Summary

This document provides news and information about the news agency Al Jazeera, based in Qatar. Some brief commentary is followed by news stories.

Perspective

A report studying media bias and accuracy places Al Jazeera as fairly close to NPR, PBS, NBC and CNN. [Source] The style of reporting could be considered “Western” in that the Al Jazeera news coverage includes some criticism of their home country and benefactor, Qatar. An example would be during the 2022 Olympics hosted there.

No Advertisers

There seems to be no advertising accompanying Al Jazeera news reports. The Al Jazeera website has some Google Adsense ads, but no apparent advertising partners.

No Political Alliances

In the Al Jazeera reporting, Western viewers will quickly notice an unusual lack of political alliances. The content does not seem to be serving any political party or country. When their transparent unfiltered reporting sheds light on corruption or abuse, those in the spotlight accuse Al Jazeera as inaccurate and biased.

No Viewer Pressure

Their programming does not even seem to be biased toward what their viewers may want. In other words, they report the truth even if it might upset their viewers. Because Al Jazeera has this reputation, the viewers don’t have an expectation of biased news, so there seems to be little protest from their viewers.

Trust = Access

Al Jazeera has established a reputation in the region as being trustworthy. This gives the news reporters a level of access, mobility, and protection for reporting. They are able to interview political and military leaders that are not willing to talk to any other news agency. For this reason, they are able to provide exclusive news.

A similar example of reporting can be seen with VICE News — a media group that walks openly into numerous war zones and otherwise closed meetings of militia groups, cults, and drug cartels.

Conditional Criticism

If Al Jazeera’s reporting is considered to be contrary to a country’s state sponsored news or propaganda, that country may attempt to discredit Al Jazeera, even preemptively. There is generally little to be gained by having an honest unbiased news agency in your country that can’t be bought by corporations or controlled by the government. So, Al Jazeera has a tenuous position in some countries that have authoritarian leanings.

News for the People

Due to the lack of political or corporate alliances, Al Jazeera is free to report on news from around the world. Their coverage includes news from seemingly inconsequential countries with struggling economies, no oil, no mineral deposits, and little global political influence. According to Al Jazeera, everyone is deserving of consideration and thoughtful reporting.

Impoverished countries generally find it difficult to get news coverage or help from international partners if they have nothing to offer in return. [Example]

So, for this reason, the reporting of Al Jazeera is appreciated by those who can offer little in return for their news reporting. It is helpful to have news reporting that raises awareness of the needs that challenged countries face. This can result in much needed financial support, humanitarian aid, policy change, and other assistance.

History and Founding

For the above reasons, Al Jazeera has become a trusted independent news source around the world. Here are some excerpts from their website About Us page:

• When Al Jazeera launched from the Qatari capital, Doha, on Friday, November 1, 1996, it was the first independent news channel in the Arab world. Media in the Arab world, till then, was characterised by state-controlled narratives that denied audiences the right to know and the right to be heard.
• Al Jazeera pioneered a new paradigm for in-depth journalism that was relevant to its audience, giving them a broad and deep perspective on regional and international affairs, putting the human being directly at the centre of the news agenda. The Channel’s founding tagline, “The Opinion and the Other Opinion”, encapsulated bringing multiple angles to a story, informing and empowering its audiences, championing their stories, while maintaining the spirit of journalistic integrity.
• Al Jazeera introduced what came to be known as the “Al Jazeera Phenomena”. It was a turning point in the history of Arab and global media that inspired academics and researchers to study and analyse this phenomena for years to come. Al Jazeera is now one of the largest and most influential international news networks in the world.
• The road to success, however, has not been without its challenges. The Network and its journalists have been in the crossfire, and at times paid a heavy price for seeking to bring the truth to its audiences.

News

Below are some news stories about Al Jazeera. They are listed in chronological order with the most recent at the top.

Al Jazeera (6 May 2024)

“Israel bans Al Jazeera: What does it mean and what happens next?” — [Source] Excerpts:

• Israel’s cabinet unanimously voted to shut down Al Jazeera in the country on Sunday, immediately ordering the closure of its offices and a ban on the company’s broadcasts.
• Akiva Eldar, a political analyst and contributor to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, told Al Jazeera that the shutdown is “a very populistic move to feed the beast of the public opinion that is very disappointed from the conduct of the government in Gaza and in the international arena”, adding that this is also “to please the partners from the radical right”.
• Al Jazeera’s correspondents can no longer report from Israel, including occupied East Jerusalem. This is because both the main office in West Jerusalem and the office in occupied East Jerusalem were closed and equipment was confiscated.

Al Jazeera (5 May 2024)

“Al Jazeera office in Israel raided and channel taken off air in country” — Israel’s government has moved to shut down the operations of the Al Jazeera television network in the country, branding it a mouthpiece for Hamas. Hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the cabinet agreed to the closure, police raided the broadcaster’s office in Jerusalem on Sunday. The broadcaster, which is headquartered in Qatar, called claims it was a threat to Israeli security a “dangerous and ridiculous lie.” [Source]

DW News (5 May 2024)

“Israel: Netanyahu’s government votes to ban Al Jazeera” — Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has voted to ban the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera from operating in Israel. The decision follows a law passed by the Israeli Knesset that allows the temporary closure of foreign broadcasters considered to pose a security threat. Israeli media say the block can last up to 45 days. The head of Al Jazeera’s Israeli operation called the ban dangerous and said it was motivated by politics. [Source]

France 24 (5 May 2024)

“Israel shuts down Al Jazeera offices: A ‘message’ being sent to Qatar, expert says” — Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera, escalating Israel’s long-running feud with the channel at a time when ceasefire negotiations with Hamas — mediated by Qatar — are gaining steam. Qatar is currently hosting Hamas’s leadership. “This has probably got a lot more to do with these negotiations, pressure, or some sort of message being sent to Qatar than it has to do with Al Jazeera as a television network,” said John Lyndon, executive director at the Alliance for Middle East Peace. [Source]

Al Jazeera (1 Apr 2024)

“Why is Israel targeting Al Jazeera?” — Benjamin Netanyahu, has promised to take Al Jazeera off air in Israel. Calling it a ‘terror channel’, he accused the network of harming Israel’s national security and actively participating in the October the 7th attack. Al Jazeera says the accusations are slanderous, and jeporadise the rights and safety of its employees worldwide. Rights groups are alarmed and warn Israel is trying to censor coverage of the war in Gaza. But this isn’t the first time Israel has targeted Al Jazeera or its journalists. So how will this ban impact its coverage? And what are the wider implications for the broadcaster? [Source]

Washington Post (1 Apr 2024)

“White House: Israeli push to ban Al Jazeera ‘concerning’” — White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on April 1 said the U.S. supports press freedoms after Israeli lawmakers passed a bill to shut down Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel. [Source]

NBC News (13 Aug 2017)

“Israel Is Trying to Ban Al Jazeera: Here’s What You Need to Know” — [Source] Excerpts:

• Israel is often described as “the only democracy in the Middle East.” But in recent weeks it has drawn criticism from human rights organizations by taking steps to ban the pan-Arab news channel Al Jazeera. Israel has opposed Al Jazeera for years, claiming it broadcasts biased coverage of conflicts and violence involving itself and the Palestinian territories. The government took this one step further by pledging to ban Al Jazeera’s journalists, shutter its offices and block it from the airwaves.
• Some opponents have claimed the whole thing is a smokescreen to distract from corruption cases surrounding Netanyahu. Others have pointed out that the ban may be near impossible to implement.
• “Al Jazeera has been guilty of terrible and fundamentally unprofessional reporting that uses incitement to please their radical paymasters in the Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood,” said Dan Diker at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, a think tank with ties to Netanyahu’s government.
• The human rights organization Amnesty International disagrees. “This is a brazen attack on media freedom in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories,” Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty International’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement Monday. “The move sends a chilling message that the Israeli authorities will not tolerate critical coverage.”