Abstract
Olfa Lamloul, in her book entitled Al-Jazeera, Defiant and Ambiguous Mirror of the Arab World wrote, ‘The short history of the disrespectful Arabic channel Al-Jazeera, broadcast from the emirate of Qatar,provides valuable reference points in the maze of Middle Eastern issues in the post-Cold War period.' In this presentation, we will study the emergence of the Al-Jazeera network in the Middle-East and abroad and the questions arising from such a media development.
First of all, Al-Jazeera, meaning ‘the Island' or ‘the peninsula' in Arabic, was launched on November 1, 1996 in one of the smallest Arab countries by its area, Qatar. The network was created by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa. Currently, the chairman of the board of the station is Sheikh Tamir Al-Thani, a member of the ruling family. Initially, Al-Jazeera only broadcasted 6 hours of airtime each day but it rapidly became a medium that could no longer be ignored. Indeed, in 1999, it became a channel transmitting around-the-clock information.
To get an idea of its importance, today, Al-Jazeera has 1,400 employees all round the world, 450 journalists of 15 different nationalities, 24 daily newsletters, 7 live broadcasting programs of debate, 15 channels and 2 websites in Arabic and English.
Tags: Al-Jazeera, Middle East media, censorship
