Originally conceived as a satellite TV channel delivering Arabic news and current affairs, Al Jazeera has since evolved into a multifaceted media network encompassing various platforms such as online, specialized television channels in numerous languages, and more. The network's news operation currently has 70 bureaus around the world that are shared between the network's channels and operations,[4] making it one of the largest collections of bureaus among media companies globally.[citation needed]
While critics often view Al Jazeera Arabic as being influenced by Qatar's foreign policy,[5][6] Al Jazeera English is seen as editorially independent.[7][8] The network has often been targeted by foreign governments upset with its reporting.[9][10][11] During the Qatar diplomatic crisis, several Arab countries severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed a blockade. One of their demands was the closure of Al Jazeera.[12] Other media networks have spoken out against this demand.[13]
History
Launch
Qatari crown prince Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani first publicly floated the idea of launching an international news channel in August 1994.[14]:27 Al Thani was tracking the rise of BBC Arabic Television, which launched in March 1994, although it soon suffered from disputes over editorial control with its cosponsor Saudi Arabia.[14]:30 In 1995, Al Thani launched a successful coup ousting his father, Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani. He soon saw the power of television news in January 1996 when Qatari state television aired an interview with exiled opposition leaders from Bahrain, incurring a protest from the Bahraini court.[14]:28 Simultaneously, Al Thani himself came under attack from Saudi and Egyptian forces who undermined his legitimacy in state media and attempted an unsuccessful counter-coup in February 1996. Later that year, Al Thani launched Al Jazeera, which would feature Egyptian and Saudi dissidents as commentators.[15][16][17]
On 20 April 1996, Saudi Arabia abruptly switched off the BBC Arabic Television feed following several disputes over editorial control. The BBC was unable to find a new Arab sponsor to broadcast their feed. Instead, 120 former BBC journalists from across the Arab world quickly sought new employment with Al Jazeera, which was then doing initial hiring for its launch. This meant that only a quarter of Al Jazeera's initial newsroom was Qatari; many were Palestinian.[14]:32-3 Following a London screening of a six-hour test broadcast, Emir Al Thani dropped his initial idea to mix news and entertainment, and on 1 November 1996, Al Jazeera began broadcasting as a news-only satellite channel.[14]:28[18]
Al Jazeera was launched with a combination of private and public funds, but a majority of funding came from a $150 million loan from the emir, meant to be repaid within five years.[19] The initial intent had been for the network to break even by selling advertising and studio space, but this plan was eventually scuttled.[14]:28-9 Emir Al Thani offered editorial independence to Al Jazeera, based on the understanding that the politically dissent and Palestinian employees would react poorly to censorship. This hands-off policy had a warm reception from Arab viewers, and in March 1998, the Emir reenforced it legally by privatizing all of Qatar's propaganda organs. The 2004 Constitution of Qatar, guaranteeing freedom of the press, provided further reenforcement.[14]:28-9 In 1998, Al Jazeera was the only international news station covering the American bombing of Iraq from the ground.[14]:62
Al Jazeera offered six hours of programming per day, which would increase to 12 hours by the end of 1997. It was broadcast to the immediate area as a terrestrial signal, and on cable, as well as through satellites (which was also free to users in the Arab world). 1 January 1999 was Al Jazeera's first day of 24-hour broadcasting.[20] Employment had more than tripled in one year to 500 employees, and the agency had bureaus at a dozen sites including Iran, Russia, and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Its annual budget was estimated at $25 million at the time. Al Jazeera was able to be included in cable packages in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Israel.[14]:61
Beginning of English-language operations and 2006 restructuring
According to one of the central architects of Al Jazeera English, Steve Clark, the decision to invest substantially in a new English-language network solidified in then-Emir Hamad bin Khalifa's mind in 2003, around a desire to clear Al Jazeera's name in the West at a time of increasing scrutiny and criticism over the programming of Al Jazeera in Arabic. Hamad and other officials had reportedly grown tired of discussions of Al Jazeera occupying an overwhelming portion of the day-to-day operations of Qatari foreign affairs, and decided that reining in the Arabic channel would never satisfy Western policymakers. Instead, they would start a new, separate channel, independent from the rest of Al Jazeera, to "clear Al Jazeera's name in the West".[21][22]
In 2005, the Qatari officials were reportedly so concerned by the intensity of the Bush administration's displeasure with Al Jazeera that they were considering selling it off. The same year, Qatar hired lobbying firm Barbour Griffith & Rogers, founded by Republican Haley Barbour, on a $300,000 contract to improve relations with the Bush administration and the Republican side of US politics. This PR campaign had a degree of success, reportedly, with Republicans eventually beginning to make appearances on Al Jazeera, having previously boycotted it.[23]
In October 2004 it was announced that the new station would launch under the name "Al Jazeera International". Amidst difficulties in securing distribution deals in the Western world, Al Jazeera hired PR firm Brown Lloyd James to, among other things, "promote the channel's complete editorial independence from its sister Arabic channel". The leaders of this new project made several statements trying to differentiate it from the rest of the network. This was seen as disparaging the existing brand as journalistically unprofessional and editorially biased against the West and the US.[24]
While the channel was initially meant to launch by the end of 2004, its expanding mission to "take on the global news establishment" lead to it being granted an extra year to build itself up, but this too was delayed. By the end of 2005, Four bureau chiefs and hundreds of journalists were receiving salaries, with no launch date in sight.[24] Overall, the launch of what would come to be called Al Jazeera English cost the emir more than $1 Billion.[25]
Amid growing resentment and anger from the original Arabic channel towards the growing English-language project, in early 2006 Al Jazeera's board of directors eventually stepped in and restructured all of the channels into the "Al Jazeera Network" (AJN). Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani, chairman of the board and cousin of Emir Hamad, appointed Wadah Khanfar, then director of Al Jazeera Arabic, to be the director general of the entire Al Jazeera Network. Paul Gibbs, the director of programming, resigned soon after, citing competing "visions for the channel". Later, Ibrahim Helal, previously editor-in-chief of Al Jazeera Arabic, was appointed to a senior leadership role in Al Jazeera International. Statements by various senior leaders of the new project seemed to indicate that Al Jazeera International was no longer on course to be an independent entity, but rather under the director of the Arabic channel.[26]
Helal further delayed the launching of the channel to do some reorganizing, and in October 2006, just one month before launch, he demanded that its name be changed from "Al Jazeera International" to "Al Jazeera English", so as not to suggest that it is more important than Al Jazeera Arabic. The channel was eventually launched as Al Jazeera Arabic on November 15, 2006, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the launch of Al Jazeera Arabic.[26] Original managing director Nigel Parsons and director of news Steve Clark both left the channel within one and a half years of its launch. According to historian of Al Jazeera Shawn Powers, "The initial Qatari design to launch a news network independent from the Arabic channel's origins had failed".[27]
Al Jazeera and the 2011 Arab Spring
Al Jazeera covered the Arab Spring more than other news outlets, and had a significant role in spreading the Arab uprising.[28]
People in the Middle East have heavily relied on Al Jazeera to obtain news about their regions and the world.[29]Hillary Clinton, who at the time of the Arab Spring was the U.S. Secretary of State, stated that Al Jazeera "has been the leader in that [it is] literally changing people's minds and attitudes. And like it or hate it, it is really effective."[29]
The news of unrest in the Arab states was broadcast by Al Jazeera in Arabic for the Arab world as well as in English for audiences from the rest of the world.[28]
In Tunisia, the Ben Ali regime banned Al Jazeera from operating in the country, but with the help of Facebook users inside Tunisia, Al Jazeera was able to receive reports from events such as protests and government crackdowns that were taking place inside the country.[28] The intensive media coverage by Al Jazeera of people's uprising against their leaders mobilized more people from other parts of the country to join the revolution.[28]
The population in other Arab countries such as Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Syria also mobilized against their governments, influenced by the Tunisians' successful revolt which was extensively covered by Al Jazeera in Arabic.[28] International opinion also came to support the Arab movements in the Middle East, in no small part since Al Jazeera English covered and reported governmental human rights abuses against political activists and even ordinary citizens in the Middle East.[28]
2011 restructuring
Al Jazeera's former Knightsbridge London Control Room
In May 2011, Qatar announced a legal and organizational restructuring in which the broadcaster's status was changed from a public institution to a "private foundation for the public benefit" under Law No. 10, issued by then-Emir of QatarHamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. As part of this change, it was renamed to Al Jazeera Media Network. According to Al Jazeera, the restructuring was intended to provide greater administrative flexibility and a faster decision-making process.[30][31] As "founder", the emir maintained significant official authority over the network, and in late 2011, despite its official transition into a private foundation, news organizations such as Reuters,[32] The Guardian,[33] the BBC,[34] the New York Times[35] and NPR[36] all described Al Jazeera as owned by the Qatari royal family or state.
Shortly after the restructuring, long-time director general of the network Wadah Khanfar was replaced with Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, a QatarGas executive and a member of the ruling family of Qatar. While Khanfar has insisted that he resigned by his own decision after achieving his goals, many observers saw the step as coming from above, with some focusing on the recent WikiLeaks documents which showed Khanfar's correspondence with US government officials,[37] and others—including founding Washington Bureau Chief of Al Jazeera English William Stebbins—analyzing it more as a move by the state to exert more control over the network.[38][39][40][41]
After 2011
In June 2013, as part of a government reshuffle immediately following the ascension of Crown Prince Tamim bin Hamad alThani to the role of emir, director general of Al Jazeera Media Network Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani left his post to become the new minister of economy and trade of Qatar.[42][43] He was replaced by Mostefa Souag, who served as "acting director general" for 12 years.[44]
In September 2025, Al Jazeera officially announced the appointment of Sheikh Nasser bin Faisal Al Thani as the new director general. The announcement did not mention Souag. Al Thani is a member of the royal family, and a longtime diplomat at the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including as ambassador.[44][45]
Subsidiaries
The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which cover regional and international news, alongside the digital platform AJ+. Al Jazeera is available in more than 150 countries and territories and has a global audience of over 450 million people.[4]
Al Jazeera Arabic was launched on November 1, 1996 by the new Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, shortly after the successful ouster of his father. This move is frequently seen as having been intended, in no small part, to enhance the global and regional influence of Qatar, as well as to counter Saudi and Egyptian narratives trying to undermine the legitimacy of the new emir.[15][16]
Shortly before Al Jazeera's launch, BBC Arabic Television shut down due to censorship disagreements with its Saudi partners. Many former BBC Arabic journalists joined Al Jazeera, bringing Western-style investigative journalism to the Arab world.[46] Following this, Al Jazeera has been noted for its relatively high level of journalistic professionalism, especially when contrasted with other Arab news organizations of the time.[47]
Al Jazeera gained popularity in the Arab world as an alternative to the previous landscape of largely local state-owned broadcasters,[48] with its early coverage hosting a wide range of viewpoints and being openly critical of autocratic leaders in the region, with the exception of its Qatari hosts.[49][50] It gained much credibility through its extensive frontline coverage of the Second Intifada and the Iraq War.[51] According to Al Jazeera officials, Al Jazeera Arabic is editorially independent from Al Jazeera English, although the two share the same "editorial vision".[52] While the news network insists on its editorial independence, it is widely seen by media scholars and foreign governments as a tool of soft power and outright propaganda for Qatar.[53][54]
Al Jazeera English (AJE) was launched on November 15, 2006 as the English-language counterpart to Al Jazeera Arabic. It positions itself as an alternative media platform to the dominance of Western media outlets like CNN and BBC, focusing on narrative reporting where subjects present their own stories.[55] Al Jazeera is known for its in-depth and frontline reporting, particularly in conflict zones such as the Arab Spring,[56][57] the Gaza–Israel conflict and others.[58][57][59] Al Jazeera's coverage of the Arab Spring won the network numerous awards, including the Peabody Award.[56][60]
Between March and November 2001, Al Jazeera was the sole international news network broadcasting from Kabul, Afghanistan,[61] which led to Al Jazeera becoming better known in the English-speaking world after the events of 9/11. For a while, it was the only network reporting from the Taliban-controlled parts of Afghanistan during US air attacks, and it was the first network to broadcast recordings of Osama Bin Laden.[62] There was a notable surge in demand for an English-language version of Al Jazeera. Consequently, the network began considering the establishment of an English-language service.[citation needed]
In late 2002, the director of marketing of Al Jazeera, Ali Mohamed Kama, began to push for a "repositioning" of Al Jazeera, "accompanied by the introduction of English subtitles and dubbing of broadcast into English."[63]
In March 2003, it launched an English-language website[64] (see below), named "Al Jazeera Net". Launched by a team of younger journalists, the site published various stories covered by the network, but it did not depend on Arabic-language channels and websites. The website, designed in close consultation with the BBC World Service, aimed to connect to the Western audience and be "a global citizen's home page."
However, twelve hours after the launch of the website, "Al Jazeera Net" was kept offline due to many politically-motivated denial of service attacks, driven by allegations that in its coverage of conflicts in the Middle East Al Jazeera was "taking the side of Al Qaeda, the Taliban and Osama bin Laden". "Al Jazeera Net" was then unable to be securely hosted, because three of Al Jazeera's web providers, Horizons Media, Information Services and Akamai Technologies, canceled the contract due to political pressures. Also in March, Yahoo and AOL stopped advertising contracts with Al Jazeera. Therefore, the English-translated website was put off to later in 2003.[65]
On 27 October 2004, Al Jazeera officially announced plans to launch a new English-language satellite service to be called Al Jazeera International.[66] The new channel started at 12h GMT on 15 November 2006 under the name Al Jazeera English and launched with broadcast centers in Doha (next to the original Al Jazeera headquarters and broadcast center), London, Kuala Lumpur and Washington D.C. Initially, 12 hours of news a day were broadcast from Doha, and the rest of the day's output was split equally between London, Kuala Lumpur, and Washington D.C. Among its staff were journalists hired from ABC's Nightline and other top news outfits. Josh Rushing,[67] a former media handler for CENTCOM during the Iraq war, agreed to provide commentary; David Frost was also on board.[68][69]
The new English-language venture faced considerable regulatory and commercial hurdles in the North American market for its perceived sympathy with extremist causes.[70][71][72] The channel eventually secured carriage on a small number of cable systems in the United States, including one in Washington, D.C.[73]
On 26 November 2009, Al Jazeera English received approval from the CRTC, enabling it to broadcast via satellite in Canada.[74]
Al Jazeera Turk
Al Jazeera Turk logo
In February 2011, the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund of Turkey put Cine5 up for sale[75] after the channel was confiscated when the owner Erol Aksoy went in debt and became bankrupt.[76] Al Jazeera made a bid for the network[77] and acquired it for $40.5 million after an unsuccessful $21 million bid.[78] Al Jazeera then renamed the channel and worked on launching a Turkish language Al Jazeera operation.[79]
In April 2012, there were reports of the channel being delayed over its refusal to call the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as terrorists, despite it being designated as a terrorist organization by many countries and supranational organisations including but not limited to Turkey, the United States, the EU, NATO, Israel, the United Kingdom, citing journalistic standards. The Foreign Ministry, who advocated the project, became at odds with the channel. Vural Ak, a major Turkish investor, withdrew from the partnership with Al Jazeera. Nuh Yilmaz, head of Al Jazeera's Turkish editorial team, also resigned.[80]
In 2013 they announced the creation of Al Jazeera Türk, a version of Al Jazeera in the Turkish language(s), stationed in Istanbul, and catering to and broadcasting around Turkey. On January 22, 2014, Al Jazeera Türk's website was launched with news content. The move made Al Jazeera Türk the first 24-hour news operation to go digital before broadcast.[81] The channel was under construction with plans to launch towards the end of 2014. Construction and indoor works were underway at the upcoming channel's building in Topkapı, İstanbul.[82] The website shut down in 2017 without the channel being launched.[83][84]
Al Jazeera America was an American version of Al Jazeera English. The channel launched on 20 August 2013 exclusively on cable and satellite systems in the United States.[citation needed]
On 2 January 2013, Al Jazeera Media Network announced that it purchased Current TV from its founders Al Gore, Joel Hyatt, and Ronald Burkle, in the United States and would be launching an American news channel. Originally 60% of the channel's programming would be produced in America while 40% would be from Al Jazeera English, which later changed to almost all the content being U.S. originated.
Though Current TV had large distribution throughout the United States on cable and satellite TV, it averaged only 28,000 viewers at any time.[85] The acquisition of Current TV by Al Jazeera allowed Time Warner Cable to drop the network due to its low ratings, but released a statement saying that they would consider carrying the channel after they evaluated whether it made sense for their customers.[86][87][88][89][90] The channel was later added to Time Warner and Bright House Networks lineups after a new carriage deal was agreed upon.
On January 13, 2016, Al Jazeera America CEO Al Anstey announced that the network would cease operations on April 12, 2016, citing the "economic landscape".[91] The Al Jazeera English news channel became available digitally in the US in September, 2016.[92]
Al Jazeera Media Network also has a digital online-only news channel, called AJ+. It is primarily found on YouTube and various social media networks, and is operated by Al Jazeera New Media out of Washington, D.C. (previously San Francisco, California). The channel consists mostly of on-demand content. It soft-launched on 13 June 2014 with a new webpage, Facebook page YouTube channel. The channel was officially and fully launched, alongside a bespoke app, app on 15 September 2014.[93] There are also Arabic and Spanish language versions of the channel.[citation needed]
In 2019, AJ+ Arabic attracted controversy when it published a video that questioned key aspects of the Holocaust, with a suggestion that the deaths of six million Jews have been exaggerated and "adopted by the Zionist movement", and that Israel is the "biggest winner" from the genocide. This incurred sharp criticism and condemnation, including from the World Jewish Congress and from Israel's foreign minister at the time. They condemned it as anti-Semitic. The video was later removed by Al Jazeera, and the network suspended two journalists linked to the controversy.[94]
In 2004 Al Jazeera expanded into the world of sports with the establishment of Al Jazeera Sport (now known as beIN Sports) and the building of 8 Arabic language specialty sports channels.
On 1 January 2014, Al Jazeera Sport was renamed beIN Sports after it along with all of the organisation's non-news and current affairs assets were spun off and privatised into beIN Media Group; the channels were legally spun off to have consistency with all the Network's sports properties[clarification needed]. According to Kate O'Brian, President of Al Jazeera America, Al Jazeera Sport revenue helped fund the network when it was in operation similar to how BBC Worldwide helps fund the BBC.[citation needed]
On September 9, 2005, Al Jazeera established a children's division with the launch of Al Jazeera Children's Channel (since 2013 it was known as JeemTV). The channel targets an audience of 7 to 15-year-olds and broadcasts 24 hours a day.[citation needed]
On January 16, 2009, Baraem launched, the channel targets an audience of three to seven-year-olds and broadcasts 17 hours a day (6 am to 11 pm Doha time).[citation needed]
On April 1, 2016, both JeemTV and Baraem were acquired by beIN Media Group and were made part of beIN Channels Network. Since then, as a result, the channels were no longer free to view and made exclusive to beIN Channels Network.[citation needed]
On January 1, 2018, Al Jazeera launched a Mandarin-language news website becoming the first Middle Eastern news provider to target the Chinese audience. The staff of the project is in contact with their audience via Chinese social media like Weibo, Meipai and WeChat.[95]
Al Jazeera Podcasts
Al Jazeera Podcasts logo
In 2017, the network launched a podcasting network called Jetty. Later renamed Al Jazeera Podcasts, the network is available via the network's website as well as SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio. The network is based out of San Francisco alongside AJ+ and is available in English.[96] Jetty debuted with the podcast Closer Than They Appear, a hybrid interview/narrative show hosted by writer Carvell Wallace. Other podcasts that debuted in 2018 included The Game of Our Lives which uses soccer to explain global economics and cultures, a podcast on freedom dubbed (Freedom Stories, featuring Melissa Harris-Perry), sex (The Virgie Show) with Virgie Tovar, and global music (Movement) with Meklit Hadero.[97]
Rightly
In 2021, the network launched Rightly, an online news channel aimed at center-right American conservatives. The channel much like AJ+ is only available online, primarily on YouTube. The launch of the channel spurred questions from Al Jazeera staff questioning if the channel took away from Al Jazeera's mission to be non-partisan and from various media critics wondering if conservative audiences would watch a channel from Al Jazeera, a long time target of American conservatives.[98][99]
Al Jazeera Center for Studies
Al Jazeera Media Network owns and operates the Al Jazeera Center for Studies. Established in 2006, the Al Jazeera Center for Studies conducts in-depth analysis of current affairs at both regional and global levels. Its research agenda focuses primarily on geopolitics and strategic developments in the Arab world and surrounding regions.[100] With an extensive network of researchers and a wide array of experts from across the globe, the center aims to promote dialogue and build bridges of mutual understanding and cooperation between cultures, civilizations, and religions. The center also contains the Al Jazeera Media Training and Development Center.[citation needed]
Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival
The Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival is an annual film festival held at the Doha Sheraton in Doha, Qatar. The first festival was held on 18 April 2005. Every year the festival has a different theme.[101]
Al Jazeera Media Network also operates the Al Jazeera Documentary Channel, an Arabic language documentary channel; and Al Jazeera Mubasher, a live politics and public interest channel which broadcasts conferences in real time without editing or commentary. Al Jazeera Mubasher is first channel of its kind in the Middle East.[citation needed]
Partnerships
In 2017, Al Jazeera signed a strategic partnership agreement with Google.[103] In 2019, Al Jazeera signed a partnership agreement with the China Intercontinental Communication Center over Al Jazeera's documentary channel with the aim of expanding its documentary content through co-production and exchange of media.[104][105] The same year, Al Jazeera and Bloomberg signed a content license agreement.[106] In 2021, Al Jazeera partnered with Arewa 24 to provide its content in Hausa.[107] In 2023, Al Jazeera partnered with Avid Technology.[108]
The "Al Jazeera effect" is the impact of Al Jazeera Media Network on global politics. It reduces the monopoly governments and mainstream media have on information, empowering groups that previously lacked a global voice.[109]
Al Jazeera aimed to counter government censorship and the dominant Western viewpoint of Arabs.[110][bettersourceneeded] The term, coined by Philip Seib and possibly used earlier by Simon Henderson, initially referred to Arab governments losing control of information due to Al Jazeera's popularity. Seib later generalized it to other Internet-powered news media.[111]
Al Jazeera challenges authoritarian governments by stimulating discussion and providing multiple perspectives, acting as the "voice of the voiceless."[112] It shifted the flow of information from the "West to the rest," reporting on underrepresented countries and offering a platform for Arab citizens' expression.[110][bettersourceneeded] Critics acknowledge its role in reforms during the 2005 Arab Spring.[113] It has been compared to the CNN effect. Seib concludes that the new media, while not beyond being abused, are largely contributing to democratization and political reform worldwide.[111]
Governance and editorial independence
Governance
Since the 2011 restructuring, Al Jazeera Media Network has been a state-chartered "private foundation for public benefit" under Qatari law.[114][115][116][117] Its founder, then-Emir (now Father Emir) Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, is the author of the articles of association of the network, and maintains the authority to amend them or dissolve the organization altogether. He appoints the board of directors and its chairman, determines the duration of their terms and their remuneration, and assigns them tasks. The board then appoints the director general. The emir also approves the annual budget and various financial decisions, and receives reports on the network's activities annually, as well as at any other time of his choosing.[118][119][120]
The current chairman of the board is Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani, a cousin of Father Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani..[121] According to him, he has held the role since late 1994, shortly after the abolishment of the Ministry of Information where he was first undersecretary to the minister, and two years before the official launch of the first channel.[122][123]
The current director general is Nasser bin Faisal Al Thani.[124] He replaced Mostefa Souag in September 2025. Souag had served as "acting director general" for 12 years,[44] ever since the departure of Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, who became the new minister of economy and trade.[42][43] Bin Faisal has worked for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2013, rising to the role of ambassador before his appointment at Al Jazeera.[44][45]
Editorial independence
Some scholars and media outlets have argued that the government of Qatar has a degree of editorial influence over its content,[125][126] particularly over its Arabic language reporting.[127] However, AJMN maintains that "its reporting is not directed or controlled by the Qatari government nor does it reflect any government viewpoint."[128] Most sources agree that Al Jazeera's English-language reporting is more objective and independent than its Arabic-language reporting.[129][130]Al Jazeera English has developed its own internal editorial guidelines and is editorially independent from Al Jazeera Arabic.[52][131][132] While there is evidence supporting Al Jazeera's claims of editorial independence, the network enjoys only relative autonomy: it is not fully government-controlled, yet it remains government-owned.[127][133][134][135]
Critics have argued that its Arabic-language coverage in particular is influenced by Qatari foreign policy, often framing events in ways favourable to the government's aims, such as its coverage of the Iraq War and the Arab Spring.[136] It has been alleged that in its domestic Arabic-language coverage, criticism of the ruling Qatari regime is censored.[137] Its reporting on domestic issues in Qatar regarding the Al Thani Royal Family and internal Qatari affairs[126]—such as the country's treatment of domestic workers, most recently during the 2022 World Cup games—has also been scrutinized.[138][139] The international relations scholar Mazia Marwad has argued that while "Al Jazeera may have been founded with the idea of giving Qatar influence", Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr (Al Jazeera Live from Egypt) and Al Jazeera Arabic have been subject to an "Islamist takeover", which has led to occasional divergences between their coverage and the foreign policy interests of Qatar.[130]
Several Algerian cities lost power on 27 January 1999, reportedly to keep residents from watching a program in which Algerian dissidents implicated the Algerian military in a series of massacres.[140][141][142] On 4 July 2004, the Algerian government froze the activities of Al Jazeera's Algerian correspondent. The official reason was that a reorganization of the work of foreign correspondents was in progress. According to Reporters Without Borders, however, the measure was a reprisal for a broadcast the previous week of another Al-Itijah al-Mouakiss debate on the political situation in Algeria.[143]
Bahrain Information Minister Nabeel bin Yaqub Al-Hamar banned Al Jazeera correspondents from reporting from inside the country on 10 May 2002, saying that the station was biased towards Israel and against Bahrain.[144] After improvements in relations between Bahrain and Qatar in 2004, Al Jazeera correspondents returned to Bahrain. In 2010, however, the Information Ministry again banned Al Jazeera correspondents from reporting inside the country. The ministry accused the network of "flouting [Bahrain's] laws regulating the press and publishing" after Al Jazeera aired a report on poverty in Bahrain.[145]
Al Jazeera has been banned three times by the Iraqi government, most recently in 2016 where officials accused it of "inciting violence and sectarianism."[146][147] Iraqi authorities had long perceived Al Jazeera's media coverage as hostile to Iraq's Shi'ite majority and too friendly toward the Islamic State.[148] In 2013, the broadcaster was accused by many Iraqi government supporters of backing Arab spring protests in the country.[149]
The UAE blocked Al Jazeera in the emirates on 5 June 2017 (after the onset of the Qatar diplomatic crisis) because the organization was a state-endowed entity of the Qatari government and they claimed that Qatar was "a major sponsor of hate speech through Al Jazeera's Arabic-language network and its other state-controlled media entities."[150] In the International Court of Justice case filed by Qatar against the United Arab Emirates about the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination (Qatar v. United Arab Emirates), Qatar requested that the court order the UAE to suspend its block of Al Jazeera.[151] The court ruled, "both parties shall refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute before the court or make it more difficult to resolve".[152]
In May 2019, Sudan closed Al Jazeera's office. Sudan summoned its envoy in Qatar for consultation the following month, saying that the envoy would soon return to Qatar. Qatar was seen as a close ally of ousted Sudanese presidentOmar al-Bashir.[153]
Israel banned Al Jazeera in May 2024, forcing their offices in the country to close.[154] In September 2024, the IDF ordered the closure of the Al Jazeera Office in Ramallah, considering it a threat to national security.[155] At the start of 2025, the Palestinian Authority suspended Qatar's Al Jazeera TV broadcasts from The West Bank, claiming it shows "inciting material." Both the culture, interior and communications ministers of the authority were cited by WAFA that the channel broadcast material that was "deceiving and stirring strife."[156]
↑"Who we are". Al Jazeera Media Network. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
↑Sackur, Stephen (16 August 2017). Acting Director General, Al Jazeera Media Network - Mostefa Souag (Podcast). BBCHARDtalk. Time 15:57. (Mostefa Souag): When it comes to the budget, usually we don't publish the information. Who decide this? Why? I am not telling you. The budget committee decide that at this moment we should not put that figure to the public. At this moment. Maybe in the future it happens. However, what you need to know, and what the public needs to know, is that our... 90% maybe of our budget comes from the government. And that's enough for you. All the things that you see are financed by the government, by the State of Qatar.
↑Abdul-Nabi 2022, Chapter 2. Al-Jazeera's Relationship with Qatar Before, During and After the Arab Spring (1996–2021): "(abstract) the sudden change in Qatar's foreign policy from a "cordial state" to an aggressive interventionist during the Arab Spring in 2011 has been followed by a similar shift in Al-Jazeera's coverage. It demonstrates how this shift has altered the channel from providing effective public diplomacy to broadcasting blatant propaganda that directly serves Qatar and its agenda."
↑Samuel-Azran, Tal; Manor, Ilan (2023). "Empirical support for the Al-Jazeera Effect notion: Al-Jazeera's Twitter following"(PDF). The International Communication Gazette. 85 (5). doi:10.1177/17480485221142466. One of the more revealing studies linking Al-Jazeera with Qatari interests examined the interplay between Qatar and Saudi Arabia's relationship over the course of 8 turbulent years with respect to Al-Jazeera's reportage (Samuel-Azran, 2013). The analysis found that Al-Jazeera's criticism of Saudi Arabia rose three-fold during the years of tension between the two countries, but decreased to virtually no criticism when the countries resolved their conflict. This finding strongly established a link between Al-Jazeera's output and the interests of its Qatari sponsor. The study highlighted that the nexus was much stronger for Al-Jazeera Arabic, arguing that the reason could be that Qatar plays a 'double game' where it operates Al-Jazeera Arabic in a partisan manner to maximize its interests in the Arab world, while operating AJE within Western journalistic norms to gain credibility among English-speaking audiences. This strategy supposedly allows Qatar to maximize its political gains and global clout which make its enormous investments in Al-Jazeera worthwhile.
↑"Why Al Jazeera is under threat". The Economist. ISSN0013-0613. Retrieved 6 January 2026. This has led to a backlash from those who see something unique in Al Jazeera. Most other channels pump out sterile state-approved reports, but Al Jazeera is an independent broker of information.
12Powers, Shawn (2012). "Origins of Al Jazeera English". In Seib, Philip (ed.). Al Jazeera English: Global News in a Changing World. Palgrave Macmillan. p.10. Al Jazeera's launch in 1996 was not merely part of an effort toward political liberalization, but was also motivated by geopolitical calculations. In 1995, the new emir was confronted with attacks in the Saudi and Egyptian press questioning his legitimacy as the rightful ruler of Qatar. Al Jazeera was launched, in part, to give the Qatari emir a megaphone to challenge the Egyptian and Saudi governments by broadcasting programming featuring popular Egyptian and Saudi political dissidents.
12Telhami, Shibley (15 June 2023). "Al Jazeera: Why It's the Most-Feared News Network". Brookings Institution. Retrieved 16 December 2025. Coming to power only a year earlier after a palace coup that replaced his father as emir, Al Thani and Qatar were often criticized by the media, including the Saudi-controlled transnational newspapers. The criticism was directed not only at the circumstances of his takeover but also at independent policies he pursued that were not fully in harmony with Saudi policy, including warming up to Israel and taking the lead in helping to normalize relations between Israel and Arab countries. The emir didn't appear to have an especially progressive or a Pan-Arab agenda; still, by creating a station that reached not just the 250,000 Qatari citizens but as many as possible of the region's 350 million Arabs, he hoped to take away viewership from stations critical of him and of Qatar. There was another service that Al Jazeera provided to Qatari rulers: As a welcome voice viewed by Arabs as reflecting their own aspirations, Al Jazeera helped protect the Qataris from intense criticism for being a pro-American emirate that hosted a base for American airplanes attacking Iraq in the unpopular 2003 Iraq war. And given the competition, Al Jazeera's mission wasn't that difficult.
↑F. Worth, Robert (1 April 2008). "Al Jazeera No Longer Nips at Saudis". New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2026. The feud between Qatar and its much larger neighbor, for all its pettiness, has had real consequences. It led to the creation of Al Jazeera in the first place, which in turn helped shape perceptions — and, perhaps, realities — across the Arab world and beyond over the past decade. The feud began in the mid-1990s, when the Qatari leadership accused the Saudis of supporting a failed coup attempt. Soon afterward, Al Jazeera was founded with a $150 million grant from the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and began reshaping the Arab media. The station was helped when the BBC's Arabic-language television station, co-owned by a Saudi company, collapsed, thanks in part to Saudi censorship demands. The BBC journalists flocked to Al Jazeera. The mere establishment of the station was a challenge to the Saudis, who since the 1970s had used their oil wealth to establish control over most of the pan-Arab media in an effort to forestall the kind of populist media campaign led in earlier decades by Gamal Abdel Nasser when he was Egypt's president, said Marc Lynch, a professor of political science at George Washington University and the author of a book about Al Jazeera's role in reshaping the Arab media.
↑"A decade of growth". Al Jazeera English. 1 November 2006. Archived from the original on 21 March 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
↑Powers, Shawn (2012). "The Origins of Al Jazeera English". In Philip, Seib (ed.). Al Jazeera English: Global News in A Changing World. Palgrave Macmillan. pp.18–19. But, amidst the growing anger over Qatar's inability to rein in Al Jazeera, the Bush administration, at the behest of the National Security Council, downgraded the trip, cancelling Sheikha Moza's lunch with the first lady and a number of Hamad Bin Jasim Thani's meetings at the Department of Defense and State Department. Insulted, the Qataris reacted to the changed itinerary by cancelling the trip altogether. According to AJE architect Steve Clark, it was this cancelled trip that solidified Sheikh Hamad's decision to invest substantially to create a news network that would once and for all clear Al Jazeera's name in the West. Tired of an overwhelming focus on Al Jazeera in the day-to-day operations of Qatari foreign affairs, Sheikh Hamad, Sheikh HBJ, and others decided that reining in Al Jazeera's Arabic channel would never be seen as enough for Western policymakers.
12Powers, Shawn (2012). "The Origins of Al Jazeera English". In Seib, Philip (ed.). Al Jazeera English: Global News in A Changing World. Palgrave Macmillan. pp.19–21.
↑Powers, Shawn (2012). "The Origins of Al Jazeera English". In Philip, Seib (ed.). Al Jazeera English: Global News in A Changing World. Palgrave Macmillan. p.8.
12Powers, Shawn (2012). "The Origins of Al Jazeera English". In Seib, Philip (ed.). Al Jazeera English: Global News in A Changing World. Palgrave Macmillan. pp.21–23.
↑Powers, Shawn (2012). Philip, Seib (ed.). Al Jazeera English: Global News in A Changing World. Palgrave Macmillan. pp.23–25.
123456Lynch, Marc (26 April 2016). The new Arab wars: uprisings and anarchy in the Middle East. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN9781610396097. OCLC914195546.
↑"Head of Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera resigns". Reuters. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2025. Al Jazeera, owned by the Qatari government, aired round-the-clock coverage of uprisings that brought down veteran rulers in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya this year, and the station promotes itself as a democratic voice in the region. Critics say it is more timid in covering events closer to its Gulf home, and the cameras of its main Arabic channel were notably absent during a month of similar protests in the Gulf Arab state of Bahrain which the government crushed in mid-March. Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Lebanon, Ghassan Bin Jiddo, resigned in April, apparently in disagreement over its coverage of the revolts, which have also engulfed Syria and Yemen. Leaked U.S. diplomatic cables described the channel as a tool in Qatari diplomacy. The channel has played an important role in raising the prestige of the small, wealthy Gulf Arab state.
↑Black, Ian (20 September 2011). "Al-Jazeera boss Wadah Khanfar steps down to be replaced by Qatari royal". The Guardian. ISSN0261-3077. Retrieved 29 December 2025. Al-Jazeera, based in the Qatari capital Doha and owned by the state's emir, broke the mould of Arabic media organisations that were bankrolled by and subservient to governments or cowed by censors when it was set up in 1996.
↑"After Disclosures by WikiLeaks, Al Jazeera Replaces Its Top News Director (Published 2011)". 21 September 2011. Archived from the original on 16 October 2025. Retrieved 29 December 2025. Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab news network financed by Qatar, named a member of the Qatari royal family on Tuesday to replace its top news director after disclosures from the group WikiLeaks indicating that the news director had modified the network's coverage of the Iraq war in response to pressure from the United States. Al Jazeera is under intense scrutiny in the Middle East over its varying coverage of the Arab Spring revolts. Although the network is nominally independent — and its degree of autonomy was itself a revolution in the context of the region's state-controlled news media when it began in 1996 — many people contend that its coverage of the region still reflects the views of its Qatari owners.
↑Peralta, Eyder (20 September 2011). "Al-Jazeera Director Announces Resignation". NPR. Retrieved 29 December 2025. Al-Jazeera's top executive, Wadah Khanfar announced he was resigning today. The network announced that it had appointed Sheikh Ahmad bin Jasem al-Thani, a member of the Qatari ruling family, which owns Al-Jazeera, as its new director general.
↑Stebbins, William (28 September 2011). "What Wadah Khanfar Did For Al Jazeera…". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 4 January 2026. The internal rumors of his fall had dried up some time ago, which is why his sudden resignation last week, at the moment his star was shining the brightest, is that much more curious. Qatar has always insisted on the independence of the Al Jazeera channels. They have moved to preserve that independence in the past, and the Wikileaks revelations about Khanfar's dealings with the US do raise enough questions to warrant action to safeguard this tradition. His replacement, though, would seem to contradict that concern. Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim al Thani, an executive with Qatargas and a member of the al Thani ruling dynasty, is expected to be the new director general. A Qatari national did run Al Jazeera for a number of years, but a member of the royal family is a little too close to power for comfort. The message is clearly that the state will be exerting more direct control over one of its most prized assets. In his resignation speech, Khanfar spoke of having achieved his strategic objectives. It makes you wonder whether the network's owners have also decided that their goals have been achieved, and what exactly those goals might have been.
↑Black, Ian; Harding, Luke (20 September 2011). "Al-Jazeera chief's surprise resignation raises fears for channel's independence". The Guardian. ISSN0261-3077. Retrieved 4 January 2026. The new boss is Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al Thani, a little-known executive at Qatargas and a member of the fabulously wealthy Gulf country's ruling dynasty – pointing to a clear attempt to exercise greater control. It is thought that Khanfar had become too independent a figure for the Qataris, and that he had come under pressure from them. Recently al-Jazeera has been accused of pulling its punches over the uprising in Bahrain, where Saudi Arabia dominates regional policy. Al-Jazeera's Lebanon chief, Ghassan Bin Jiddo, resigned in April, apparently in disagreement over coverage of some of the revolts.
↑Miles, Hugh (1 October 2011). "Al-Jazeera boss steps down: strains with Qatar royals?". BBC News. Retrieved 4 January 2026. To most observers, the move came as a surprise as Mr Khanfar was widely regarded as a successful chief who during his eight-year tenure managed to cement al-Jazeera's reputation as a world class international news network. But sources close to the royal court in Qatar said the move had been expected for days and the only surprise was news that his replacement was to be a hitherto unknown prince from the Qatari royal family with a professional background as a gas executive and apparently no experience in journalism. In an interview following his announcement, Wadah Khanfar said he left the station voluntarily, although well-informed sources say in fact he was asked to leave by the royal family. Several other high-profile al-Jazeera staff have also left the network in recent days and weeks. Various explanations for the shake-up have been put forward, including Mr Khanfar's purported rivalry with Azmi Bishara, the Palestinian former Knesset member who is now director of the Doha Institute; an attempt by the Emir of Qatar to "take back" the network from the Muslim Brotherhood with whom Khanfar has often been linked; and, of course, the Wikileaks scandal which embarrassed Khanfar and al-Jazeera generally when it was suggested that he took steps to change the network's output in order to placate the USA. Mr Khanfar's resignation announcement came as the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, left for the UN General Assembly session in New York, which some interpret as a sign to Washington that he has taken control of the network so he might calm down anti-US feeling in the wake of the imminent controversial vote on Palestine. ... Now as the forces of change al-Jazeera has helped unleash across the region look increasingly out of control, it seems the Emir is intent on bringing the network to heel.
↑Powers, Shawn (2012). Seib, Philip (ed.). Al Jazeera English: Global News in a Changing World. Palgrave Macmillan. p.9. Al Jazeera consistently sought out journalists with experience reporting throughout the region and with training in investigative reporting typically associated with "Western journalism." This effort was substantially helped early on when, just months before Al Jazeera was launched, the British-Saudi joint venture BBC Arabic collapsed after a series of disagreements between the Saudi financiers and BBC editors over editorial freedom. As a result of the falling out, the Middle East was flooded with hundreds of BBC trained, politically active journalists, 150 of whom were hired to build the journalistic core of Al Jazeera's news team. As a result, in addition to its attractive and persuasive on-screen presenters, the channel's content was far superior in quality and depth when compared to other sources of news in the region.
↑Kessler, Oren (1 January 2012). "The Two Faces of Al Jazeera". Middle East Quarterly. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
↑"Why Al Jazeera is under threat". The Economist. 1 July 2017. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2023. In its early days the station distinguished itself with intrepid reporting, heated debates and unsparing coverage of autocrats, save its Qatari hosts.
↑Abdul-Nabi 2022, pp.28–29: "Despite the fact that most of the Arab ambassadors in Doha complained about Al-Jazeera's critical reporting (M. Lynch, 2006), there was no "serious coverage" of Qatar's politics (El-Nawawy & Iskander, 2003). El-Ibiary (2011) infers that Al-Jazeera's content is restricted to what he calls "anywhere but here phenomenon". This means that any state can be covered and criticised by the network except Qatar. Doha, however, attributes the limited proportion of Al-Jazeera's coverage to its small population and insignificant internal affairs in comparison to other states and conflicts in the region (Sakr, 2007). However, some argue that Al-Jazeera has turned a blind eye to crucial and controversial developments in Qatar (Fandy, 2007; M. Lynch, 2006). For instance, the channel avoided shedding light on opening an Israeli commercial office in Doha, inviting the former Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon (Fandy, 2007), and postponing parliamentary elections in 2001 (M. Lynch, 2006). A study found that the opinion piece writers of AJA's website did not challenge or criticise Qatar or Saudi Arabia's politics openly (when the two countries were allies) (Lo & Frkovich, 2013). Moreover, the arrest of the Qatari poet who had condemned the former Emir received no coverage on the channel (Davidson, 2013)."
12"Q&A With Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera English's Correspondent in Cairo - Slideshow - Daily Intel". Intelligencer. 11 February 2011. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023. We have two entirely independent editorial staffs. When I report, I report to my bosses and my editors in Doha. There's a great amount of synergy and cooperation, and we share resources and information, though we don't take our editorial guidelines from Al Jazeera Arabic and they don't take theirs from Al Jazeera English. At the end of the day, we don't share the same editorial policies. What we do share is the editorial code of ethics and the same editorial vision as the network.
↑Abdul-Nabi 2022: "Despite the fact that several media scholars, as well as Middle East scholars, criticised Al-Jazeera's imbalanced coverage of the uprisings in Bahrain and Syria during the so-called Arab Spring (Barakat, 2011; M. Lynch, 2013a, 2015, 2016; Kraidy, 2014; Ayaad, 2014; Khatib, 2013; Ulrichsen, 2014; Kamrava, 2013), this is the first quantitative study that proved the dual standards in both coverages.Therefore, this monograph argues that the coverage by Al-Jazeera, especially AJA, has lost its role as an effective public diplomacy tool to Qatar and turned into a propaganda instrument and mouthpiece of Qatar's foreign policy during the 2011 Bahraini uprising and Syria's second CW attack."
↑Powers, Shawn (2012). "Origins of Al Jazeera English". In Seib, Philip (ed.). Al Jazeera English: Global News in a Changing World. Palgrave Macmillan US. pp.12–13. ISBN978-0-230-34020-6.
↑Powers, Shawn (2012). "Origins of Al Jazeera English". In Seib, Philip (ed.). Al Jazeera English: Global News in a Changing World. Palgrave Macmillan US. p.19. ISBN978-0-230-34020-6.
12Youmans, William Lafi (2013). "Al Jazeera Effect". In Kerric, Harvey (ed.). Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics. Los Angeles: CQ Press/Sage Reference. pp.41–43. ISBN9781483389004. Search for "Al Jazeera effect".
↑Stroud, Shawn (2014). "The Rise of Al Jazeera"(PDF). Military Review. 94 (4): 63–70 – via EBSCO host.
↑Al Thani, Hamad bin Khalifa (3 July 2011). "النظام الأساسي لشبكة الجزيرة الإعلامية (مؤسسة خاصة ذات نفع عام)"[Articles of Association of Al Jazeera Media Network (Private Foundation for Public Benefit)]. Al Meezan - Qatar Legal Portal (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
↑"Al Jazeera pushes back on GOP effort to force it to register as a foreign agent". 19 June 2019. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023. Al Jazeera Media Network responded in a statement to the Washington Examiner, claiming that Al Jazeera "is not owned by Qatar" and that "its reporting is not directed or controlled by the Qatari government nor does it reflect any government viewpoint."
12Maziad, Marwa (April 2021). "Qatar in Egypt: The politics of Al Jazeera". Journalism. 22 (4): 1067–1087. doi:10.1177/1464884918812221. ISSN1464-8849. This article argues that, although Al Jazeera may have been founded with the idea of giving Qatar influence in the Arab world and beyond, it was through a form of slow Islamist takeover within Al Jazeera Network that first the new Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr (Al Jazeera Live from Egypt) and second the classic Al Jazeera Arabic were ideologically transformed. This transformation led both of these Al Jazeera subsidiaries to damage Qatar's political relations with its neighboring states of Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Analysis reveals that Al Jazeera and Qatar's foreign policies are not identical. Rather, each institution manifests its own internal logic and enforces external ties.
↑Samuel-Azran, Tal (November 2016). "Is there a Qatari-Al-Jazeera nexus? Coverage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup controversy by Al-Jazeera versus Sky News, CNNI and ITV". Global Media and Communication. 12 (3): 195–209. doi:10.1177/1742766516676208.
↑"Al Jazeera banned from Iraq". Deutsche Welle. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2024. Iraqi officials have reportedly revoked the broadcaster's license, marking the third time Al Jazeera has been banned in Iraq. The news organization says it was told it had violated codes of conduct and other rules.
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