Tornado Alley (PROG)

[newmedman]

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AJMN receives public funding from the Qatar government. While critics often view Al Jazeera Arabic as being influenced by Qatar’s foreign policy, Al Jazeera English is seen as editorially independent.[9] The network has often been targeted by foreign governments upset with its reporting.[10][11][12] 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.[13] Other media networks have spoken out against this demand.[14]

History
Launch
The original Al Jazeera Satellite Channel (then called JSC or Jazeera Satellite Channel) was launched on 1 November 1996.[15] This was following the closure of the first BBC Arabic language television station, then a joint venture with Orbit Communications Company, owned by Saudi King Fahd's cousin, Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud. The BBC channel had closed after a year and a half when the Saudi government attempted to thwart a documentary pertaining to executions under sharia law.[16]

The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, provided a loan of QAR 500 million ($137 million) to sustain Al Jazeera through its first five years, as Hugh Miles detailed in his book Al Jazeera: The Inside Story of the Arab News Channel That Is Challenging the West.

Al Jazeera's first day on air was 1 November 1996. It offered 6-hours of programming per day which would increase to 12 hours by the end of 1997. It was broadcast to the immediate neighborhood 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.[17] Employment had more than tripled in one year to 500 employees, and the agency had bureaus at a dozen sites as far as EU and Russia. Its annual budget was estimated at $25 million at the time.

The “Al Jazeera effect” describes 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.[82]

Al Jazeera aimed to counter government censorship and the dominant Western viewpoint of Arabs.[83][better source needed] 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 new media.[84]

Al Jazeera challenges authoritarian governments by stimulating discussion and providing multiple perspectives, acting as the “voice of the voiceless.”[85] It shifted the flow of information from the “West to the rest,” reporting on underrepresented countries and offering a platform for Arab citizens’ expression.[83][better source needed] Critics acknowledge its role in reforms during the 2005 Arab Spring.[86] 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.[84]

Editorial independence
AJMN receives public funding from the Qatari government and is chartered as a "private foundation for public benefit" under Qatari law.[87][88] Some scholars and media outlets argued that the government of Qatar has a degree of editorial influence over its content,[89][90] particularly over its Arabic language reporting.[91] However, AJMN maintains that "its reporting is not directed or controlled by the Qatari government nor does it reflect any government viewpoint."[92] While there is evidence supporting Al Jazeera’s claims of editorial independence, the network enjoys only relative autonomy: it is not government-controlled, yet it remains government-owned.[93][9]

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.[94] It has been alleged that in its domestic Arabic-language coverage, criticism of the ruling Qatari regime is censored.[95] Other authors have argued that Qatar does not have a firm editorial control of Al Jazeera's Arabic coverage and that it largely operates independently, and that its coverage sometimes goes against Qatar's foreign policy.[96] Most sources agree that Al Jazeera's English language reporting is more objective and independent than its Arabic-language reporting.[97][96] Al Jazeera English has developed its own internal editorial guidelines and is editorially independent from Al Jazeera Arabic.[98][99][100]