Al Jazeera TV
Al Jazeera is a global news network based in Doha, Qatar, that was founded in 1996. Originally an Arabic-language outlet, it aimed to provide an independent and non-Western perspective on news, particularly from the Arab world. The network emerged from a failed joint venture between the BBC and Saudi Arabia, allowing it to prioritize editorial independence and tackle topics often previously censored in state-owned media. Al Jazeera is known for its willingness to critique governments in the region, which helped it quickly gain a substantial audience.
While it has been praised for its objective reporting, particularly in comparison to other regional broadcasts, Al Jazeera has faced criticism, particularly from Western governments, for its coverage of events such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The network gained international notoriety for broadcasting videos from Al Qaeda, leading to perceptions of it being sympathetic to extremist views, a characterization it has contested. Over the years, Al Jazeera has expanded its reach with regional and international channels, including Al Jazeera English, and continues to produce a wide range of news and cultural programming, reaching hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide.
Al Jazeera TV
Summary: Al Jazeera is a prominent news network operated by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which is a private media conglomerate funded in part by the government of Qatar. It is widely regarded as an objective competitor of such Western outlets as the BBC and CNN, even though it came under harsh criticism from the US government for its coverage of the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq. The network was founded in 1996 after a nascent joint venture between the BBC and Saudi Arabia collapsed in a dispute over censorship. Since then, Al Jazeera has become a worldwide news source.
Founded: 1996.
Based in: Doha, Qatar.
Founder: Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, Emir of Qatar
Chairperson: Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani
Availability: Worldwide
The Al Jazeera television network (the name means the peninsula, referring to the Arabian Peninsula) was founded in 1996 as an Arabic-language news network designed to provide a non-Western news source. It was funded by the emir of Qatar, and it is still receiving funding from the government of Qatar.
In the West, Al Jazeera became known as the preferred outlet for videos produced by Al Qaeda—most famously, video statements by Osama bin Laden—and was sometimes denounced as an Islamist or Al Qaeda propaganda network.
Its origins and purpose are quite different. In 1995, the BBC and Orbit Communications, owned by Saudi Arabia, launched a joint venture to provide news coverage of the Middle East. The venture was short-lived, however, since the BBC demanded editorial independence and the Saudis insisted on exercising editorial control, including censorship. Consequently, Orbit Communications withdrew from the venture in April 1996.
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, emir of Qatar in the Gulf, stepped in to replace the Saudis, promising to allow Al Jazeera to "report the news as they see it." Many BBC World Service employees assigned to the original BBC-Orbit venture joined Al Jazeera, and the new iteration of Al Jazeera began broadcasting in November 1996.
The ownership of the emir of Qatar almost instantly gave Al Jazeera a degree of credibility in the region, since it was the first television news network in the Middle East not controlled by a Western corporation and not run as an arm of an Arab government.
From the outset, Al Jazeera provided the Arab-speaking world news coverage judged by most analysts to be objective and balanced, at least in comparison to the previous state-owned broadcasts. Al Jazeera also was willing to break the previous taboo against criticizing other Arab governments. The network's founder and financial backer declared: "I believe criticism can be a good thing, and some discomfort for government officials is a small price to pay for this new freedom." It was a new attitude for Arabic television news, and the network quickly gained a large audience.
The network adopted as its motto: "The opinion and the other opinion."
Al Jazeera's position enabled it to enjoy a certain privileged position. During the period of Taliban control of Afghanistan prior to the US invasion of 2001, for example, Al Jazeera was the only television news network with offices in the Afghan capital.
In 2011, Al Jazeera became a self-described private corporation for public benefit, allowing the network to receive funding from the Qatar Council of Ministers, which nominates Al Jazeera’s leaders, who the ruler of Qatar then appoints. This is often referred to as the network’s second launch, which allowed the network to become a private media company while still influenced by the Qatari government.
Al Jazeera and bin Laden
Most Westerners were unaware of the existence of Al Jazeera and Osama bin Laden before the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Afterward, Al Jazeera became the main link between Western news outlets and Al Qaeda's video and audio tapes.
Because Al Jazeera was an Arab news outlet, it was chosen to receive videotapes produced by Al Qaeda to spread the message and viewpoint of Osama bin Laden. Even though the news coverage produced by Al Jazeera showed no affinity for the Islamist viewpoint, the fact that Al Jazeera broadcast these tapes caused a widespread perception in the West that it was a tool of Al Qaeda.
Over time, Al Qaeda built an alternative distribution method to eliminate the dangers associated with delivering video and audio tapes to Al Jazeera and address its inability to control when, in what form, or even whether its material would be broadcast. Al Qaeda's increasingly sophisticated video production unit, named As-Sahab, switched to distribution over the Internet.
Nevertheless, Al Jazeera's willingness to broadcast Al Qaeda tapes without editing generated distrust and even disgust in the United States (US), where such broadcasts were viewed as sympathetic acts of propaganda. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld once remarked that Al Jazeera was a "mouthpiece of Al Qaeda" and denounced its news coverage as "vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable."
In November 2001, a US bomb hit the office of Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul, Afghanistan. The network accused the Pentagon of deliberating targeting the office; the US denied this was the case.
At the beginning of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, both the US and the government of Saddam Hussein were highly critical of Al Jazeera's coverage of the conflict, and both sides were eager for more favorable treatment. Al Jazeera correspondents were repeatedly subjected to American "investigations"—including the detention of at least two of its reporters, Suheib Badr Darwish and Salah Hassan, in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, where they were subjected to harsh treatment and interrogation. Both men were released without charges being filed. On the other hand, Rumsfeld, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, and then-Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain granted Al Jazeera exclusive interviews, viewing the network as a window into the Arab world.
The Case of Tayseer Allouni
In 2003, an Al Jazeera news anchor, Tayseer Allouni, was jailed in Spain while police investigated charges that he was a member of Al Qaeda who had recruited new members and shared information with members of an Al Qaeda cell in Spain. He was also accused of using a journalistic assignment in Afghanistan to transfer funds to Al Qaeda.
Allouni's lawyer denied the charges, insisting the journalist's dealings with Al Qaeda were only related to his reporting for Al Jazeera. Allouni had previously gained notoriety for interviewing bin Laden before 9/11.
Two years after his arrest, Allouni—who held a Spanish passport—was convicted of collaborating with Al Qaeda. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. In 2006 a Spanish court ruled that Allouni could serve the balance of his sentence under house arrest.
What's On
By 2007, nearly ten years after its first broadcast, Al Jazeera claimed over 40 million viewers worldwide. In addition to 24-hour news coverage, Al Jazeera programming included a documentary, sports, and children's channels. It produced a variety of popular "talk" programs, including Cultural Forum, which featured prominent artists from the performing and fine arts; For Women Only, which showcased accomplished women; Al Jazeera Platform, which tackled Arab issues with audience participation; More Than One Opinion, an interactive political discussion; and Open Dialogue, where famous guests answered questions from the audience. Such live, interactive programming entirely outside the reach of government, long a familiar staple in the West, was an innovation in the Arab world.
By the mid-2020s, Al Jazeera continued to reach an impressive number of viewers worldwide. The channel was broadcast to over 430 million homes in over 150 countries. Al Jazeera continued producing original programming, including Inside Story, The Stream, Al Jazeera Investigates, and Empire. The network also produced documentary series such as 101 East.
Al Jazeera English and Other Ventures
In 1996, Al Jazeera launched an English-language channel. The network recruited several well-known figures from Western television, including David Frost of Great Britain and former US network correspondent Dave Marash.
In its first year, Al Jazeera achieved limited distribution in the US, but its broadcasts became available through video streaming over the Internet. In 2013, the company launched the television channel Al Jazeera America. However, the channel closed in 2016 after executives cited an unsustainable business model.
In some instances, Al Jazeera English competed directly with American counterparts, such as CNN, for distribution via foreign cable television systems, including the largest cable operator in Israel. According to the company's website, in 2023, Al Jazeera English has been broadcasted to more than 300 million households across 140 countries.
Bibliography
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Koblin, John. "Al Jazeera America to Shut down by April." The New York Times, 13 Jan. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/business/media/al-jazeera-america-to-shut-down-in-april.html. Accessed 6 Mar. 2022.
Miles, Hugh. Al Jazeera: The Inside Story of the Arab News Channel that Is Challenging the West. New York: Grove Press, 2005.
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