Al Jazeera Media Network continues in its demand for the immediate release of its journalist Mahmoud
Hussein who has undergone a
full year of detention in Egyptian prison without trial. Al Jazeera condemns the unjust renewal of his
detention for the tenth time, most recently on Thursday, 14 December, 2017.
Mahmoud was detained in December last year by Egyptian authorities upon his
arrival in Cairo while on annual vacation visiting his family.
During the course of this year-long detention Mahmoud’s physical health has
deteriorated having first been held in solitary confinement from 23 December
until 20 March 2017. On June 13th, while in prison he sustained a fracture in
his left elbow. To date, he has not been allowed access to the required medical
treatment by the Egyptian authorities, even though Al Jazeera would cover all
costs.
Al Jazeera strongly condemns the actions of the Egyptian authorities which
are a clear and blatant violation of his basic human rights which are
supposedly guaranteed by Egyptian laws and international binding treaties. Al
Jazeera holds the Egyptian authorities responsible for Mahmoud’s safety and
well-being.
Al Jazeera reaffirms its commitment to its journalistic mission and
adherence to its code of ethics to objectively and professionally report all
sides of the story from Egypt and beyond.
We believe that the protection of journalists must be held in the
highest regard - no journalist should be subject to intimidation, persecution,
or imprisonment while carrying out their duties. Press freedom is a basic
fundamental of democratic values – “Journalism is not a crime”.
Al
Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan and Azad Essa won the Ricardo Ortega Memorial Prize
and International Prize at the UN Correspondents Association (UNCA) Global
Prize during UNCA’s Awards Gala on Friday December 15, 2017 in New York.
Azad
was awarded the UNCA International Prize Silver Medal for his yearlong
investigation into accusations of sexual abuse and exploitation against the UN
and what is being done to stop them, ‘Why some peacekeepers rape?’.
Rosiland
Jordan was awarded the Ricardo Ortega Silver Medal for her story on the UN
Secretary-General’s efforts to highlight near-famine in Somalia. UNCA
established the prize in honour of Ricardo Ortega, formerly the New York
correspondent for Antena 3 TV of Spain, who died while on an assignment in
Haiti in 2004.
Commenting
on her win, Rosiland said “It is humbling to be honoured by my colleagues. I only
wanted people to see what I saw during a trip with the Secretary-General, António Guterres, to
Baidoa, Somalia: People who were doing the unthinkable in order to survive
drought and to save their families. I hope we can all do more to highlight
their situation and motivate the international community to help them.”
Rosiland
Jordan is a State Department / Specials Correspondent for Al Jazeera English
based in Washington D.C., while Azad Essa is a Doha based journalist working
for the Al Jazeera English website.
101 East, which is Al Jazeera’s weekly Asian current affairs program won
the best Politics and Business category award for “Duterte: A President’s Report Card”, while “Voyage to Antarctica” won the award for the Best Interactive Category.
Commenting on the two awards, Giles Trendle, Managing Director of Al
Jazeera English said: “We are delighted to win the AIB Awards for our 101
East episode Duterte: A President’s Report Card and Voyage to Antarctica. These
awards are a testament to the quality of our journalism and the talent of our
teams. They show Al Jazeera English is competing with, and beating, the very
best in the news and current affairs market; and it is additionally gratifying
to see our journalism receive such recognition from our peers in a world in
which journalism is under attack.”
The Association for International Broadcasting (AIB)
is an industry association and global knowledge network for the international
broadcasting industry with members from all around the world.
Al
Jazeera’s journalism has been vindicated in four landmark rulings issued by
Britain’s Office of Communications, known as Ofcom. The lengthy decisions
published on the regulatory body’s website addressed a number of complaints
made against Al Jazeera’s award-winning Investigative Unit, which produced the
January 2017 undercover series “The Lobby.” The films made front-page
news headlines across Britain and worldwide after it exposed the Israeli
Embassy’s covert influence campaign to smear and attack British citizens
critical of Israel and its practices—including against British Foreign Office
Minister Sir Alan Duncan.
Al
Jazeera’s Investigative Unit covertly filmed Shai Masot, the Israeli Embassy’s
then Senior Political Officer, in discussion with a British civil servant,
plotting to “take down” Sir Alan Duncan. In the past Sir Alan had
criticized illegal Israeli settlement activity. The threat against him cost Mr
Masot his position at the Israeli Embassy, resulted in the resignation of the
civil servant, Maria Strizzolo, who entertained it, and triggered a UK
Parliamentary Inquiry into foreign interference in British politics that is
ongoing. The Israeli Ambassador to Britain, Mark Regev, formally
apologized to the British Foreign Office while Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson
conceded Mr Masot’s “cover" was “well and truly blown.”
Ofcom
received complaints in the aftermath of the series from a number of pro-Israeli
British activists, including one former Israeli Embassy employee. These complaints
levelled a range of charges against Al Jazeera extending from anti-Semitism and
bias to unfair editing to infringement of privacy. In each
instance, Ofcom has dismissed these charges, and the complaints as a whole
without reservation.
The
findings come at a time when the State of Israel is seeking to close Al
Jazeera’s Jerusalem Bureau and deny its reporters access for allegedly causing
“incitement.” Joining Israel in attacking the Network are at least four
Arab states who have demanded the wholesale closure of Al Jazeera, amid a
blockade against the State of Qatar, where Al Jazeera is based.
An
Al Jazeera source hailed the Ofcom verdict: “This goes to show that no matter
what Al Jazeera’s critics say, its journalism meets and exceeds the highest
standards of objectivity and balance. We feel vindicated by the rulings and
evermore committed to exposing human rights violations by anyone—regardless of
geography, religion, or the power of their lobbies.”
Al Jazeera Media Network
launches today, Thursday September 28, its new daily content on the key
interactive medium Instagram, with the aim of providing dedicated, creative and
captivating content to Arab youth.
The launch of the channel on
Instagram comes days after Snapchat had blocked Al Jazeera’s ‘Discover’ service
in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain; submitting to pressure and
censorship requests from these authorities; in a move seen as a clear violation
to media freedom and the individual right to access of information.
Commenting on the launch, Dr
Mostefa Souag, Al Jazeera Media Network’s Acting Director General said: “It is
surprising that governments and global technology companies believe they can
block access to media content and news material in today’s open information
sphere. Al Jazeera Media Network has achieved great success in attracting
millions of followers worldwide due to its professional coverage. We will not
be deterred and will continue to produce and provide professional media content
to Arab youth through various social media platforms”.
Al Jazeera’s Executive
Director of Digital, Dr Yaser Bishr, said “Today we launch our Instagram
channel to reach out to our audiences with new and captivating content produced
by young journalists from diverse backgrounds. This comes as part of Al
Jazeera’s digital transformation strategy to reach users on all available
platforms and to prove to the world that press freedom and access to
information are basic right which regimes cannot take away as they did in the
past.”
Dr Bishr also said: “The
content Al Jazeera is providing to its followers on Instagram is both carefully
chosen and specifically produced content that takes into account the nature of
interaction and the speed of access to both credible information & current
news”.
As the case with Snapchat and
other digital platforms, Al Jazeera’s Instagram channel will provide stories
that cover important regional and international current affairs events that are
of interest to Arab youth and general users of the platform.
Al Jazeera’s followers on
Instagram stand at 1.6 million followers, preceding all news channels in the
MENA region; while Instagram users stand at 700 million active users worldwide,
inclusive of 400 million users of the platform’s stories feature.
As part of its digital
strategy, Al Jazeera continues to launch new digital channels and services, in
line with the rapid technological development witnessed by the media industry.
Al
Jazeera Media Network expresses its dismay at Snapchat’s decision to block its
Discover channel in Saudi Arabia. It is deplorable that a renowned global
social media platform like Snap Inc. start censoring media content in order to
submit to pressures from Saudi authorities. This action is a direct attack
against the freedom of expression and will have detrimental consequences to the
media industry.
Al
Jazeera Media Network’s Dr Mostefa Souag, Acting Director General, said: “We
find Snapchat’s action to be alarming and worrying. This sends a message that
regimes and countries can silence any voice or platform they don’t agree with
by exerting pressure on the owners of social media platforms and content
distribution companies. This step is a clear attack on the rights of
journalists and media professionals to report and cover stories freely from
around the world.”
He
further stated “We at Al Jazeera, object to any form of censorship and
restrictions to freedom of the media and the right to access information. We
call on Snap Inc. and other global media organisations to reject demands of
oppressive regimes to silence journalists. We would like to remind Snap Inc.
that this decision violates the US constitution, American laws, and values of
democracy. By blocking Al Jazeera’s Discover Channel, our followers in Saudi
Arabia are denied the ability to follow our broad range of stories and
coverage.”
This
comes at a time where Al Jazeera Media Network and other media institutions are
under attack in the Middle East and face calls for their shut down by some Arab
countries.
Al
Jazeera launched its Arabic Channel on Snapchat ‘Discover’ in May 2017 and
continued to provide a wide variety of stories to its audiences in the MENA
region with growing number of followers.
Ayoub
Kara, Israeli Communications Minister, announced the decision of his government
to close Al Jazeera Media Network’s bureau in Jerusalem, revoke media
credentials of Al Jazeera journalists, and to shut down Al Jazeera’s cable and
satellite transmissions. During the press conference held on Sunday, Kara
accused the network of inciting violence and presenting unprofessional
journalism. He then requested from the relevant authorities to act upon this
decision and carry out the necessary measures to put it into effect, but did
not set a date for implementing the decision.
Al
Jazeera Media Network denounces this decision, which comes in the context of a
campaign that was initiated by a statement made earlier by Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he accused Al Jazeera of inciting
violence during its coverage of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Other Israeli
ministers and officials had previously made similar statements following a
break into Al Jazeera bureau by a number of settlers.
Al
Jazeera denounces this decision made by a state that claims to be “the only democratic
state in the Middle East”. It also finds the justifications made by the
minister of communications as odd and biased as they are in unison with the
actions carried out by a number of Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain,
Egypt, and Jordan) that have closed the network’s bureaus, shut down its cable
and satellite transmissions, and blocked its websites and applications. During
the press conference, the minister could not substantiate his comments by
referring to a single news bulletin or situation that proved Al Jazeera had not
been professional nor objective during its coverage in Jerusalem.
Al
Jazeera stresses that it will watch closely the developments that may result
from the Israeli decision, and will take the necessary legal measures towards
it. The network also reiterates that it will continue covering news and events
in the occupied Palestinian territories in a professional and objective manner
in accordance with the common journalistic standards set by the relevant
international organizations, such as the British Broadcasting Code of Ofcom.
The social
media campaign reached more than 53 million views and engagement on twitter,
Facebook and YouTube during the first week alone, with 32 million views of the
aligned campaign video since its launch on the 3rd July.
The campaign
was launched by Al Jazeera Media Network to support Media Freedom and
expression, in response to the unreasonable demands presented by the blockading
countries to Qatar, which included closure of Al Jazeera Media Network and its
channels, following blockage of all its websites and applications in their
respective countries.
The campaign video was produced in the Arabic, English, Bosnian & Spanish
languages showing a number of Al Jazeera presenters and correspondents requesting
demands pertaining to Media freedom, which aim to challenge the rising
antagonistic statements issued by the blockading countries against freedom of
expression in the region, including the illogical demand to close Al Jazeera and
terminate broadcast as a precondition to lift the blockade on Qatar.
In its
campaign launch press release, Al Jazeera Media Network has depicted that the
attack and fabricated campaign against Al Jazeera is not merely an attack on a
leading media organization that has enhanced its global reach to millions of
viewers in over 150 countries during its 20 years of service, but in reality is
an assault on the foundations of media freedom.
The campaign
has attained extensive support from global media organizations, including CNN,
BBC, and the Huffington Post which have shared the campaign video. A number of
Rights groups, journalism associations and media organizations defending media
freedom have also commended the campaign and aligned slogan.
Renowned and
prominent media figures; amongst which are presenters, columnists, and social
media activists; have shared the campaign video on their digital accounts,
condemning the attack on media organizations set forth by countries boasting
their lack of support for press freedom.
As part of
the campaign, Al Jazeera will be organizing a series of events in Geneva, London
and other capitals, with participating media professionals and analysts to
discuss the intimidation and threats faced by the Network, as well as the
status of media freedom in the Arab World. The first event will be organized in
Geneva on the 13th July in collaboration with the Geneva Press Club,
the second event titled “Al Jazeera Case” shall be organized in collaboration
with the Frontline Club in London on the 17th July, followed by a
briefing for British parliamentarians shall be conducted on the 19th
July.
Since the release
of the demands put forth by the blockading countries; extensive media coverage on
the closure of Al Jazeera has been reported by numerous international media
platforms and publications; such as The Guardian, New York Times, El Pais,
Washington Times, TV Tokyo, the Norwegian and Swedish broadcasting
corporations, CCTV, BBC, France 24, Channel 4, Deutsche Welle, AP, AFP and Reuters
to mention a few.
The demand
for the closure of Al Jazeera Media Network has been met with international
condemnation, whilst the United Nations and international human rights
organizations have expressed their support for media freedom and solidarity
with Al Jazeera.
It is worth
mentioning that Al Jazeera Media Network has won various awards in recognition
of its news coverage, programs and documentaries, and its journalists have
suffered intimidation and arrest, whilst others have lost their lives, while
covering conflict zones.
Once again we
reiterate “Journalism Is Not a Crime”.
Aela Callan has been named the 2017 winner of
the Jane Cunningham Croly Award
for Excellence in Journalism Covering Issues of Concern to Women for her film broadcast on Al Jazeera’s 101 East programme.
Callan won the award for “Good Morning Pakistan”,
a film about female reporters risking their lives to deliver the news in one of
the most dangerous countries for journalists. The documentary aired on 101 East, Al Jazeera’s weekly Asian
current affairs programme.
The Jane Cunningham Croly Award
recognises journalists who best capture the courage,
vision and spirit of Jane Cunningham Croly, a pioneering journalist who devoted
her life to helping women improve their lives and expand their rights.
The award organisers said Callan’s film “demonstrated a
concern for the rights and the advancement of women in society and made a bold
statement about the challenges women journalists face”.
Callan is the first international award
winner.
“It’s an honour to win this award,” said Callan. “It’s a chance to
again highlight the brave young women who risk their lives reporting on
Pakistan’s tribal areas. In a society shaped by conservative attitudes and
where threats by armed groups have shut down most media outlets, these reporters
take incredible risks to tell stories that only women can tell.”
Callan’s film focuses on the women working for Tribal News
Network, a radio station that broadcasts across Pakistan’s troubled border
region with Afghanistan. She meets the team making women’s voices heard in a
part of the world where they are not often seen in public life.
“Good
Morning Pakistan” also recently won a Gold Medal at the New York Festival Film
and Television Awards.
Callan was presented with the Croly Award at
a gala ceremony on June 26 in Palm Springs, California.
Callan reports international stories, from Nepal and
Myanmar to Cambodia and France, Callan has been
producing films for 101 East since
2011. She was a Knight Fellow for Journalism Innovation at Stanford University
in 2013-2014.
Over
two decades ago Al Jazeera Arabic was launched with a simple mission - to
provide reliable information to viewers across the Arab world. Ten years later,
in 2006, Al Jazeera English began broadcasting, with the same mission – to
provide people around the world with accurate, balanced and impartial
information.
When Al Jazeera Arabic went on the air in 1996, it was
unique in the Arab world. Most media in the region at the time were state
controlled and often unchallenged mouthpieces for the different rulers and
governments in the region. Al Jazeera was different, a truly
independent voice, with a mission to hear and report the human stories
that were otherwise ignored; to cover events with balance and integrity;
and to hold power to account.
Al Jazeera Arabic quickly gained a huge and loyal audience
across the region. The information we provided became a lifeline to
millions of people who wanted to know what was really going on around
them. Al Jazeera Arabic has remained the most watched news channel
in the Arab world throughout its history. Al Jazeera Arabic channel
has more viewers than the combined total of our main competitors. Al
Jazeera English is seen in over 130 countries around the world, and is watched
by tens of millions of people who respect our journalism.
The global audiences are loyal
to the Al Jazeera brand because of our continuous commitment to
journalism; our dedication to covering their stories impartially; and our
determination to tell stories with no agenda and with total integrity. We
at Al Jazeera believe in our mission: people have a right to be informed.
They have a right to get news that isn’t controlled by the narrative of
authorities.
They have a right to know what is going on in their world.
Equally, people have a right to have a voice. To have their stories told
when they deserve and need to be heard.
Freedom of speech - and the freedom for journalists to carry out
their responsibilities - may be an accepted norm in many parts of the
world, but it is a right which is so often challenged for political gain in
parts of the Arab world. The right to be informed by reliable information is
one of the foundations of a healthy society.
Throughout our long history, we have remained resolute in our
commitment to storytelling, to balanced journalism, and to finding and covering
stories. We have given a voice to the voiceless. We have shone a
spotlight on the people and stories that would otherwise have remained in the
dark. And we’ve always done so with responsibility and integrity.
Journalists from all regions of the world have joined Al Jazeera
because they believe in the mission of good journalism, and the responsibility
that goes with it. Every day we cover stories from around the Arab World,
Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America. We have over three
thousand staff, who are among the most talented and diverse in the world. Their
commitment makes Al Jazeera what it is today. We have bureaus in over
seventy locations around the globe, including our headquarters in Doha and
broadcast centres in London and Washington DC, staffed by
journalists whose courage and work ethic is unwavering. They report on
events first-hand. They report with integrity. They carry out their jobs
with passion, and with responsibility. Their commitment to hear the
voices of those caught up in events is available for all to see. Our staff are
our “fabric”. They ensure our journalism is of the highest quality, is
impartial, and has integrity.
Our millions of viewers are a testament to the quality of our
work. Every minute of every day, in tens of countries, on every
distribution platform, millions of people choose Al Jazeera as their source of
information. If we didn’t have integrity, if we were not reliable, our
audience are intelligent enough to judge and, they would switch us
off. And for over 20 years, they’ve remained loyal to Al Jazeera, and we
have always remained loyal to them and true to their demands for information.
We have been accused of bias, of catalysing the
Arab Spring, of having an agenda, and
of favouring one group over another. We reject
these allegations and our screens
are a testament toour integrity. All our coverage is
on show online and on TV for anyone to see and scrutinise. By
covering events like the Arab Spring, we don’t create those events. And
as is the role of good journalism, we don’t take sides, instead, we hold the
powerful to account for the decisions they make.
We were once accused of bias because Al Jazeera Arabic was the
first Arabic channel to have Israeli politicians and commentators on the air.
But what we were doing was ensuring we heard and challenged all relevant voices
in a quest for good journalism. We were accused of extremism when we
interviewed members of the Taliban, but in fact we were asking the hard
questions and ensuring we were challenging all sides of the story.
We defend the freedom
of expression and believe in peoplesright to knowledge. We take no
sides, we are no one’s messenger or spokesperson and we never have been.
Al Jazeera – like all credible media organisations –
has been challenged throughout its history. We have
been criticisedbecause our journalism shows what is really going on, and
sometimes governments, corporations or individuals don’t want what they are
doing to be seen. Our offices have been closed in the past by certain countries
who didn’t want the truth to be seen. Most recently by Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain, the UAE, and Egypt. The satellite TV and online signals distributing
our channels have been blocked by governments to prevent their people seeing
our content. Al Jazeera’s staff have been threatened, locked up, and
tragically killed as a consequence of carrying out their duties as
journalists. Our colleagues in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere have paid the
ultimate price while doing their jobs.
We have also reported about critical and perhaps embarrassing
issues in Qatar when they arose; including the plight of workers on
construction sites and accusations of rights violations. We have covered stories
that have been attacked by Bahrain, the UAE, and
Saudi Arabia because we showed what
was really going on. Egypt not only attacked Al Jazeera for its coverage, but
also, shockingly, imprisoned and sentenced our colleagues, whose only crime was
their commitment to great journalism.
Countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the UAE may
silence their own media and their own people’s freedom to speak out, but
because Al Jazeera is watched by so many people in the Arab world, they want us
gone. Despite the pressure being exerted on Al Jazeera by
these countires, and their calls for our closure, we have covered the
region and events with balance and with impartiality, and we will continue to
do so. We are a network which exists to cover all peoples; to hear human
stories from all corners of the world; and to ensure our information stands up
to scrutiny in every country and by every person who watches or reads our news.
The attempt to silence Al Jazeera is an attempt to
silence independent journalism in the region, and to challenge everyone’s
freedom to be heard and to be informed. This must not be allowed to happen.
We are deeply proud of our journalism. We respect - and
give thanks to - everyone we report about,, and everyone we
inform. We remain resolute in carrying out our responsibility of
providing reliable information, and giving those we cover a voice. We are
unwavering in our resolve to continue doing so, and we will proceed to tell the
stories of the world from Kabul to Caracas and from Mosul to Sydney. We will
continue to do our job with integrity. We will continue to be courageous
in the pursuit of the truth. And we will continue to respect people’s
rights to be heard.
