also tend to be more capable than foreigners of diversifying their news sources. They usually strive to present the local point of view more objectively. Since they are based in the field or nearby, “they have a better understanding of the context and complexities of a running news story… in case of a breaking news story within their area, they will be quicker than their competitors, who most often have to travel from their headquarters in Europe or the U.S”. (1) To better deal with news sources as per its policy, Al Jazeera had to engineer a process in which planning, management, and organisation are combined – an approach that in effect contributes to getting a scoop and its leading edge at the Arab and international levels. To keep its professional standards up, Al Jazeera was the first to stay up-to-date with and operate the ever-changing means of technology, especially the satellite newsgathering systems (SNG) and the likes, in addition to training and equipping its journalists and technicians (2) . Russell New- man argues that, “technology does not determine the functional goals of the organisation but may well make a difference; as the new technol- ogies are designed to do what earlier technologies did, but in a little, better, faster, or cheaper fashion” (3) . Supporting this opinion, Youssef Al-Shouli sums up his overall experience with Al Jazeera by saying, its success is a result of the availability of human capabilities and modern technology in addition to the high margin of freedom granted to its journalists (4) . Next comes the task of organising the access of modern technologies to news sources in hot spots, or locations targeted by cov- erage at the appropriate time. This process falls under the responsibility of the logistics departments and those competent in the flow of news, photos and information to the Network’s multiple screens (5) . Accord-
(1) Ibid.
(2) Youssef Al-Shouli, personal interview, November 2020.
(3) Doris Graber, Denis McQuail and Pippa Norris, The Politics of News: The News of Poli- tics , translated by Zain Najati (Cairo, Shorouk International Bookshop, 2004), p. 298.
(4) Al-Shouli, personal interview, Ibid.
(5) Al Jazeera English was launched in 2006. A year earlier, in 2005, Al Jazeera Mubasher came to being. In 2011, Al Jazeera Balkans went live. On 20 August 2013, Al Jazeera launched
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