Business magazine Forbes today reported that al-Jazeera, the Arab satellite TV network that received international exposure following September 11th and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, expects to lose $US 4 million in ad revenue, accounting for 25% of total revenue.

According to Forbes the Saudi government was upset that al-Jazeera's coverage was too favorable to terrorist Osama bin Laden.

al Jazeera was able to provide a Middle East, Arab and Muslim perspective to the US perspective to CNN, therefore balancing the latter's coverage. Journalists with access to sources close to bin Laden were also able to privide content unavailable to the US network. al Jazeera content also featured prominently in broadcasts from other international news organizations, several times causing concern to be expressed by US officials.

According to Forbes, Saudi leaders pressured Saudi-based companies and other multinationals - including Ford and PepsiCo - to remove their ads and boycott al-Jazeera.