influence on the public awareness in the face of Arab official nar- ratives. Regarding the internationally prevailing media narratives, Al Jazeera has managed to provide an Arab and Middle Eastern perspective to events while contributing, from an advanced posi- tion, to strike an unprecedented balance in news and information flows between the global North and South. But how did Al Jazeera manage to attain such success that has proven elusive for other media outlets and political authorities? What were the reactions to that challenging attitudes, at both the Arab and international levels? These are the main questions this chapter will address with a view to documenting the experience of this leading media insti- tution and highlighting some of the challenges to its unique media model. 1. Al Jazeera: Confronting Arab Authorities and Competing for International Leadership When Al Jazeera came on the scene and hit its stride, it was groundbreaking on many fronts. For the first time ever in the Arab world, an Arab media network managed to compete with major Western media outlets that have long monopolised the space of news coverage and international awareness throughout the 20 th century. Since its inception on November 1st, 1996, decision mak- ers in the Arab world have realised Al Jazeera’s influence on the Arab audience. Within a relatively short period, Al Jazeera became, as Thomas Friedman put it, “the freest, most-widely watched TV network in the Arab world” (1) . However, that amount of unprece- dented freedom and wide expansion brought shock to the doors of Arab officials. For example, Al Jazeera was the first Arab and in- ternational satellite channel to open an office in Baghdad in 1998, when the Iraqi capital was under an all-out international boycott. This allowed Al Jazeera to cover, the details of the U.S. bombing of the Iraqi capital during ‘Operation Desert Fox’ in December 1998. Just two years old back then, Al Jazeera became the only (1) Thomas Friedman, “Fathers and Sons”, New York Times , 12 February 1999: https://www. nytimes.com/1999/02/12/opinion/foreign-affairs-fathers-and-sons.html/ (accessed 15 Novem- ber 2020).
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