sition should be accommodating to editorial, ethical and professional references and rules, and should enhance the media outlet’s ability to perform its professional functions. Al Jazeera “seeks eloquent words while respecting norms, and strives for precision” (1) . Thus, it clearly comprehends the role of excellent language design. For example, “exe- cution is not the same as assassination, and they are both different than killing, even if the result is the same in all three cases. Conservative is not the same as extremist, even if the extremist is more likely to be conservative” (2) . In this same context, it is imperative to know when to use the term “regime” versus “government” (3) . Furthermore, there is a difference between the terms “revolution”, “civil war”, “military coup”, “resistance” and “assault”. One of the reasons why greater attention was given to the impact of language in creating intellectual and visual differences was the event of September 11 and what followed it, especially the invasion of Iraq. In the newsroom, it was agreed that what came before foreign troops en- tered the country was an invasion; and if the invasion was “successful”, it would be called an “occupation. Regarding the Syrian revolution, the many different armed groups came to be described as the “armed Syrian opposition” after division overtook the groups that were once known as the “Free Syrian Army” (4) . Any of Al Jazeera’s terminology should not taint reality or be biased towards one sect or religion, but must describe the most accurate reflections of reality without imposing the network’s own views. The Quality Control Division has compiled a language dictionary written by Aref Hijjawi, called the “Lofty Language”. What is note- worthy about this dictionary is that it gathered the meanings of newer
(1) Aref Hijjawi, Lofty Language , (Quality Control and Editorial Standards Division, Al Ja- zeera Media Network, 2014), p. 8.
(2) “Editorial Standards”, Ibid., p. 19.
(3) Ibid, p. 20.
(4) Ibrahim Hilal, “Managing the newsroom”, in Television Media in Al Jazeera’s Experience , Ibid., p. 353.
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