making an already hot situation hotter, in your view.

In some instances, I think they contribute to that in a great deal.

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