Al Jazeera (sometimes written as “Aljazeera” or “Al-Jazeera”) is a Qatar-based international news outlet. The organization has been called “the emirate’s most visible export for more than two decades. ¹

Al Jazeera was established and is primarily funded by the Qatari government, but the outlet has consistently claimed that it has editorial independence. While most mainstream observers acknowledge the integrity and independence of Al Jazeera’s coverage in some domains, critics claim the news agency is beholden to the Qatari government and promotes Qatar’s ideological and geopolitical objectives. Al Jazeera has been in a dispute with the U.S. Department of Justice since 2020 when it was ordered to register as a foreign agent.

Media Bias Fact Check rates Al Jazeera as having a “slight left” bias with “mixed” factual reporting. ² AllSides also rates Al Jazeera as “lean left,” though it previously was evaluated as “center.” ³

Background

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Arabic-language media in the Persian Gulf region was dominated by newspapers owned and supported by the government of Saudi Arabia and allies of the Saudi regime. These media outlets developed the infrastructure and capacity for local media but promoted stories that aligned with the agenda of the Saudi state, which was of the biggest geopolitical rivals of Qatar. In 1995, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani launched a coup against his father to become ruler of Qatar. Both the takeover and Al Thani’s policies, which attempted to break Qatar away from Saudi hegemony, attracted harsh criticisms from the Saudi media. ⁴

In 1996, Al Thani financed the launch of Al Jazeera with a $137 million loan to challenge the dominance of the Saudi media throughout the Middle East. A few months after the launch, BBC Arabic closed, and Al Jazeera absorbed much of its staff. By 2001, Al Jazeera was the most popular Arabic-language news outlet in the world but had persistent financial trouble due to heavy pirating of its content and political repression from neighboring Arab states. That year, Al Jazeera borrowed another $130 million from the Qatari government. Al Jazeera’s international popularity and credibility rose throughout the early and mid-2000s due to its coverage of the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, which included exclusive interviews with Osama bin Laden and high-ranking Iraqi officials. ^{5 6 7}

Relationship with Qatar

According to Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera Media Network “is a Private Foundation for Public Benefit under Qatari law; it is not owned by Qatar, and its content is not directed or controlled by the Qatari government nor does it reflect any government viewpoint.” ⁸ Al Jazeera Media Network is owned by QMC, the official state broadcaster of the Qatari government. ⁹

However, many critics have questioned the independence of Al Jazeera given that the outlet was founded by the Qatari government, receives about 90 percent of its funding from the government allowing it to operate at a perpetual financial loss, and is run by Sheik Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani, a member of the Qatari royal house. ¹⁰

Human rights lawyer Narea Belmonte has called Al Jazeera “an echo of Qatari diplomacy” with a “strong Islamic tinge of its editorial line.” For instance, she and other critics have claimed that Al Jazeera purposefully enflamed the Arab Spring in the early 2010s to support Islamist opposition movements ideologically aligned with Qatar against the secular nationalist governments of Egypt, Syria, and other countries. Belmonte has pointed out that in contrast to the network’s often hard-hitting and highly critical coverage of neighboring regimes, Al Jazeera has been meek in covering the unsavory aspects of the Qatari government. ¹¹

According to many pro-Israel critics, Al Jazeera whitewashes Islamist extremist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and Hezbollah. The Zachor Legal Institute describes Al Jazeera’s coverage as “propaganda,” and “anti-American, anti-West, anti-Israel, divisive.” ¹²

In 2010, Wikileaks released U.S. Embassy cables that revealed Qatar was using Al Jazeera as a bargaining chip with other states. Allegedly, Qatar would offer to steer Al Jazeera toward more positive coverage or away from criticism in exchange for diplomatic concessions. ¹³

Emad Elhady of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy claims that the Qatari government uses Al Jazeera to undermine neighboring Arab states and Western powers, sometimes even by contradicting its own foreign policy priorities. For instance, Al Jazeera was considered to be a harsh critic of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq despite Qatar’s support for the military action. ¹⁴

At times, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Syria, Algeria, and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries, have blocked Al Jazeera’s broadcasts for allegedly biased reporting. ¹⁵

Foreign Agent Registration Dispute

Through its subsidiary outlet AJ+, Al Jazeera operates a branch in Washington, D.C., that broadcasts in the United States. In 2019, at the behest of six Republican U.S. Senators, ¹⁶ the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) began considering demanding that Al Jazeera register as a foreign agent. The following year, the DOJ determined that Al Jazeera was “controlled and funded by the government of Qatar,” and officially made its demand. The Qatari government claimed the decision was made as a diplomatic gesture to Qatar’s rival, the United Arab Emirates, which had recently normalized relations with Israel. ^{17 18}

Al Jazeera has consistently claimed that its editorial operations are not influenced by the Qatari government. As of March 2023, Al Jazeera has still refused to register as a foreign agent. ¹⁹

Qatar Blockade Crisis

In 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain launched a blockade against Qatar due to numerous diplomatic conflicts, including the Qatari government allegedly funding Islamist extremist groups. Among the 13 demands given to Qatar to end the blockade was shutting down Al Jazeera. Qatar refused to comply with any demands and largely evaded the economic consequences of the blockade by increasing imports from Turkey and Iran. In 2021, the conflict was resolved by negotiations organized by the United States and Kuwait. ²⁰

Al Jazeera America

In 2013, Al Jazeera purchased U.S.-based Current TV, a struggling left-wing media network partially owned by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, for $500 million. Al Jazeera restructured the station as Al Jazeera America and began broadcasting in the United States. In 2016, due to low viewership and low oil prices impacting the Qatari government’s finances, Al Jazeera America closed. ²¹

Though Al Jazeera America won numerous awards for its journalism, it faced sharp backlash for one of its final major stories. In 2015, Al Jazeera released a piece accusing Peyton Manning and five other major National Football League (NFL) athletes of using performance-enhancing substances. The only source for the story was a single intern caught on a hidden camera who denied the validity of his claims the day before the article’s release. In response to the article, Manning was investigated by the NFL and cleared of all wrongdoing. ²²

“Al Jazeera Effect”

Al Jazeera has been credited with spreading awareness of the culture, views, and current events within in the Middle East. The success of Al Jazeera has prompted the coining of an academic and media concept known as the “Al Jazeera Effect” to reference the impact of new media sources (particularly outside government control) on global politics. For instance, Al Jazeera’s coverage of protests across the Middle East during the early 2010s prompted global recognition and support for the “Arab Spring.” ²³

Brookings Institution scholar Shibley Telhami described the transition from older Middle East media outlets to Al Jazeera: “Now, instead of having to view lengthy footage of the royal family meeting foreign guests, viewers were exposed to programming that most Arabs hungered for, from opposing opinions to more information on issues they cared deeply about as Arabs and Muslims. This included live footage of bloodshed in Israeli confrontations with the Palestinians—footage that Arab national television broadcasts limited so as not to awaken their public’s passion. Al Jazeera further broke taboos in the 1990s by reporting from the Israeli Knesset (parliament), showing open debates, including sharp criticism of the Israeli government by Arab members of the Knesset.” ²⁴

1. Loudis, Jessica. “What Did Al Jazeera Do?” The New Republic. June 20, 2017. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://newrepublic.com/article/143410/al-jazeera-do.
2. “Al Jazeera.” Media Bias Fact Check. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/al-jazeera/.
3.  “Al Jazeera.” AllSides. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.allsides.com/news-source/al-jazeera-media-bias#:~:text=As%20of%20May%202023%2C%2013%2C345,our%20bias%20rating%20of%20Center.
4. Telhami, Shibley. “Al Jazeera: The Most Feared News Network.” Brookings Institute. June 15, 2013. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/al-jazeera-the-most-feared-news-network/.
5. Telhami, Shibley. “Al Jazeera: The Most Feared News Network.” Brookings Institute. June 15, 2013. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/al-jazeera-the-most-feared-news-network/.
6. Belmonte, Nerea. “Al Jazeera, an echo of Qatari diplomacy.” Atalayar. April 15, 2022. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://atalayar.com/en/content/al-jazeera-echo-qatari-diplomacy.
7. Loudis, Jessica. “What Did Al Jazeera Do?” The New Republic. June 20, 2017. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://newrepublic.com/article/143410/al-jazeera-do.
8. Markay, Lachlan. “DOJ pressed to enforce Al Jazeera foreign agent ruling.” Axios. March 3, 2021. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.axios.com/2021/03/03/doj-enforce-al-jazeera-foreign-agent-ruling.
9. ^[1] Boswell, Josh. “EXCLUSIVE: News channel Al Jazeera is slammed for ‘flouting’ government orders to register as a foreign agent of Qatar, new report finds.” Daily Mail. March 22, 2023. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11888793/Al-Jazeera-slammed-flouting-government-orders-register-foreign-agent-Qatar.html
10. Belmonte, Nerea. “Al Jazeera, an echo of Qatari diplomacy.” Atalayar. April 15, 2022. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://atalayar.com/en/content/al-jazeera-echo-qatari-diplomacy.
11. Belmonte, Nerea. “Al Jazeera, an echo of Qatari diplomacy.” Atalayar. April 15, 2022. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://atalayar.com/en/content/al-jazeera-echo-qatari-diplomacy.
12. Boswell, Josh. “EXCLUSIVE: News channel Al Jazeera is slammed for ‘flouting’ government orders to register as a foreign agent of Qatar, new report finds.” Daily Mail. March 22, 2023. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11888793/Al-Jazeera-slammed-flouting-government-orders-register-foreign-agent-Qatar.html.
13. Booth, Robert. “Wikileaks cables claim al-Jazeera changed coverage to suit Qatari foreign policy.” The Guardian. Decemeber 6, 2010. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-cables-al-jazeera-qatari-foreign-policy.
14. Elhady, Emad. “The Western Media Misguided Narrative about Al Jazeera.” Washington Institute for Near East Policy. March 22, 2018. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/western-media-misguided-narrative-about-al-jazeera.
15. Belmonte, Nerea. “Al Jazeera, an echo of Qatari diplomacy.” Atalayar. April 15, 2022. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://atalayar.com/en/content/al-jazeera-echo-qatari-diplomacy.
16.  ^[1] Dunleavy, Jerry. “Al Jazeera pushes back on GOP effort to force it to register as a foreign agent.” Washington Examiner. June 19, 2019. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/al-jazeera-pushes-back-on-gop-effort-to-force-it-to-register-as-a-foreign-agent.
17. Tracy, Marc; Jakes, Lara. “U.S. Orders Al Jazeera Affiliate to Register as Foreign Agent.” New York Times. September 15, 2020. Updated October 30, 2020. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/business/media/aj-al-jazeera-fara.html.
18. Boswell, Josh. “EXCLUSIVE: News channel Al Jazeera is slammed for ‘flouting’ government orders to register as a foreign agent of Qatar, new report finds.” Daily Mail. March 22, 2023. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11888793/Al-Jazeera-slammed-flouting-government-orders-register-foreign-agent-Qatar.html.
19. Boswell, Josh. “EXCLUSIVE: News channel Al Jazeera is slammed for ‘flouting’ government orders to register as a foreign agent of Qatar, new report finds.” Daily Mail. March 22, 2023. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11888793/Al-Jazeera-slammed-flouting-government-orders-register-foreign-agent-Qatar.html.
20. Yee, Vivian; Specia, Megan. “Gulf States Agree to End Isolation of Qatar.” The New York Times. January 5, 2021. Updated October 6, 2021. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/world/middleeast/gulf-qatar-blockade.html.
21. Thielman, Sam. “Al-Jazeera America to shut down after less than three years on air.” The Guardian. January 13, 2016. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jan/13/al-jazeera-america-shut-down-cable-tv-news-network.
22. Loudis, Jessica. “What Did Al Jazeera Do?” The New Republic. June 20, 2017. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://newrepublic.com/article/143410/al-jazeera-do.
23. Maimuna, Fariha. “What are the CNN and Aljazeera effects? Are they still pertinent today?” The Independent. August 28, 2021. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.theindependentbd.com/post/267356.
24. Telhami, Shibley. “Al Jazeera: The Most Feared News Network.” Brookings Institute. June 15, 2013. Accessed May 3, 2023. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/al-jazeera-the-most-feared-news-network/.