Qatari news station Al Jazeera has revealed plans to expand access to non-Western news viewpoints to Western audiences. In a February 2 private meeting, several top executives discussed the need to protect their journalists and promote social media accounts to provide bite-sized news figures featuring Arab viewpoints.
Human Rights Director Sami Alhaj spearheaded these plans. Having been imprisoned for six years at Guantanamo Bay without receiving a trial, on charges that were eventually dropped, Alhaj has condemned the actions of American media and troops.
“Journalists are kept unaware and the troops are encouraged to continue abuses,” Alhaj said. “We need to cover what the Western world tries to hide.”
To Alhaj and the Board of Directors, this task will not come easy. Al Jazeera Mubasher director Ayman Gaballah expressed concerns of alienating Qatar and other Middle Eastern nations, the primary benefactors of the agency.
“If we report on what Qatar doesn’t want, we defeat the purpose of our editorial attitude,” Gaballah said.
Initially, Al Jazeera planned to collaborate on reporting with the New York Times and NBC, before concerns grew over the backlash from working with Western competitors. But to Alhaj, what matters is spreading the truth.
“I want to bring a perspective of the Arab world into mass media instead of using the West’s historically dominant narratives,” he explained. He further explained that he wants to bring a human component to the hard statistics that have grappled the Arab world while benefiting the West.
“Emotions matter. The thousands unjustly imprisoned matter,” Alhaj said.
Still, others on the Board of Directors hope to maintain their strong support within the Arab World while expanding their reach to the West. Al Jazeera’s Arabic Director Ahmad Alyafei explained that “we need to keep in mind how we’re perceived in Arab countries.”