in building the story, so that balance prevails in terms of presence and coherence. Not only that, the presenter’s appearance in the programme at any point must have a technical reason necessary to the overall media design. As the presenter’s face becomes a focal point for the viewer, care should be taken to avoid any obvious makeup that will take atten- tion away from the content (1) . The Quality Control unit has placed high technical standards on the presenter’s appearance and other factors. In terms of the guests, the highest level of judgment should also be taken into consideration when introducing them. Al Jazeera does not use the term “artist” to describe a guest, but rather “actor” or “musician”, nor does it use “thinker”, but rather “philosophy professor” or “sociolo- gy professor”, to maintain the standards of accuracy. Furthermore, the guest is introduced in such a way that explains the attributes that give the guest authority to speak on the topic at hand (2) . Perhaps one of the most prominent editorial challenges is that which is applicable to digital media. This begins with the dividing label between new media and old media, and a free media versus a restricted one. All of these labels create some dissonance and open the doors of conflict between print, visual and digital media (3) . However, Al Jazeera does not automatically look at the relationship between these types of media as one of conflict; rather, it enacted quality control policies to open communication between digital and television media, and created a complementary situation rather than one of competition and tension. Many other media organisations have taken this route as well. But, the most notable of these cases integrate between the different outlets and types of media in creating media content and marketing methods (4) .
(1) “Editorial Standards”, Ibid., p. 99.
(2) “Documentary Film Standards”, unpublished document, Al Jazeera Media Network .
(3) “Digital Media Guide”, unpublished paper, Al Jazeera Media Network .
(4) There is no alternative to integration, as a study by Northwestern University affirmed in 2015. This is also seen in Morsi and Hassan’s study on integrating media platforms in news- rooms. They found that 75 per cent of Arabs between the ages of 18 and 24 believe that news on social media can be trusted, while only 40 per cent of those above 45 believe this. However, 73 per cent of those between 18 and 24, and 86 per cent of those above 45, trust television news.
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