of the government, the open debate began to transform the previously controlled and heavily censored Arab media. This new political dis- course shook up many brutal governments and pushed them to make some positive changes that were a mere façade. In other words, only the appearance, not the content, were the subject of those changes. In this context, Mostefa Souag, Acting Director General of Al Jazeera Media Network says, “it is very important to comprehend the relationship be- tween ‘the Opinion and other Opinion’ and ‘the Voice of the Voiceless’, both of which have been two of Al Jazeera’s founding mottos that reas- sert the right of the people to grasp the truth from all angles”. Accord- ingly, as a media network that “adheres to the principles of objectivity and balance regardless of the institution and its journalists’ views and inclinations, we believe we have no right to impose a specific opinion on the audience or present one angle of the truth” (1) . In response to those who think Al Jazeera is biased towards the people and such a bias comes at the expense of objective coverage, Souag believes, “when we say that Al Jazeera is biased towards the people, this does not mean it refrains from presenting the views of gov- ernments, powerful parties, dictators, or even occupying forces. Being biased towards the people is being biased towards the human right to know the truth. We believe that when the people are equipped with knowledge, they have sufficient awareness to make the right choices. In its constant pursuit of this objective, Al Jazeera strives to reach the disenfranchised and give them a voice and spread awareness of their suffering in order to alleviate it” (2) . During the period between 1996 and 2001, the vision of providing a platform to a variety of differing voices in the Middle East became a belief system despite all the animosity it brought against Al Jazeera and Qatar from nearly all the governments in the region. However, the Net- work gained a growing trust and credibility of the masses in the Arab world . The irony is that despite their animosity, certain leaders have always relied on Al Jazeera as their main source of news and informa-
(1) Mostefa Souag, personal interview, Doha, October 2020
(2) Ibid.
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