Al Jazeera: Ripe But Ageless
Al Jazeera: Ripe But Ageless Tariq Dodic | Managing Director, Al Jazeera Balkans
is an audience that trusts us and recognises that we are different. In the future, with countless media and countless new platforms, we have to work tirelessly to maintain audience trust, to protect and strengthen the specificity by which AJMN and AJB are recognised. Journalism is not a compromise, but a constant struggle for the truth: accurate, verified, timely, and impartial. Such journalism, to which Al Jazeera aspires, is often disliked by politicians, governments, and the powerful. We have witnessed numerous attacks on Al Jazeera’s people and property; imprisonment, destruction, demolition. However, as long as we move within the framework of our Code of Ethics, the tyrants, no matter how powerful they may be, will know whose side the truth is on. We, at AJB, have carved ten points of the Code of Ethics on our journalists’ desks, so that we can remind ourselves of that precious content every day. In my country, it is said that for a man and a car, the price is determined not only by age, but also by the kilometres travelled. The more years and kilometres, the lower the price. However, with our great AJMN it is just the opposite: in the quarter of a century so much has passed, both beautiful
It was late October 2011 and we were gearing up to start broadcasting Al Jazeera Balkans. At the same time, our mother company, Al Jazeera Media Network, was preparing to celebrate 15 years of their successful operations. We were almost there in terms of the editorial team and journalists, but technically we needed at least a few more days. I came up with an explanation for my managers in Doha that, if that short extension was approved, it would also be useful for marketing purposes. This was because we proposed that the new commencement date be November 11, 2011, or 11-11-11 – six number ones for a happy start. They
happily approved it, so on that date we became part of, allow me to be subjective, the largest media network in the world: AJMN. Twenty-five years of Al Jazeera and 10 years of Al Jazeera Balkans is a great occasion to reminisce briefly, but only briefly, about what we have done – in order that we may move forward with even greater zeal in being the voice of the voiceless. Being a credible international media organisation is a difficult task, which requires hard work minute by minute, day by day, and year by year, in order to see the result through the decades. And that result
and challenging, and tremendous experience and knowledge has been accumulated, which will be the foundation of our professional success in the future. Al Jazeera Balkans will be there, always as part of the solution. We are a younger but very proud member of the large, powerful Al Jazeera family.
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