“We have come to see correspondents speaking in the midst of smoke, destruction and bombing, which has led to the deaths of some. We have even have come to see Al Jazeera’s reporters on the front lines, well - trained in war coverage” (1) . Here, Al Jazeera’s legacy is prominent in challenging the Western media’s monopoly on and dominance of the narrative of the Arab and Islamic world, as well as the world at large. Unlike influential or other mainstream media, which often refrain from portraying human suffer- ing and present pain and deprivation through “clean” or “whitewashed” images, Al Jazeera conveys the story of suffering in the form of an ex- perience that is as close as possible to the viewers. In this manner, the channel provokes feelings of sympathy in viewers. In contrast to the “clean” Western media coverage that which usually hides the true face of death and destruction, Al Jazeera’s “bold” coverage presents the ugly side of reality in the region (2) . 3. Al Jazeera’s Influence on the Media Environment The persistence of the identity of Al Jazeera’s news model, with the matrix of its news values, its media culture, its approach and pro- fessional journey since the beginning, seem to be a feat that prompted some researchers and academics to consider it an exceptional media school, distinguished by its professional reports and investigative and talk shows (3) . The channel has set new standards for freedom for all Arab and even international media networks. Perhaps one of the most import- ant impact Al Jazeera has had in the context of the media environment is it becoming a source of news and a reference for information. And by being the first to broadcast important stories after acquiring the latest
(1) Ahmed Barakat, email interview, Ibid.
(2) Mohamed Zayani, “News Reporting and the Politics of Representation: Al Jazeera’s Cul- ture of Journalism” in Mapping the Al Jazeera Phenomenon Twenty Years On , (Beirut: Al Ja- zeera Centre for Studies and Arab Scientific Publishers, 2016), p. 91. (3) Mohamed Kirat, Professor of Mass Communication at Sultan Qaboos University, phone interview, 15 September 2020.
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