Journalists quit al-Jazeera

This is an interesting development, one which is not altogether unexpected.

I have followed al-Jazeera from the time it bravely told the truth during the invasion of Iraq, thus becoming unpopular with all regimes, not least the Americans

In recent times it has become clear the al-Jazeera has been following the political line of the Qatari government, especially with regard to Libya, Syria and Iran.

One has to be a little suspicious when US political figures like Hillary Clinton say that they rely on al-Jazeera for information (when not so long ago al-Jazeera was the ‘devil incarnate’)

It is clear that there is no love lost between al-Jazeera and RT - and these reports could be seen as revenge for some shameless (and hopelessly-biased) al-Jazeera pieces on RT and Russia.

However, at least as things stand at the moment I see RT as giving a voice to people who wouldn’t otherwise have a voice - just as al-Jazeera used to  - not so long ago.

Al Jazeera journalists quit channel citing bias on Syria coverage

Key staff from Al Jazeera’s Beirut Bureau have resigned citing “bias” in the channel’s stance on the conflict in Syria.

RT,

12 March, 2012

Bureau Managing Director Hassan Shaaban reportedly quit last week, after his correspondent and producer had walked out in protest.

A source told the Lebanese paper Al Akhbar that Al Jazeera’s Beirut correspondent Ali Hashem had quit over the channel’s stance on covering events in Syria. "… his position [which] changed after the station refused to show photos he had taken of armed fighters clashing with the Syrian Army in Wadi Khaled. Instead [Al Jazeera] lambasted him as a shabeeh [implying a regime loyalist],” a source told Lebanese press.

Ali Hashem was also infuriated by Al Jazeera’s refusal to cover a crackdown by the King of Bahrain while twisting its Syria angle. “[In Bahrain], we were seeing pictures of a people being butchered by the 'Gulf's oppression machine', and for Al Jazeera, silence was the name of the game,” he said.

The Beirut bureau’s producer also quit claiming Al Jazeera had totally ignored Syria’s constitutional reform referendum, which saw a 57% turnout with 90% voting for change. 

Journalist and author Afshin Rattansi, who worked for Al Jazeera, told RT that, “sadly”, the channel had become one-sided voice for the Qatari government’s stance against Bashar al-Assad, having begun as the region’s revolutionary broadcaster.

“It is very disturbing to hear how Al Jazeera is now becoming this regional player for foreign policy in a way that some would arguably say the BBC and others have been for decades,” he said. “If Al Jazeera Arabic is going to take a war-like stance after [the] Qatari government, this would be very ill.”

“There is the courage of these journalists, however, in saying ‘Look, this is not the way we should be covering this. There are elements of Al-Qaeda in there,’” Rattansi concluded. “The way Al Jazeera Arabic has covered the story of Syria is completely one-sided.”

Journalists and anti-war activist Don Debar, who has also had Al Jazeera experience, confirmed that the station has been heavily guided by the Qatari government in its policies. 

“That has been ongoing since last April of 2011,” Debar told RT. “The head of the bureau in Beirut quit, many other people quit because of the biased coverage and outright hand of the government in dictating editorial policy over Libya, and now Syria.”

‘There's a chill, they're controlling things more at Al Jazeera’

Former Al Jazeera English-language blogger Ted Rall recounted his own story of quitting the job. He said his blogs and columns were being rejected on a regular basis.

“For a long time I ascribed it to incompetence on their part because they weren’t very good at getting back very quickly, but over time I came to learn through various people there that the politics of the channel were changing,” he told RT. What he found out was that leftist and progressive voices such as his were not welcome anymore and that he no longer needed to submit anything. 

Rall noted that this change in policy only took place recently. 

“After September 11, Al Jazeera became a channel that could be counted upon for openness and transparency, certainly compared to most corporate broadcast media in the West, particularly related to the Middle East and Central Asia and South Asia but that has really changed in the last year or so,” he said “There’s a chill, they’re controlling things more.”

When Rall first went to work at Al Jazeera, he says he was surprised that it was actually owned by the Qatari government. He compared their past hands-off policy to that of Rupert Murdoch when he owned the Village Voice of New York City. But now, the “Qataris have decided to shape the picture of the news a little more than they used to.” 

While he rejected the notion of objectivity, Rall did note that the media could try to present a more balanced view. 

“What you really want to see is a broad marketplace of ideas, where lots of different ideas and stories are being told,” he summed up.

Al-Jazeera chief's surprise resignation raises fears for channel's independence

Wadah Khanfar stood down after eight years that consolidated the satellite network's reputation and his own position

I decided to check for confirmation of this on Google.  When I did I found the following story from the Guardian last year - so thse issues didn’t arise yesterday.

Al-Jazeera chief's surprise resignation raises fears for channel's independence

Wadah Khanfar stood down after eight years that consolidated the satellite network's reputation and his own position

20 September, 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/sep/20/al-jazeera-chiefs-surprise-resignation