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Abstract
Since its establishment in 1996 Al Jazeera has established a formidable reputation for the reliability and the (largely) uncensored nature of its news, the professionalism of its staff and the quality of the programmes it airs. The channel increasingly became a source of annoyance to many regimes in the Arab world which had relied for many years on heavily censored national media. But most importantly, it began to be seen as a powerful catalyst for change in the Arab world, winning armies of supporters of all ages in a relatively short period of time. The article examines this phenomenon and challenges some of the views that have attempted to explain some of the motives behind the creation and support of this channel by the Qatari regime. It also explores the challenges of expansion, credibility and survival that are currently facing this controversial Arab satellite channel.
Notes
1 Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa abdicated (unexpectedly) in June 2013 in favour of his young son Sheikh Tamim.
2 Zayani, “Introduction: Al Jazeera and the Vicissitudes of the New Arab Mediascape”, in The Al Jazeera Phenomenon, ed. Zayani (2005), pp. 1–146; El-Nawawy and Iskandar, Al-Jazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East (2002).
3 Al Kasim, “The Opposite Direction: A Program which Changed the Face of Arab Television”, in The Al Jazeera Phenomenon, ed. Zayani (2005), pp. 93–105.
4 A sixth-century Aksumite Christian viceroy in southern Arabia.
5 Al Kasim, “The Opposite Direction”, pp. 93–105.
6 Lynch, Voices of the New Arab Public: Iraq, Al-Jazeera, and Middle East Politics Today (2006); Miles, Al-Jazeera: How Arab TV News Challenged the World (2005); Barkho, News from the BBC, CNN, and Al-Jazeera: How the Three Broadcasters Cover the Middle East (2010).
7 Comments by Ghida Fakhry, a news presenter in the English version of Al Jazeera, as provided by Arlidge in, “The Eye of the Storm” [cover story], The Sunday Times Magazine, 13 Mar. 2011.
8 Bessaiso, “Al Jazeera and the War in Afghanistan: A Delivery System or a Mouthpiece”, in The Al Jazeera Phenomenon, ed. Zayani (2005), pp. 153–70.
9 Lynch, Voices of the New Arab Public (2006), p. 2.
10 Zayani and Sahraoui, The Culture of Al Jazeera: Inside an Arab Media Giant (2008), pp. 67–8; Seib, The Al Jazeera Effect (2008), pp. 20–1.
11 Seib, The Al Jazeera Effect, pp. 20–1.
12 Kasim, “The Opposite Direction”, pp. 93–105.
13 Baxter, “Rumsfeld's Al-Jazeera Outburst”, The Sunday Times, 27 Nov. 2005.
14 Miles, Al-Jazeera: How Arab, pp. 166–7.
15 Michaels, “US Bombs Al-Jazeera Center in Baghdad”, World Socialist Web Site, 9 Apr. 2003.
16 CNN interview with Wael Ghoneim, 2011.
17 Campbell, “He Typed, Mubarak Toppled”, Ottawa Citizen, 21 Jan. 2012; Hider, “We Must Find the Middle Way, Says Geek Who Inspired Facebook Revolt”, The Times, 8 Jan. 2012.
18 Ungerleider, “Egypt Now Blocking Al Jazeera Broadcasts to Much of Middle East”, Fast Company, 28 Jan. 2011.
19 Arab Republic of Egypt, MCIT, ICT Indicators in Brief, Feb. 2011.
20 Ryan, “How Tunisia's Revolution Began”, Al Jazeera, 26 Jan. 2011.
21 Janardhan, Boom amid Gloom: The Spirit of Possibility in the 21st Century Gulf (2011), p. 40.
22 Dehghan, “Iran Clamps Down on Internet Use”, The Guardian, 5 Jan. 2012.
23 Ungerleider, “Egypt Now Blocking Al Jazeera”, 28 Jan. 2011.
24 Al-Shalchi; Laub; and Daraghmeh, “Egypt Takes Aim at Al-Jazeera for Protest Coverage”, CBS News, 10 Feb. 2011.
25 TED = Technology, Entertainment and Design.
26 Khanfar, “A Historic Moment in the Arab World”, TED Conference, Mar. 2011.
27 Arlidge, “The Eye of the Storm”.
28 Khanfar, “A Historic Moment in the Arab World”.
29 Harnden, “The ‘Arab Spring’ Uprisings of 2011 are Being Hailed in Washington as the ‘Al-Jazeera Moment’”, The Telegraph, 9 Apr. 2011.
30 Tharoor, “Clinton Applauds Al Jazeera, Rolls Eyes at U.S. Media”, Time, 3 Mar. 2011.
31 Stelter, “Al Jazeera English Finds an Audience”, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2011.
32 Weprin, “Al Jazeera Opens Talks with U.S. Cable Providers”, Media Bistro, 22 Feb. 2011.
33 Anon., “New Media Opens United States to Al Jazeera”, 7 Days, 17 Apr. 2012.
34 The legendary Libyan revolutionary who fought the Italian occupiers and was later arrested and executed by them in 1931.
35 The Green Book is a short book written by former Libyan leader, Muammar Al-Gaddafi, in which he explained his political philosophy.
36 Al Kasim, “Do You Think the Arab Revolutions Will Continue?” The Opposite Direction, 15 Feb. 2012.
37 Anon., “Riot Breaks out in Libyan City of Benghazi”, Reuters, 16 Feb. 2011.
38 Black, “Libyan Rebels Receiving Anti-Tank Weapons from Qatar”, The Guardian, 14 Apr. 2011.
39 Miles, Al-Jazeera: How Arab TV News, p. 11.
40 Sharp, “The Al-Jazeera News Network: Opportunity or Challenge for U.S Foreign Policy”, The Middle East, CRS Report for Congress, 23 July 2003.
41 Koutsoukis, “Al-Jazeera is Changing Minds and Hearts”, Sydney Morning Herald-Business & World News Australia, 9 Apr. 2011.
42 Davidson, After the Sheikhs: The Coming Collapse of the Gulf Monarchies (2012).
43 Schleifer and Sullivan, “Sheikh Hamad bin Thamir Al-Thani, Chairman of the Board of Al-Jazeera” [cover story], TBS Journal 7 (2001).
44 Miles, Al-Jazeera: The Inside Story of the Arab News Channel That Is Challenging the West (2006), p. 345.
45 Zayani and Sahraoui, The Culture of Al Jazeera, p. 101.
46 Zayani, “Introduction: Al Jazeera and the Vicissitudes”, p. 13.
47 Gambill, “Qatar's Al-Jazeera TV: The Power of Free Speech”, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin 2.5 (2000).
48 Rushing and Elder, Mission Al Jazeera (2007), p. 120.
49 Ministries of Information are often associated with ‘censorship’ in other parts of the Arab World.
50 Zayani and Sahraoui, The Culture of Al Jazeera, p. 71.
51 Wright, “Qatar”, in Power and Politics in the Persian Gulf Monarchies, ed. Davidson (2011), pp. 122–3.
52 Miles, Al-Jazeera, pp. 14–5.
53 This Council had been established in 1972 according to the terms of the amended provisional basic statute.
54 Ehteshami and Wright, “Political Change in the Arab Oil Monarchies: From Liberalization to Enfranchisement”, International Affairs 83.5 (2007), pp. 913–32.
55 Fromherz, Qatar: A Modern History (2012), p. 126.
56 Shaikh Hamad bin Jassim stepped down from his roles as Foreign and prime minister in the cabinet reshuffle that followed the abdication of Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa.
57 Cited in Ehteshami and Wright, “Political Change in the Arab Oil Monarchies”, p. 922.
58 Da Lage, “Politics of Al Jazeera or the Diplomacy of Doha”, in The Al Jazeera Phenomenon, ed. Zayani (2005), pp. 49–65.
59 Kühn; Reuter; and Schmitz, “After the Arab Spring: Al-Jazeera Losing Battle for Independence”, Der Spiegel, 15 Feb. 2013. Muhammad Morsi (Egypt's elected President) was removed in a military coup on 3 July 2013 by the country's military following protests against his style of leadership.
60 El-Nawawy and Iskander, Al-Jazeera, pp. 29, 51–3.
61 Moore, “Al Jazeera Makes Major U.S. Expansion”, USA Today, 20 Feb. 2013.
62 Al Jazeera, “Al Jazeera Launches Balkans Channel”, 11 Nov. 2011; Sadikovic and Sindelar, “With Launches in Balkans and Beyond: Al-Jazeera Building New Spheres of Influence”, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, 26 Nov. 2011.
63 Forrester, “Al Jazeera ‘Restructures’ Ahead of Expansion”, Advanced Television, 15 Jul. 2011.
64 Abdul-Tawwab, “Al-Ghad Al-Arabi: A Satellite Channel that Includes Shafiq and Khalfan to Counter the Brothers”, Alwafd, 18 Feb. 2013.