ies focus on the new media culture and editorial policy on which the identity of the Al Jazeera news model was founded and its split from the traditional practice of the Arab media as well as the experiences of some international outlets. Censorship was a tool used to determine the content of news, its priorities, and the personalities who were to appear in or be left out of news reports, according to the interests of the coun- tries sponsoring said media outlets, which were neither neutral nor pro- fessional (1) . They continuously promoted a single narrative representing the authorities or the parties funding the media outlets, which under- mine their credibility, integrity, and independence. Thus, Al Jazeera marked a founding moment in the history of the Arab media scene (2) by opening the doors to a high level of professionalism and freedom and breaking the traditional rules that governed Arab media practice. The essence of this culture was first embodied in the principles set out in the journalistic “Code of Ethics” (3) drafted in 2004. The code defines the foundations and standards of Al Jazeera’s professional practice and commitment to journalistic values such as honesty, courage, fairness, balance, independence, credibility and diversity, giving no priority to commercial or political considerations over professionalism. This was followed by the “Professional Code of Conduct”, which was issued by the end of the same year. Today, some of the rules and foundations set by Al Jazeera during its professional journey may seem a standard requirement for the de- livery of professional work in any major media organisation or outlet. However, the channel’s journey shows these regulations and founda- tions faced many challenges and obstacles. It was not easy to turn them into professional behaviour or a new media culture in an Arab politi- cal environment that is generally unfriendly to media freedoms and in which authorities use the press as a platform for their narratives and as an unofficial spokesperson. In view of that, Al Jazeera based its convic- tions on the sanctity of news, which cannot be falsified, distorted, fab-
(1) Tayseer Allouni, phone interview, Ibid.
(2) Sadiq Rabeh, Professor of mass communication at Qatar University, email interview, 26 September 2020.
(3) “Code of Ethics”, Ibid.
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