sources came to yield more trust and expansion. This credit came as a result of the audience’s appreciation of “the channel’s credibility, and Al Jazeera’s awareness of the colossal spread of its viewership”, as Ahmed Sheikh expressed (1) . In this context, Miles maintains, “time and time again, ordinary Aras have shown themselves happy to act as Al Ja- zeera’s unofficial news-gatherers, even when at the same time the stated position of their government may be antipathetic towards Al Jazeera” (2) . The level of trust in Al Jazeera’s news has reached such an extent that “people in the region know that if they want to reach a large transna- tional audience on a channel which will not edit or misrepresent what they have to say, Al Jazeera is virtually the only choice” (3) . Altogether, this trust enabled the channel to break the monopoly imposed by inter- national agencies on news sources. Thus, Al Jazeera turned into one of the most diverse and reliable sources for news. Likewise, Al Jazeera English (AJE), which began broadcasting in November 2006, followed the same strategy in dealing with news sources. Since the early days of its operation, its management delib- erately sought to “steer the attention away from power centres to the margins” (4) . The executive tool invested in the delivery of this new ed- itorial policy relied on local correspondents reporting from the field, especially in the global South. This policy has several advantages, as explained by Tine Figenschou. She believes that local correspondents are better equipped to grasp and convey the realities on the ground in line with the core values of the Network. A local correspondent is better equipped because he/she “speaks the local language (s); knows the cul- ture, religion and way of life; has personal experience with and a deep understanding of the challenges of the community; navigates the system and knows how to deal with local authorities” (5) . Local correspondents
(1) Reported by Ould Ashfagh, Al Jazeera wa-Asraruha, Ibid., p. 152.
(2) Miles, “Celebrating a Decade of Free Speech”, Ibid. p. 170.
(3) Ibid, p. 168.
(4) Philip Seib (ed.), Al Jazeera English: Global News in a Changing World (New York: Pal- grave Macmillan, 2012), p. 46.
(5) Figenschou, Al Jazeera and the Global Media Landscape , pp. 61.
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