Al Jazeera: A Single Ray of Hope
Here, I should mention the role played by the Qatari leadership during the 1994 civil war in Yemen, maintaining the country’s territorial unity. This particular event exposed the gap between the reality of the mass media and the government policies. There came the idea of creating an out-of- the-ordinary news network; an example to follow in the Arab world and beyond. By 1995, The Father Emir decreed that the Information Ministry be dissolved, simply for being linked to censorship and limiting freedoms. It heralded a new dawn; a new era for the media in our region. Another milestone on Qatar’s journey towards the new reality of mass media was the famous ‘Affairs & Opinions’ talk show on Radio Qatar. The bold programme was a breakthrough; especially as the Radio Qatar waves reached all the Gulf countries. When I was asked to present a report to the Qatari leadership on the show, I simply wrote: “A wider margin of freedom is needed; the scope of affairs needs to broaden to include the unspoken of issues.” Slowly but surely, Qatar’s media vehicles started to move in the right direction. My last assignment as Information Minister was to the GCC ministerial level summit in 1995. The conferring parties knew about the dissolution. In his farewell message, a fellow GCC minister said: “We
have one last request before you leave office, kindly stop the ‘Affairs & Opinions’ show on Radio Qatar. The margin of freedom and issues discussed are a thorn in our necks.” “I cannot make a promise,” I replied. “All I can say is that it is only the tip of an iceberg.” Then came Al Jazeera; born and grown ripe against all odds. It went beyond to surmount the language barrier, launching Al Jazeera English, followed by Al Jazeera Balkans. Al Jazeera is addressing people in all corners of the globe; telling the world untold stories. During my Africa campaign for the race to the UNESCO chief office in 2017, I was telephoned by a prominent African leader who asked me to pay a visit to his country. At that time, the four blockading countries arbitrarily sought the shutting down of Al Jazeera. Upon meeting him, the prominent leader told me: “Kindly inform the Qatari leadership that we, in Africa, are proud of Al Jazeera; so keep going and pay no attention to these unlawful demands.” We all take pride in Al Jazeera’s fearless journalism; and raise the hat in salute to Al Jazeera and before that to the wise Qatari leadership that turned its vision into a reality.
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