ence, whose world is largely nuclear plant free, is less interested in such incidents than the Western audience whose world is dotted with nuclear plants”, Souag explained. “However, in August 2020, when floods hit Sudan, Al Jazeera Arabic’s coverage reached a peak because of the deep concern of the Arab audience for its Sudanese brethren’s fate. That cov- erage pushed many humanitarian organisations to take action” (1) . The Second Phase: The Centrality of Humans in War Coverage In the second phase, and considering its bias towards humans re- gardless of their colour, faith or national affiliation, Al Jazeera contin- ued to provide a platform to different voices and opinions. However, due to its geographical proximity and accordingly its regional affinity, Arabs regarded Al Jazeera as a huge lung through which they could breathe and express their views without censorship. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Al Jazeera leaped into the international media are- na with extensive field coverage of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Unlike its competitors, Al Jazeera delivered a completely different per- spective in favour of humans, revealing the disastrous consequences of war on the Afghan people. Starting with exclusive and spectacular coverage of the war in Af- ghanistan, this phase consolidated Al Jazeera’s global presence. After this coverage Al Jazeera became a media and political game-changer not only in its region but worldwide. It is worth noting that, despite logistic complications and the gravity of the situation, Al Jazeera’s management succeeded in deploying six crews along the major frontlines. With this positioning, the Network gained unequalled access to the main Afghan news sources, within the Northern Alliance (comprised mainly of Ta- jik, Uzbek and the Shia Hazara) who backed the invasion, as well as within the Taliban who resisted it. While Al Jazeera was reporting from these war fronts, all other international media were absent. That was the moment when Al Jazeera’s logo started to be seen on the screens of other channels as a source of exclusive news. For media veterans, that major development, which came as a surprise, could not have been
(1) Souag, personal interview, Ibid.
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