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Al Jazeera



 
 
Al Jazeera (, ), which usually means "The Island" in Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 but more commonly known in Gulf Arabic
Gulf Arabic

Gulf Arabic is a Varieties of Arabic of the Arabic language spoken around both shores of the Persian Gulf such as in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and parts of Oman....
 as "The Peninsula" – referring to the Qatar Peninsula in the Gulf
Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes Persian Gulf naming dispute referred to as the Arabian Gulf by certain Arab countries or simply The Gulf, although nei...
 region, is a television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 network headquartered in Doha
Doha

Doha is the capital city of Qatar. With a population of 400,051 according to the 2005 census, it is located in the Ad Dawhah municipality on the Persian Gulf....
, Qatar
Qatar

Qatar , officially the State of Qatar , is an Arab emirate in Southwest Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula....
. Initially launched as an Arabic news and current affairs satellite TV channel with the same name, Al Jazeera has since expanded into a network with several outlets, including the Internet and specialty
Specialty channel

A specialty channel is a television channel which consists of programming focused on a single type or targeted at a specific demographic.The number of specialty channels has greatly increased during the 1990s and 2000s while the previously common concept of countries having just a few TV stations addressing all interest groups and demogra...
 TV channels
Television channel

A television channel is a physical or virtual channel over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the broadcast or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with carrier wave frequencies of 55.25 MHz for NTSC analog video and 59.75 MHz for analog audio , or 55.31 MHz for digi...
 in multiple languages, and in several regions of the world.

The original Al Jazeera channel's willingness to broadcast dissenting views, including on call-in
Phone in

In broadcasting, a phone in, or call in, is a programme format in which viewers or listeners are invited to air their live comments by telephone, usually in respect of a specific topic selected for discussion on the day of the broadcast....
 shows, created controversies in Arab states of the Persian Gulf.






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Encyclopedia


Al Jazeera (, ), which usually means "The Island" in Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 but more commonly known in Gulf Arabic
Gulf Arabic

Gulf Arabic is a Varieties of Arabic of the Arabic language spoken around both shores of the Persian Gulf such as in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and parts of Oman....
 as "The Peninsula" – referring to the Qatar Peninsula in the Gulf
Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes Persian Gulf naming dispute referred to as the Arabian Gulf by certain Arab countries or simply The Gulf, although nei...
 region, is a television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 network headquartered in Doha
Doha

Doha is the capital city of Qatar. With a population of 400,051 according to the 2005 census, it is located in the Ad Dawhah municipality on the Persian Gulf....
, Qatar
Qatar

Qatar , officially the State of Qatar , is an Arab emirate in Southwest Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula....
. Initially launched as an Arabic news and current affairs satellite TV channel with the same name, Al Jazeera has since expanded into a network with several outlets, including the Internet and specialty
Specialty channel

A specialty channel is a television channel which consists of programming focused on a single type or targeted at a specific demographic.The number of specialty channels has greatly increased during the 1990s and 2000s while the previously common concept of countries having just a few TV stations addressing all interest groups and demogra...
 TV channels
Television channel

A television channel is a physical or virtual channel over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the broadcast or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with carrier wave frequencies of 55.25 MHz for NTSC analog video and 59.75 MHz for analog audio , or 55.31 MHz for digi...
 in multiple languages, and in several regions of the world.

The original Al Jazeera channel's willingness to broadcast dissenting views, including on call-in
Phone in

In broadcasting, a phone in, or call in, is a programme format in which viewers or listeners are invited to air their live comments by telephone, usually in respect of a specific topic selected for discussion on the day of the broadcast....
 shows, created controversies in Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The station gained worldwide attention following the September 11, 2001 attacks, when it broadcast video statements by Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Laden is a member of the prominent Saudi Arabia bin Laden family and the founder of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, best known for the September 11 attacks on the United States....
 and other al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda, alternatively spelled al-Qaida and sometimes al-Qa'ida, is an international Sunni Islam Islamist Extremism movement founded sometime between August 1988 and late 1989/early 1990....
 leaders (see Videos of Osama bin Laden
Videos of Osama bin Laden

There have been several videos released by, or claiming to be produced by, Osama bin Laden. Many of the Osama bin Laden tapes have been released directly to Arabic language satellite television networks like Al Jazeera....
).

Network

Al Jazeera operates a number of specialty channel
Specialty channel

A specialty channel is a television channel which consists of programming focused on a single type or targeted at a specific demographic.The number of specialty channels has greatly increased during the 1990s and 2000s while the previously common concept of countries having just a few TV stations addressing all interest groups and demogra...
s besides its original flagship news channel. As of early 2007, the Al Jazeera network's TV channels include:

  • Al Jazeera


  • Al Jazeera Sports
    Al Jazeera Sports

    Al Jazeera Sports is a popular Arabic-language sports channel launched in November 2003 by the well-known Al Jazeera network. It has quickly grown and become the most popular sports channel in the Middle East, and has covered a wide range of major sporting events, such as the UEFA European Football Championship and the Summer Olympics....


  • Al Jazeera Mobasher (aka Al Jazeera Live)


  • Al Jazeera Children's Channel
    Al Jazeera Children's Channel

    Al Jazeera Children's Channel is an all-Arabic language television channel Children's interest channel. The channel is also known as JCC; an acronym leaving out the Arabic language definite article al....
     (aka JCC)


  • Al Jazeera English


  • Al Jazeera Documentary Channel
    Al Jazeera Documentary Channel

    Al Jazeera Documentary Channel is an Arabic language documentary channel and a branch of the Al Jazeera network. It was launched at 12:00 GMT on 1 January 2007....

History

The original Al Jazeera channel was started in 1996 with a US$
United States dollar

The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States and was defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 to be between 371 and 416 grains of silver ....
150 million grant from the Emir of Qatar
List of emirs of Qatar

This is a list of emirs of Qatar. The emirs of Qatar are members of the Al-Thani dynasty and the state of Qatar was founded in 1868 by Muhammad bin Thani....
, Sheikh
Sheikh

Sheikh, also rendered as Sheik, Shaykh, Shaikh, Cheikh, and other variants , is a word or honorific term in the Arabic language that literally means "Elder "....
 Hamad bin Khalifa
Hamad bin Khalifa

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani became the Emir of the State of Qatar on June 26 1995 after deposing Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, who was vacationing in Switzerland at the time....
.

In April 1996, the BBC World Service
BBC World Service

The BBC World Service is one of the most widely recognised international broadcasting, currently broadcasting in 32 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays....
's Saudi
Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south....
-co-owned Arabic language
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
 TV station, faced with censorship
Censorship

Censorship is the suppression of freedom of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable, harmful or sensitive, as determined by a censor....
 demands by the Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA , is an Arab country and the largest country of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Jordan on the northwest, Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south....
n government, shut down after two years of operation. Many former BBC World Service staff members joined Al Jazeera, which at the time was not yet on air. The channel began broadcasting in late 1996. MSNBC; by Michael Moran; published 18 October 2001

Al Jazeera's availability (via satellite) throughout the Middle East changed the television landscape of the region. Prior to the arrival of Al Jazeera, many Middle Eastern citizens were unable to watch TV channels other than state-censored national TV stations. Al Jazeera introduced a level of freedom of speech
Freedom of speech

Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship or limitation. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to denote not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used....
 on TV that was previously unheard of in many of these countries. Al Jazeera presented controversial views regarding the governments of many Persian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar; it also presented controversial views about Syria's relationship with Lebanon, and the Egyptian judiciary. Critics accused Al Jazeera of sensationalism in order to increase its audience share. Al Jazeera's broadcasts have sometimes resulted in drastic action: For example, on 27 January 1999, Al Jazeera had critics of the Algerian government on during their live program El-Itidjah el-Mouakass (="The Opposite Direction"). The Algerian government cut the electricity supply to at least large parts of the capital Algiers (and allegedly to large parts of the country), to prevent the program from being seen. At that time, Al Jazeera was not yet generally known in the Western world
Western world

The term Western world, the West or the Occident can have multiple meanings dependent on its context . Accordingly, the basic definition of what constitutes "the West" varies, expanding and contracting over time, in relation to various historical circumstances....
, but where it was known, the opinion about it was often favourable and Al Jazeera claimed to be the only politically
Politics

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporation, academia, and religion institutions....
 independent television station in the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
. Al Jazeera's well presented coverage of the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War

conflict=Lebanese Civil War |date=1984 - 1990|place=Lebanon|result=Taif Agreement|combatant1=|combatant2=|commander1=|commander2=|strength1=|strength2=...
 in 2000-2001 gave its viewer ratings a boost throughout the region. However, it wasn't until late 2001 that Al Jazeera achieved worldwide recognition, when it broadcast video statements by al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda, alternatively spelled al-Qaida and sometimes al-Qa'ida, is an international Sunni Islam Islamist Extremism movement founded sometime between August 1988 and late 1989/early 1990....
 leaders.

Funding

Further to the initial US$ 150 million grant from the Emir of Qatar, Al Jazeera had aimed to become self-sufficient through advertising by 2001, but when this failed to occur, the Emir agreed to continue subsidizing it on a year-by-year basis (US$30 million in 2004, according to Arnaud de Borchgrave
Arnaud de Borchgrave

Arnaud de Borchgrave is an American journalist who specializes in international politics.Born in Belgium to a Belgian count, Baudouin de Borchgrave d?Altena, who was head of Belgium's military intelligence for the government in exile, during World War II....
). Other major sources of income include advertising, cable subscription fees, broadcasting deals with other companies, and sale of footage. In 2000, advertising accounted for 40% of the station's revenue.

Logo


The Al Jazeera logo is a decorative representation of the network's name written using Arabic calligraphy
Islamic calligraphy

File:Mirror writing2.jpgIslamic calligraphy, equally known as Arabic calligraphy, is the art of artistic handwriting, and by extension, of bookmaking....
. It was selected by the station's founder, Emir of Qatar
List of emirs of Qatar

This is a list of emirs of Qatar. The emirs of Qatar are members of the Al-Thani dynasty and the state of Qatar was founded in 1868 by Muhammad bin Thani....
 Sheikh
Sheikh

Sheikh, also rendered as Sheik, Shaykh, Shaikh, Cheikh, and other variants , is a word or honorific term in the Arabic language that literally means "Elder "....
 Hamad bin Khalifa
Hamad bin Khalifa

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani became the Emir of the State of Qatar on June 26 1995 after deposing Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, who was vacationing in Switzerland at the time....
, as the winning entry in a design competition.

Outside the Middle East


In 2003, Al Jazeera hired its first English-language journalists, among whom , from the BBC's Today Programme
Today programme

Today, sometimes referred to as the Today programme to avoid ambiguity, is BBC Radio 4's long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, which is now broadcast from 6am to 9am from Monday to Friday and from 7am to 9am on Saturdays....
 (which had been at the heart of UK events when it came to Tony Blair
Tony Blair

Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007....
's decision to back the U.S. invasion of Iraq).

In March 2003, it launched an (see below).

On 4 July 2005 Al Jazeera officially announced plans to launch a new English-language satellite service to be called Al Jazeera International
Al Jazeera International

Al Jazeera English is a 24-hour English language news and current affairs TV channel headquartered in Doha, Qatar. It is one of the three largest English-language news channels worldwide, and is the sister channel of the Arab-language Al Jazeera....
. The new channel started at 12h GMT on 15 November 2006 under the name Al Jazeera English and has broadcast centers in Doha
Doha

Doha is the capital city of Qatar. With a population of 400,051 according to the 2005 census, it is located in the Ad Dawhah municipality on the Persian Gulf....
 (next to the original Al Jazeera headquarters and broadcast center), London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur , is the largest city of Malaysia. The city proper, making up an area of , has an estimated population of 1.6 million in 2006. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million....
 and Washington D.C.. The channel is a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week news channel, with 12 hours broadcast from Doha, and four hours each from London, Kuala Lumpur, and Washington D.C.

With Al Jazeera's growing global outreach and influence, some scholars including Adel Iskandar
Adel Iskandar

Adel Iskandar is a Middle East media scholar, postcolonial theorist and media reform activist. He is the author and co-author of several seminal works on Arab media, most prominently the first major analysis of the Arab satellite station Al Jazeera....
 have described the station as a transformation of the very definition of "alternative media
Alternative media

Alternative media are media which are alternatives to the business or government-owned mass media. Proponents of alternative media argue that the mainstream media are biased....
."

Viewership

It is widely believed internationally that inhabitants of the Arab world are given limited information by their governments and media, and that what is conveyed is bias
Bias

Bias is a term used to describe a tendency or preference towards a particular perspective , ideology or result, especially when the tendency interferes with the ability to be impartial, unprejudiced, or Objectivity ....
ed towards the governments' views. Many people see Al Jazeera as a more trustworthy source of information than government and foreign channels. Some scholars and commentators use the notion of contextual objectivity
Contextual objectivity

Contextual objectivity is a principle with roots in quantum mechanics that was adapted and applied to the explain and describe the operations of news media organizations during times of war....
, which highlights the tension between objectivity and audience appeal, to describe the station's controversial yet popular news approach. As a result, it is probably the most watched news channel in the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
. Increasingly, Al Jazeera's exclusive interviews and other footage are being rebroadcast in American, British, and other western media outlets such as CNN
CNN

Cable News Network, almost always referred to by its initialism CNN, is a major US Cable News Network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first station to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television network in the United States....
 and the BBC. In January 2003, the BBC announced that it had signed an agreement with Al Jazeera for sharing facilities and information, including news footage. Al Jazeera is now considered by some to be a fairly mainstream media network, though more controversial than most. In the United States as of 2006, video footage from the network carried by other stations was largely limited to video segments of hostages.

As of 2007, the Arabic Al Jazeera channel rivals the BBC in worldwide audiences with an estimated 40 to 50 million viewers. Al Jazeera English has an estimated reach of around 100 million households.

Availability

The original Al Jazeera channel is available worldwide through various satellite and cable systems. In the U.S., it is available through subscription satellite and free to air DVB-S
DVB-S

DVB-S is the original Digital Video Broadcasting Forward error correction and modulation standard for satellite television and dates from 1994, in its first release, while development lasted from 1993, to 1997....
 on the Galaxy 25 and Galaxy 23 satellites. Al Jazeera can also be freely viewed with a DVB-S receiver in Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
 as it is broadcast on the Astra
SES Astra

SES Astra SA, is a corporation subsidiary of SES S.A., based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg, in eastern Luxembourg, that owns and operates the Astra series of geostationary orbit communication satellites, which Transmission approximately 2300 analog television and digital television and radio channel via 242 transponders to 109 million house...
 and Hot Bird
Hot Bird

Hot Bird is the name of a family of satellites operated by Eutelsat, located at 13Celestial coordinate system over the Equator and with a transmitting footprint over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East....
 satellites. The Optus C1 satellite in Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 carries the channel for free, while in the UK
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 it is available on Sky and Freesat platforms.

For availability info of the Al Jazeera network's other TV channels, see their respective articles. Segments of Al Jazeera English are uploaded to YouTube
YouTube

YouTube is a Video hosting service website where users can upload, view and share video clips. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005....
.

It is also possible to watch Al Jazeera English over the internet from their official website. The low-resolution version is available free of charge , high-resolution available under subscription fees through partner sites.

Al Jazeera's English division has also partnered with Livestation
LiveStation

Livestation is a platform for distributing live television and radio broadcasts over a peer-to-peer data network. It is being developed by Skinkers Ltd....
 for Internet-based broadcasting. This enables viewers to watch Al Jazeera English and Al Jazeera live worldwide.

Creative Commons

On January 13, 2009, Al Jazeera released some of its broadcast quality footage from Gaza under a Creative Commons license. Contrary to business "All Rights Reserved" standards, the license invites third parties, including rival broadcasters, to reuse and remix the footage, so long as Al Jazeera is credited. The videos are hosted on blip.tv
Blip.tv

blip.tv is a hosting, distribution and advertising platform for creators of Web shows. blip.tv provides content creators with free hosting, support for a variety of video formats, distribution using technologies like RSS and an opt-in advertising program with a 50/50 revenue share....
, which allows easy downloading and integration with miro
Miro

Miro may refer to:in Nature:* Prumnopitys ferruginealatin meaning , a conifer of New Zealand* Portia tree, sometimes known as Miro, a small tree or arborescent shrub...
, and can be viewed on http://cc.aljazeera.net/ .

Staff

The Chairman of Al Jazeera is Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer al-Thani, a distant cousin of Qatar
Qatar

Qatar , officially the State of Qatar , is an Arab emirate in Southwest Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula....
i Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani
Hamad bin Khalifa

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani became the Emir of the State of Qatar on June 26 1995 after deposing Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, who was vacationing in Switzerland at the time....
.

Al Jazeera recently restructured its operations and have formed a Network that contains all their different channels. Wadah Khanfar
Wadah Khanfar

Wadah Khanfar is the Director General of the Al Jazeera Network....
, the managing director of the Arabic Channel was appointed as the Director General of the Al Jazeera Network. He also acts as the Managing Director of the Arabic channel. He is supported by Ahmed Sheikh
Ahmed Sheikh

Ahmed Sheikh is a Palestinian people journalist and the current editor-in-chief of the Qatar-based television channel Al Jazeera.Ahmed Sheikh was born in Nablus on the West Bank....
, Editor-in-Chief, and Amen Jaballah.

The Editor-in-Chief of the Arabic website is Ahmed Sheikh
Ahmed Sheikh

Ahmed Sheikh is a Palestinian people journalist and the current editor-in-chief of the Qatar-based television channel Al Jazeera.Ahmed Sheikh was born in Nablus on the West Bank....
. It has more than one hundred editorial staff.

The Editor-in-Chief of the English-language site is Russell Merryman, who took over in August 2005. He replaced Omar Bec who was caretaking the site after the departure of Managing Editor Alison Balharry. Previous incumbents include Joanne Tucker and Ahmed Sheikh.

Prominent on-air personalities include Faisal al-Qassem
Faisal al-Qassem

Dr. Faisal al-Qassem is a Syrian television personality who hosts The Opposite Direction, a talk show on Al Jazeera.Al-Qassem studied drama at Hull University before moving in to television....
, host of the talk show The Opposite Direction, Luna al-Shibl, news anchor and occasional host of the show Unlimited (bi-la hudud).

The chief investigative reporter is Yosri Fouda
Yosri Fouda

Yosri Fouda, born in May 13 Egypt, is a journalist who initially worked for the BBC's short-lived Arabic language-subsidiary covering the ongoing struggle in Bosnia and Herzegovina with veteran reporter Martin Bell....
. He is currently in charge of Jazeera's London bureau.

Future plans

Future announced products include Al Jazeera in a number of other languages — these would include Al Jazeera Urdu
Al Jazeera Urdu

Al Jazeera Urdu is a forthcoming channel from Al Jazeera. An Urdu language version catering mainly to Pakistan. It is offered as part of the ARY Television Network....
, an Urdu
Urdu

Urdu is a Central_Indo-Aryan_languages#Central_Zone_.28Madhya_or_Hindi.29 Indo-Aryan languages of the Indo-Iranian languages, belonging to the Indo-European languages family of languages....
 language channel to cater mainly to Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
is.

Al Jazeera has also been reported to be planning to launch an international
International

International or internationally most often describes interaction between nations, or encompassing two or more nations, constituting a group or association having members in two or more nations, or generally reaching beyond national boundaries....
 newspaper
Newspaper

A newspaper is a publication containing news, information and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint. General-interest newspapers often feature articles on Politics, crime, business, art/entertainment, society and sports....
.

Criticism and controversy

While Al Jazeera has a large audience in the Middle East and worldwide, the organisation and the original Arabic channel in particular have been involved in numerous controversies, and especially in some parts of the western world
Western world

The term Western world, the West or the Occident can have multiple meanings dependent on its context . Accordingly, the basic definition of what constitutes "the West" varies, expanding and contracting over time, in relation to various historical circumstances....
, many people have an unfavourable view of Al Jazeera.

A widely reported criticism is the allegation that Al Jazeera had shown videos of masked terrorists beheading western hostages in Iraq; However, this allegation is false. When this was reported in other media, Al Jazeera pressed for retractions to be made. This allegation was again repeated on Fox News in the USA on the launch day of Al Jazeera's English service, 15 November 2006.



Later The Guardian

The Guardian

Sorry, no overview for this topic
 apologized for incorrect information that Al Jazeera 'had shown videos of masked terrorists beheading western hostages'.

Al Jazeera has been entangled in the following controversies:

Algeria

On 27 January 1999, several Algerian cities lost power simultaneously, reportedly to keep residents from watching a program in which Algerian dissidents implicated the Algerian military in a series of massacres.

On 4 July 2004, the Algeria
Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
n government froze the activities of Al Jazeera's Algerian correspondent. The official reason given was that a reorganization of the work of foreign correspondents was in progress. The international pressure group Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders, or RWB is a Paris-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985 by current Secretary General Robert M?nard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud....
 says, however, that the measure was really taken in reprisal for a broadcast the previous week of another El-Itidjah el-Mouakass debate on the political situation in Algeria.

Bahrain

The Bahrain
Bahrain

The Kingdom of Bahrain, in , , literally Kingdom of the Two Seas).Bahrain is an Arabic island country in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa regime....
i Information Minister, Nabeel Yacoob Al Hamer, banned Al Jazeera correspondents from reporting from inside the country on 10 May 2002, saying that the station was biased towards Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
 and against Bahrain
Bahrain

The Kingdom of Bahrain, in , , literally Kingdom of the Two Seas).Bahrain is an Arabic island country in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa regime....
. After improvements in relations between Bahrain and Qatar in 2004, Al Jazeera correspondents returned to Bahrain.

Iraq

During the ongoing Iraq war, Al Jazeera faced the same reporting and movement restrictions as other news-gathering organizations. In addition, one of its reporters, Tayseer Allouni
Tayseer Allouni

Tayseer Allouni is a journalist from the Al Jazeera news channel. He was born in Deir ez-Zor in Syria in 1955 then in 1983 he moved to Spain where he studied Economics, and has lived there ever since, adopting Spanish citizenship in 1988....
, was expelled from the country, while another one, Diyar Al-Omari, was stripped of his journalistic permits illegally by the US occupational forces. Reacting to this, Al Jazeera announced on 2 April 2003, that it would "temporarily freeze all coverage" of Iraq in protest of what Al Jazeera described as unreasonable interference from Iraqi officials. All of these decisions were later reverted.

In May 2003, the CIA, through the Iraqi National Congress
Iraqi National Congress

The Iraqi National Congress is an umbrella Iraqi opposition group led by Ahmed Chalabi. It was formed with the aid and direction of the United States government following the Gulf War, for the purpose of fomenting the overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein....
, released documents purportedly showing that Al Jazeera had been infiltrated by Iraqi spies
SPY

SPY may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* Spy , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San P?dro, C?te d'Ivoire...
, and was regarded by Iraqi officials as part of their propaganda effort. As reported by the Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)

The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper distributed in the United Kingdom. There is also a Republic of Ireland edition; contrary to a popular misconception, the Irish edition of the Sunday Times is not linked to The Irish Times newspaper, which is published Monday to Saturday in Dublin....
, the alleged spies were described by an Al Jazeera executive as having minor roles with no input on editorial decisions.

On 23 September 2003, Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
 suspended Al Jazeera (and Al-Arabiya) from reporting on official government activities for two weeks for what the Council stated as supporting recent attacks on council members and Coalition occupational forces. The move came after allegations by Iraqis who stated that the channel had incited anti-occupation violence (by airing statements from Iraqi insurgency
Iraqi insurgency

The Iraqi insurgency is composed of a diverse mix of militias, foreign fighters, all Iraqi units or mixtures using violent measures against the United States-led Multinational force in Iraq in Iraq and the post-2003 Iraqi government, or by propaganda or money supportive thereof....
 leaders), increasing ethnic and sectarian tensions, and being supportive of the insurgency.

During 2004, Al Jazeera broadcast several video tapes of various victims of kidnappings in Iraq, which had been sent to the network. The videos had been filmed by the kidnappers holding the hostages. The hostages were shown, often blindfolded, pleading for their release. They often appeared to be forced to read out prepared statements of their kidnappers. Al Jazeera has assisted authorities from the home countries of the victims in an attempt to secure the release of kidnapping victims. This included broadcasting pleas from family members and government officials. Contrary to some allegations, including the oft-reported comments of Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Henry Rumsfeld is a United States businessman, politician, the 13th United States Secretary of Defense under President of the United States Gerald Ford from 1975 to 1977, and the 21st United States Secretary of Defense under President George W....
 on 4 June 2005, Al Jazeera has never shown beheadings
Decapitation

Decapitation , or beheading, is the cutting off of the head of a person or animal. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or capital punishment; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by means of a guillotine....
. (Beheadings have appeared on numerous non-Al Jazeera Internet websites and have sometimes been misattributed to Al Jazeera.)

On 7 August 2004, the Iraqi Allawi
Iyad Allawi

Ayad Allawi is an Iraqi politician, and was the Ad interim Prime Minister of Iraq prior to Iraq's Iraqi legislative election, 2005. A prominent Iraqi political activist who lived in exile for almost 30 years, the politically secular Shia Muslim became a member of the Iraq Interim Governing Council, which was established by U.S.-led coalit...
 government shut down the Iraq office of Al Jazeera, claiming that it was responsible for presenting a negative image of Iraq, and charging the network with fueling anti-Coalition hostilities. Al Jazeera spokesman Jihad Ballout said: "It's regrettable and we believe it's not justifiable. This latest decision runs contrary to all the promises made by Iraqi authorities concerning freedom of expression and freedom of the press," and Al Jazeera vowed to continue its reporting from inside Iraq. News photographs showed United States and Iraqi military personnel working together to close the office. Initially closed by a one-month ban, the shutdown was extended indefinitely in September 2004, and the offices were sealed, drawing condemnation from international journalists.

Israel

On July 19, 2008, Al Jazeera TV broadcast a program from Lebanon that covered the "welcome-home" festivities for Samir Kuntar
Samir Kuntar

Samir Kuntar , is a Lebanese Druze militant and a former member of the Palestine Liberation Front. On April 22, 1979, at the age of 16, he participated in the attempted kidnapping of an Israeli family in Nahariya that resulted in the deaths of four Israelis and two of his fellow kidnappers....
. In the program, the head of Al Jazeera's Beirut office, Ghassan bin Jiddo, praised on Kuntar by calling him a "pan-Arab hero" and organized a birthday party for him. In response, Israel's Government Press Office (GPO) threatened to boycott the satellite channel unless it apologized. A few days later an official letter was issued by Al Jazeera's director general, Khanfar Wadah, in which he admitted that the program violated the station's Code of Ethics and that he had ordered the channel's programming director to take steps to ensure that such an incident does not recur.

Qatar

Al Jazeera has been criticized for failing to report on many hard hitting news stories that originate from Qatar
Qatar

Qatar , officially the State of Qatar , is an Arab emirate in Southwest Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula....
, where Al Jazeera is based. The two most frequently cited stories were the revoking of citizenship from the Al Ghafran clan of the Al Murrah
Al Murrah

The Al Murrah is a tribe descended from the well-known Banu Yam tribe. Al Murrah are a tribe of camel-herding nomads, recently some of them have taken up perminant settlement near to traditional Oasis....
 tribe in response to a failed coup that members of the Al Ghafran clan were implicated in, and Qatar's growing relations with and diplomatic visits to Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
.

Spain


Reporter Tayseer Allouni
Tayseer Allouni

Tayseer Allouni is a journalist from the Al Jazeera news channel. He was born in Deir ez-Zor in Syria in 1955 then in 1983 he moved to Spain where he studied Economics, and has lived there ever since, adopting Spanish citizenship in 1988....
 was arrested in Spain on 5 September 2003, on a charge of having provided support for members of al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda, alternatively spelled al-Qaida and sometimes al-Qa'ida, is an international Sunni Islam Islamist Extremism movement founded sometime between August 1988 and late 1989/early 1990....
. Judge Baltasar Garzón
Baltasar Garzón

Baltasar Garz?n Real is a judge in Spain. Garz?n currently sits on Spain's Crime court . He has been the subject of controversy....
, who had issued the arrest warrant, ordered Allouni held without bail. Al Jazeera wrote to then Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar
José María Aznar

served as the Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He is currently on the board of directors of News Corporation....
 and protested: "On several occasions Western journalists met secretly with secret organizations and they were not subjected to any legal action because they were doing their job, so why is Alouni being excluded?" Allouni was released on bail several weeks later over health concerns, but prohibited from leaving the country.

On 19 September, a Spanish court issued an arrest warrant for Allouni before the expected verdict. Allouni had asked the court for permission to visit his family in Syria
Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
 to attend the funeral of his mother but authorities denied his request and instead ordered him back to jail.

Although he pleaded not guilty of all the charges against him, Allouni was sentenced on 26 September 2005 to seven years in prison for being a financial courier for al-Qaeda. Allouni insisted he merely interviewed bin Laden
Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Laden is a member of the prominent Saudi Arabia bin Laden family and the founder of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, best known for the September 11 attacks on the United States....
 after the September 11 attack on the United States. Al Jazeera has continuously supported Allouni and maintain that he is innocent.

Many international and private organizations (Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders, or RWB is a Paris-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985 by current Secretary General Robert M?nard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud....
 among them) condemned the arrest and called on the Spanish court to free Taysir Allouni. Websites such as were created to support Allouni.

United Kingdom

UK officials, like their US counterparts, strongly protested Al Jazeera's coverage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq

The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1, 2003, was spearheaded by the United States, backed by United Kingdom forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Spain, Poland and Denmark....
. Al Jazeera stated that the coalition leaders were taking exception because its reporting made it more difficult for both countries to manage the way the war was being reported.

United States

While prior to September 11, 2001, the United States government had lauded Al Jazeera for its role as an independent media outlet in the Middle East, US officials have since claimed an anti-American bias to Al Jazeera's news coverage.

The station first gained widespread attention in the West following the September 11, 2001 attacks, when it broadcast videos in which Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Laden is a member of the prominent Saudi Arabia bin Laden family and the founder of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, best known for the September 11 attacks on the United States....
 and Sulaiman Abu Ghaith
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith is a Kuwaiti Islamist regarded as one of Al-Qaida's official spokesmen....
 defended and justified the attacks. This led to significant controversy and accusations by the United States government that Al Jazeera was engaging in propaganda
Propaganda

Propaganda is the dissemination of information aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. As opposed to Objectivity providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience....
 on behalf of terrorists. Al Jazeera countered that it was merely making information available without comment, and indeed several western television channels later followed suit in broadcasting portions of the tapes.

On November 13, during the US invasion of Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

The War in Afghanistan, which began on October 7, 2001 as the U.S. military operation Operation Enduring Freedom, was launched by the United States with the United Kingdom in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks....
, 2001, a U.S. missile strike destroyed Al Jazeera's office in Kabul
Kabul

Kabul is the Capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of approximately three million. It is an economic and cultural centre, situated 5,900 foot above sea level in a narrow valley, wedged between the Hindu Kush mountains along the Kabul River....
. There were no casualties.

In America, one of the few cable companies in the country to offer Al-Jazeera in its cable packages is city-owned Burlington
Burlington, Vermont

Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County, Vermont. With a population of 38,889 at the 2000 United States Census, the city is the core of one of the nation's smaller metropolitan areas, and is also the smallest U.S....
 Telecom, which serves 1,200 households in Vermont's largest city. The channel is also on the air in Houston, Washington, D.C., and parts of Ohio. The Channel is also on Dish Network when one orders it via DISH Arab package. It is also available on the Internet through Al Jazeera's own website, and video hosting sites, such as Youtube.

Somalia

In January 2009 Al Jazeera aired a documentary on toxic waste dumped in Somalia. A Somali journalist who studied the contents of the two part Al Jazeera documentary,The Toxic Truth , has concluded that Al Jazeera failed to rigorously research the story because one of the letters used to substantiate arms smuggling was issued on 15 April 1992, from the Ministry of Defence of People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, almost two years after South Yemen and North Yemen united to form Yemen Arab Republic in May 1990. Another criticism of the documentary was that Al Jazeera did not allow Ali Mahdi Muhammad , former interim president of Somalia , to exercise his right of reply for he is accussed of authorising Italy based companies to build dumping ground in Somalia.

Detention of Sami Al Hajj

Al Jazeera cameraman Sami Al Hajj, a Sudan
Sudan

Sudan is a country in northeastern Africa. It is the largest in the African continent and the Arab World, and List of countries and outlying territories by total area by area....
ese national, was detained while in transit to Afghanistan in December 2001, and up until May 2008 was held, without charge, as an "enemy combatant
Enemy combatant

Enemy combatant is a term historically referring to members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war. Prior to 2008, the definition was: "Any person in an armed conflict who could be properly detained under the laws and customs of war." In the case of a civil war or an insurrection the term "enemy state" may be repl...
" in Camp Delta
Camp Delta

Camp Delta, situated at , composed of detention camps 1, 2, 3, 4, and Camp Echo, is a permanent 612-unit Guantanamo Bay detainment camp that replaced the temporary facilities of Camp X-Ray....
 at Guantánamo Bay. The reasons for his detention remain unknown, although the US' official statement on all detainees is that they are security threats. Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders, or RWB is a Paris-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985 by current Secretary General Robert M?nard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud....
 have repeatedly expressed concern over Al Hajj's detention,
mentioned Al Hajj in their Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index, and launched a petition for his release. On 23 November 2005, Sami Al Hajj's lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith reported that, during (125 of 130) interviews, U.S. officials had questioned Sami as to whether Al Jazeera was a front for al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda, alternatively spelled al-Qaida and sometimes al-Qa'ida, is an international Sunni Islam Islamist Extremism movement founded sometime between August 1988 and late 1989/early 1990....
.

In the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq

The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1, 2003, was spearheaded by the United States, backed by United Kingdom forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Spain, Poland and Denmark....
, the U.S. Pentagon hired the Rendon Group
Rendon Group

The Rendon Group is a public relations firm headed by John Rendon which specializes in providing communications services both nationally and internationally....
 to target and possibly punish Al Jazeera reporters who did not stay on message.

When Al Jazeera went on to do reporting featuring very graphic footage from inside Iraq, US officials decried Al Jazeera as anti-American and as inciting violence. This sentiment was widely echoed throughout the US media and population.

On Monday, 24 March 2003, shortly after the start of the invasion, two Al Jazeera reporters covering the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange

New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange based in New York City, New York. It is the largest stock exchange in the world by United States dollar market capitalization of its listed companies' Security ....
 had their credentials revoked. The New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange

New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange based in New York City, New York. It is the largest stock exchange in the world by United States dollar market capitalization of its listed companies' Security ....
 banned Al Jazeera (as well as several other news organizations whose identities were not revealed) from its trading floor indefinitely. NYSE spokesman Ray Pellechia claimed "security reasons" and that the exchange had decided to give access only to networks that focus "on responsible business coverage". He denied the revocation has anything to do with the network's Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
 war coverage. The move was quickly mirrored by Nasdaq
NASDAQ

The NASDAQ is an United States stock exchange. It is the largest Electronic trading screen-based Stock trading market in the United States....
 stock market officials.

Killing of Tareq Ayyoub

On 8 April 2003 Al Jazeera's office in Baghdad
Baghdad

Baghdad is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous. With a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq, and the second largest city in the Arab World....
 was hit by a U.S. missile, killing reporter Tareq Ayyoub
Tareq Ayyoub

Tareq Ayyoub was an Arab television reporter of Palestinian nationality, employed by Al Jazeera, and previously by Fox News. On April 8, 2003, Ayyoub was killed when two missiles, fired from an A-10 Thunderbolt II US Fighter plane, struck the Baghdad headquarters of the Al Jazeera Satellite Channel during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq....
 and wounding another. Al Jazeera, in order to avoid coming under US fire, had informed the U.S. of the office's precise coordinates prior to the incident. Dima Tareq Tahboub, the widow of Tareq Ayyoub, continues to seek justice for her husband's death and has among other things written for the Guardian
The Guardian

Sorry, no overview for this topic
 and participated in a documentary broadcast on Al Jazeera English.

On 30 January 2005 the New York Times reported that the Qatar
Qatar

Qatar , officially the State of Qatar , is an Arab emirate in Southwest Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula....
i government, under pressure from the Bush
George W. Bush

George Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th List of Governors of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being United States presidential inauguration as President on January 20, 2001....
 administration, was speeding up plans to sell the station. However, as of 2008, the station/network has not been sold and it is unclear whether there are still any plans to do so.

Al Jazeera bombing memo
Also see O'Connor - Keogh official secrets trial
O'Connor - Keogh official secrets trial

Civil servant David Keogh and parliamentary researcher Leo O'Connor, both of Northampton, England, were charged with breaking the Official Secrets Act in the United Kingdom....
.
On 22 November 2005, the UK tabloid
Tabloid

A tabloid is an industry term which refers to a smaller newspaper format per spread; to a weekly or semi-weekly alternative newspaper that focuses on local-interest stories and entertainment, often distributed free of charge ; or to a newspaper that tends to emphasize sensationalism crime stories, gossip columns repeating scandalous innuend...
 The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror

The Daily Mirror is a United Kingdom tabloid newspaper founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is usually referred to in popular parlance....
 published a story claiming that it had obtained a leaked memo from 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street

Number 10 Downing Street is the residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The headquarters of Her Majesty's Government, it is situated on Downing Street in the City of Westminster in London, England....
 saying that U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush

George Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th List of Governors of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being United States presidential inauguration as President on January 20, 2001....
 had considered bombing Al Jazeera's Doha headquarters in April 2004, when U.S. Marines were conducting a contentious assault on Fallujah
Fallujah

Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly 69 kilometers west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries....
.

In light of this allegation, Al Jazeera has questioned whether it has been targeted deliberately in the past – Al Jazeera's Kabul
Kabul

Kabul is the Capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of approximately three million. It is an economic and cultural centre, situated 5,900 foot above sea level in a narrow valley, wedged between the Hindu Kush mountains along the Kabul River....
 office was bombed in 2001 and another missile hit its office in Baghdad
Baghdad

Baghdad is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous. With a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq, and the second largest city in the Arab World....
 during the invasion of Iraq, killing correspondent Tareq Ayyoub. Both of these attacks occurred subsequent to Al Jazeera's disclosure of the locations of their offices to the United States.

On the Web

Al Jazeera's web-based service is accessible subscription-free throughout the world. The English and Arabic sections are editorially distinct, with their own selection of news and comment.

Al Jazeera and Al Jazeera English are available streamed live online. See Availability
Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera , which usually means "The Island" in Arabic language but more commonly known in Gulf Arabic as "The Peninsula" ? referring to the Qatar Peninsula in the Persian Gulf region, is a television network headquartered in Doha, Qatar....
 section for details.

Arabic language

The Arabic version of the site was brought offline for about 10 hours by an FBI raid on its ISP, InfoCom Corporation
InfoCom Corporation

InfoCom Corporation was a webhosting company based in Richardson, Texas, Texas, founded by five brothers in 1992. At its peak, it hosted approximately 500 mostly Arab websites, including Al Jazeera....
, on 5 September 2001. InfoCom was later convicted of exporting to Libya
Libya

Libya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
 and Syria
Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
, of knowingly being invested in by a Hamas
Hamas

Hamas is an Islamic Palestine socio-political organization which includes a paramilitary force, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Since June 2007, Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip portion of the Palestinian Territories....
 member (both of which are illegal in the United States), and of underpaying customs duties.

English language

The station launched an of its online content in March 2003. This English language website was relaunched on 15 November 2006, along with the launch of Al Jazeera English.

Web site attacks
Immediately after its launch, the English site was attacked by one or several hackers
Hacker (computer security)

In common usage, a hacker is a person who breaks into computers. The subculture that has evolved around hackers is often referred to as the computer underground....
, who launched denial-of-service attack
Denial-of-service attack

A denial-of-service attack or distributed denial-of-service attack is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users....
s, and by a social engineer
Social engineering (security)

Social engineering is the act of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. While similar to a confidence trick or simple fraud, the term typically applies to trickery or deception for the purpose of information gathering, fraud or computer system access; in most cases the attacker never comes face-to-f...
, who redirected visitors to a site featuring an American flag
Flag of the United States

The flag of the United States consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the Flag terminology bearing fifty small, white, Star s arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows of five stars....
. Both events were widely reported as Al Jazeera's website having been attacked by "hackers". In November 2003, John William Racine II, also known as 'John Buffo', was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service and a $1,500 U.S. fine for the online disruption. Racine posed as an Al Jazeera employee
Social engineering (security)

Social engineering is the act of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. While similar to a confidence trick or simple fraud, the term typically applies to trickery or deception for the purpose of information gathering, fraud or computer system access; in most cases the attacker never comes face-to-f...
 to get a password to the network's site, then redirected visitors to a page he created that showed an American flag shaped like a U.S. map and a patriotic motto, court documents said. In June 2003, Racine pleaded guilty to wire fraud
Wire fraud

Wire fraud is a legal concept in the United States Code which provides for enhanced penalty of any criminally fraudulent activity if it is determined that the activity involved electronic telecommunication of any kind, at any phase of the event....
 and unlawful interception of an electronic communication.
As of 2008, the perpetrators of the denial-of-service attacks remain unknown.

Web host changes
The English-language site was forced to change internet hosting providers several times, due, in Al Jazeera's opinion, to political pressure. Initially, hosting for the English-language site was provided by the U.S.-based company DataPipe
DataPipe

DataPipe'Type Private CompanyFounded 1998Headquarters 10 Exchange Place, Jersey City, NJ 07302...
, which gave Al Jazeera notice, soon followed by Akamai Technologies
Akamai Technologies

Akamai Technologies, Inc. , , is a company that provides a distributed computing platform for global Internet Content Delivery Network, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
. Al Jazeera later shifted to the French branch of NavLink, and then to (the as of 2007 current host) AT&T
AT&T

AT&T Inc. is the largest US provider of both local and long distance telephone services, and Digital subscriber line Internet access. AT&T is the second largest provider of wireless service in the United States, with over 77 million wireless customers, and more than 150 million total customers....
 WorldNet Services.

Documentaries

  • Al Jazeera's coverage of the invasion of Iraq
    Iraq

    Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
     was the focus of an award-winning 2004 documentary film
    Documentary film

    Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and new media productions that can be either direct-to-video or made for a televis...
    , Control Room by Egyptian-American
    Egyptian American

    Egyptian Americans are U.S. of Egyptians ancestry, first-generation Egyptian immigrants, or descendants of Egyptians who immigrated to the United States....
     director Jehane Noujaim
    Jehane Noujaim

    Jehane Noujaim is an Egyptian American documentary film film director best-known for her films Control Room , Startup.com and Pangea Day....
    .
  • In July 2003, PBS broadcast a documentary, called Exclusive to al-Jazeera on its program "Wide Angle
    Wide Angle (TV series)

    Wide Angle is an American Documentary film Television program produced by Thirteen/WNET New York for broadcast on Public Broadcasting Service and for worldwide distribution....
    ."
  • Another documentary, Al-Jazeera, An Arab Voice for Freedom or Demagoguery? The UNC Tour was filmed two months after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack.


Awards

  • In December 1999, Ibn Rushd (Averoes) Fund for Freedom of Thought in Berlin
    Berlin

    Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
     awarded the "Ibn Rushd Award" for media and journalism for the year to Al Jazeera.
  • In March 2003, Al Jazeera was awarded by Index on Censorship
    Index on Censorship

    Index on Censorship is a magazine founded in 1972 by Michael Scammell and a group of writers, journalists and artists, led by the British poet Stephen Spender to take to the page in defense of the basic human right of freedom of expression....
     for its "courage in circumventing censorship and contributing to the free exchange of information in the Arab world."
  • In April 2004, Webby Awards
    Webby Awards

    The Webby Awards is an international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites, presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences since 1996....
     nominated Al Jazeera as one of the five best news Web sites, along with BBC News
    BBC News

    BBC News, formerly BBC News and Current Affairs, is the department within the BBC responsible for the corporation's news-gathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online....
    , National Geographic, RocketNews and The Smoking Gun
    The Smoking Gun

    The Smoking Gun is a website that posts legal documents, arrest records, and police mugshots on a daily basis. The intent is to bring to the public light information that is damning, shocking, outrageous, or amazing, yet also somewhat obscure or unreported by more mainstream media sources....
    . According to Tifanny Schlain, the founder of the Webby Awards, this caused a controversy as [other media organisations] "felt it was a risk-taking site".
  • In 2004, Al Jazeera was voted by readers as the fifth most influential global brand
    Brand

    A brand is a collection of symbols, experiences and associations connected with a product, a service, a person or any other artifact or entity....
     behind Apple Computer
    Apple Computer

    Apple Inc., formerly Apple Computer Inc., is an United States multinational corporation which designs and manufactures consumer electronics and software products....
    , Google
    Google

    Google Inc. is an United States public company, earning revenue from AdWords related to its Google search, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Apps, Orkut, and YouTube services as well as selling advertising-free versions of the Google Search Appliance....
    , Ikea
    IKEA

    IKEA is a privately-held, international home products retailer that sells ready-to-assemble furniture furniture, accessories, and bathroom and kitchen items in their retail stores around the world....
     and Starbucks
    Starbucks

    Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and List of coffeehouse chains based in Seattle, Washington, United States. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 16,120 stores in 44 countries....
    .


Competitors

  • In response to Al Jazeera, a group of Saudi investors created Al Arabiya
    Al Arabiya

    Al Arabiya is an Arabic-language television news channel. It was established on March 3, 2003.The international news station is based in Dubai Media City, United Arab Emirates, and is partly owned by the Saudi Arabia-controlled broadcaster Middle East Broadcasting Center....
     in the first quarter of 2003. Despite (especially initial) skepticism over the station's Saudi funding (cf. History) and a perception of censorship of anti-Saudi content, Al Arabiya has successfully emulated Al Jazeera, garnered a significant audience share, and has also gotten similarly involved in controversy – Al Arabiya has been severely criticised by the Iraqi and US authorities and has also had journalists killed on the job.


  • In order to counter a perceived bias of Al Jazeera, the U.S. government in 2004 founded Al Hurra (="the free one"), a competing Arabic-language satellite TV station variably seen as a public diplomacy
    Public diplomacy

    In international relations, the term public diplomacy is a term coined in the 1960s to describe aspects of international diplomacy other than the interactions between national governments....
     tool or a propaganda
    Propaganda

    Propaganda is the dissemination of information aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. As opposed to Objectivity providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience....
     outlet. Al Hurra is forbidden to broadcast to the US under the provisions of the Smith-Mundt Act
    Smith-Mundt Act

    The US Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 , popularly referred to as the Smith-Mundt Act, specifies the terms in which the United States government can engage in public diplomacy....
    . A Zogby
    Zogby

    Zogby may refer to:* James Zogby , American founder and president of the Arab American Institute; Brother of John Zogby* John Zogby , American pollster; President & CEO of Zogby International; Brother of James Zogby...
     poll found that 1% of Arab viewers watch Al Hurra as their first choice.


  • Since the launch of Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera directly competes with BBC World
    BBC World

    BBC World News is the BBC's international news and current affairs television channel. It has the largest audience of any BBC channel and any news channel in the world....
     and CNN International
    CNN International

    CNN International , usually known on-air as simply "CNN" to viewers outside the United States, is an English language television network that carries news, current affairs and business programming worldwide....
    , as do a growing number of other international broadcasters
    International broadcasting

    International broadcasting is broadcasting that is deliberately aimed at a foreign, rather than a domestic, audience. It usually is broadcast by means of longwave, mediumwave, or shortwave radio, but in recent years has also used direct satellite broadcasting and the Internet as means of reaching audiences....
     such as France 24
    France 24

    France 24 on all three editions) is an international news channel and current affairs television channel. It started broadcasting on 6 December 2006....
     , Russia Today
    Russia Today TV

    Russia Today TV, also known as Russia Today and simply RT, is a globally broadcast English-language news channel from Russia, and the first all-digital Russian TV channel, sponsored by the state owned Russian news agency Novosti....
     and Press TV
    Press TV

    Press TV is an English language international television news channel which is funded by the Iranian government, based in Tehran and broadcast in English on a round-the-clock schedule....
    .


  • Another competitor is Al-Alam
    Al-Alam News Network

    Al-Alam News Network is a Tehran-based Arabic language-language television news channel. Established in 2003 by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, it broadcasts continuously, focusing on the Muslim and Arab world and the Middle East....
    , Established in 2003 by Islamic Republic
    Islamic republic

    Islamic Republic is the name given to several states in the Muslim world including the Islamic Republics of Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Mauritania....
     of Iran
    Iran

    Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
     Broadcasting, it broadcasts continuously. It seeks to address the most challenging issues of the Muslim
    Muslim

    :A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
     and Arab world
    Arab world

    The Arab World refers to Arabic-speaking countries stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast....
     and the Middle East
    Middle East

    File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
    .


  • A further competitor is the Rusiya Al-Yaum
    Rusiya Al-Yaum

    Rusiya Al-Yaum is the first Russian TV news channel broadcasting in Arabic and headquartered in Moscow, Russia. Rusiya Al-Yaum started broadcasting on May 4, 2007 at 7:00 ...
     channel - the first Russian TV news channel broadcasting in Arabic and headquartered in Moscow
    Moscow

    Moscow is the capital and the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia of the Russian Federation. It is also the largest European cities and metropolitan areas, with the Moscow metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world....
    , Russia. Rusiya Al-Yaum started broadcasting on 4 May 2007 at 7:00 (Moscow time
    Moscow Time

    Moscow Time is the time zone for the city of Moscow, Russia and most of western Russia, including Saint Petersburg. It is the second westernmost of the 11 Time in Russia....
    ). The Channel is established and operated by RIA Novosti, the same news agency that launched Russia Today TV
    Russia Today TV

    Russia Today TV, also known as Russia Today and simply RT, is a globally broadcast English-language news channel from Russia, and the first all-digital Russian TV channel, sponsored by the state owned Russian news agency Novosti....
     in December 2005 to deliver a Russian perspective on news to English-speaking audiences, and "Rusiya Al-Yaum" is indeed a translation of "Russia Today" into Arabic.


  • The BBC launched BBC Arabic Television
    BBC Arabic Television

    BBC Arabic Television is a news and information television channel broadcast to the Middle East by the BBC. It was launched at 0956 GMT on 11 March 2008....
     on 11 March 2008, an Arabic-language news channel in North Africa, the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. This is the second time that the BBC is launched an Arabic language TV channel; as mentioned above, the demise of the original BBC World Service Arabic TV channel had at least contributed to the founding of the original Al Jazeera Arabic TV channel.


See also

  • Baraem
    Baraem

    Baraem is the first pre-school Arabic television channel for children between the age of 3 and 6 years old offering a range of programs specifically tailored for them....


Further reading

  • Abdul-Mageed, M. M., and Herring, S. C. (2008). Arabic and English news coverage on aljazeera.net. In: F. Sudweeks, H. Hrachovec, and C. Ess (Eds.), Proceedings of Cultural Attitudes Towards Technology and Communication 2008 (CATaC'08), Nimes, France, 24 June-27. Abstract and full article: http://mumageed.blogspot.com/2008/03/arabic-and-english-news-coverage-on.html
  • M. Arafa, P.J. Auter, & K. Al-Jaber (2005), Hungry for news and information: Instrumental use of Al-Jazeera TV among viewers in the Arab World and Arab Diaspora
    Arab diaspora

    Arab diaspora refers to the numbers of Arab Emigration, and their descendants, who voluntarily or as refugees emigrated from their native countries and now reside in non-Arab nations, primarily in Western countries as well as parts of Asia, Latin America, The Caribbean, and West Africa....
    , Journal of Middle East Media, 1(1), 21-50
  • Marc Lynch (2005), Voices of the New Arab Public: Iraq, al-Jazeera, and Middle East Politics Today, Columbia University Press
  • N. Miladi (2004), Al-Jazeera, ISBN 1-86020-593-3
  • Hugh Miles (2004), Al Jazeera: How Arab TV news challenged the world, Abacus, ISBN 0-3491-1807-8,
    • aka Al Jazeera: How Arab TV News challenges America, Grove Press, ISBN 0-8021-1789-9 (2005 reprint),
    • aka Al Jazeera: The inside story of the Arab news channel that is challenging the West, Grove Press, ISBN 0-8021-4235-4 (2006 reprint)
  • Mohammed el-Nawawy and Adel Iskandar (2002), Al-Jazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East, Westview Press, ISBN 0-8133-4017-9,
    • aka Al-Jazeera: The story of the network that is rattling governments and redefining modern journalism, aka Al-Jazeera: Ambassador of the Arab World, Westview Press/Basic Books/Perseus Books, ISBN 0-8133-4149-3 (2003 reprint)
  • Erik C. Nisbet, Matthew C. Nisbet, Dietram Scheufele
    Dietram Scheufele

    Dietram A. Scheufele is and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also serves as in the Department of Life Sciences Communication and is a of the ....
    , and James Shanahan (2004), , Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 9 (2), 11-37
  • Donatella Della Ratta (2005), , Bruno Mondadori, ISBN
8-8424-9282-5
  • Naomi Sakr (2002), Satellite Realms: Transnational Television, Globalization and the Middle East, I.B. Tauris
    I.B. Tauris

    I. B. Tauris is the name of an independent publisher with offices in London and New York. Its New York offices are co-located with those of Palgrave Macmillan who function as the company's North American distributors....
    , ISBN 1-8606-4689-1
  • Tatham, Steve (2006), Losing Arab Hearts & Minds: The Coalition, Al-Jazeera & Muslim Public Opinion, Hurst & Co (London), Published 1 Jan 2006, ISBN 0-9725-5723-7
  • Mohamed Zayani (2005), The Al Jazeera Phenomenon: Critical Perspectives On New Arab Media, Paradigm Publishers, ISBN 1-5945-1126-8


External links


  • Live Stream Online (Worldwide)


  • Official Al Jazeera websites:
    • /
Note that the websites aljazeera.com
Aljazeera.com

Aljazeera.com is an English language website for Aljazeera Magazine. It is unrelated to the Arabic satellite TV channel Al Jazeera, which operates websites in both Arabic and English or Al Jazeera Newspaper of Saudi Arabia....
 and aljazeerah.info are not affiliated with Al Jazeera.


  • Watch Al Jazeera online
    • via TV Darija
    • (in the US) via real.com
    • (in Europe) via real.com
    • (in the UK) via real.com
  • - the English channel's official YouTube
    YouTube

    YouTube is a Video hosting service website where users can upload, view and share video clips. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005....
     account featuring clips of past programs
  • , USC
    University of Southern California

    The University of Southern California is a private university, nonsectarian, research university located in the University Park, Los Angeles, California neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, California, United States....
     PublicDiplomacyWiki, retrieved 6 January 2007
  • , UCLA Ronald W. Burkle Center for International Relations, posted 11/4/2003, retrieved 01/26/2007
  • – 4 October 2006 lecture by Hafez Al Mirazi, host of the Al Jazeera (Arabic) talk show
    Talk show

    A talk show or chat show is a television or radio program where one person or group of people come together to discuss various topics put forth by a talk show talk show host....
     "From Washington", at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a public university research university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the oldest and largest campus in the University of Illinois system....
     (Realplayer video
    RealVideo

    RealVideo is a proprietary format video format developed by RealNetworks. It was first released in 1997 and is at version 11. RealVideo is supported on many platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, and several mobile phones....
    ).
  • , an interactive guide to the Arabic calligraphy of the network's logo
    Al Jazeera

    Al Jazeera , which usually means "The Island" in Arabic language but more commonly known in Gulf Arabic as "The Peninsula" ? referring to the Qatar Peninsula in the Persian Gulf region, is a television network headquartered in Doha, Qatar....
    .