stances, ensuring a safe and balanced coverage of news and events becomes harder and more dangerous. However, “to minimize risks and provide as comprehensive and accurate coverage as possible of Lebanese affairs, there is no option for professional media but to stick to the highest professional standards and avoid any bias whatsoever” (1) . Accordingly, Al Jazeera’s crew in Lebanon deals very carefully with the sectarian divisions and related developments. It pro- vides coverage that “strikes a very delicate balance between providing a news product that fits well with the Network’s editorial policy, while keeping away from falling into directed journalism or playing propa- ganda on behalf of any political or sectarian group” (2) . However, unlike Iraq, the relatively old sectarian system in Leb- anon has established certain traditions that can be understood and di- gested by reporters, especially if they are from a Lebanese origin. This proximity helps find appropriate methods to professional coverage for the least amount of risk. In addition, the long-held free media climate in Lebanon, despite some circumstantial setbacks, has created a social and political culture that is more accepting and respectful of media work and requirements. Nevertheless, adhering to professional standards to avoid unnecessary tensions with power centres is not sufficient. Some- times, unexpected threats do surface. For example, Al Jazeera’s crew in Lebanon faced pressures from influential political figures on several occasions because of personal views posted on social media by some of the Network’s staff members. On another particular occasion, a dozen young people attempted to storm its office and blocked its entrance for several hours. Mazen Ibrahim, Head of Al Jazeera’s Beirut office, men- tioned a coworker tweets criticizing a political leader’s wife resulted in that leader “warning us against potential targeting if the coworker remains within a given area. According to him, it was impossible to control his followers. This kind of pressures recurred over the last few years, culminating once into a manhunt against Al Jazeera crew by cars with armed men. Later, those practices turned into a pattern through which some influential parties tried to gain favourable editorial dic-
(1) Mazen Ibrahim, head of Al Jazeera’s Beirut office, email interview, 8 September 2020.
(2) Ibid.
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