Al Jazeera: Pride and Privilege
Al Jazeera: Pride and Privilege Salah Eddin Elzein | Al Jazeera Media Network Advisor
Racing against the clock, I started packing my bag in the early hours of the last Sunday in October 2014. I wondered why most, if not all, of my mission trips started at dawn. It could be a reminder that just as a new day breaks with sunrise, a new chapter in a person’s life may start with a journey. My destination this time was Beijing and it was a mission like no other. I was assigned to represent the Network’s Director General in the Board of Judges for the 2014 World Media Summit’s (WMS) Global Award for Excellence. Established in 2004, the WMS is a non- governmental media forum created as an initiative from leading international media organisations to meet the challenges emerging from the rapid developments in the information, communication and media industries. It was not my first trip to China, as I had represented Al Jazeera Centre For Studies in a number of conferences that focussed on the geopolitical transformations in MENA and their repercussions for the region’s relations with China. However, this trip was different. The moment the plane took off from Doha airport, I felt the weight of what I was about to embrace.
Throughout the 8-hour flight, my mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Al Jazeera’s chances of winning some of those prestigious awards. The Board of Judges was made up of leaders and representatives from leading media organisations, mostly competitors to Al Jazeera, which has always been a target of malicious propaganda because of its daring journalism. The award’s four categories saw more than 1,400 entries, which were shortlisted to just 36. The competition was fierce, but Al Jazeera advanced with four of its programmes and news stories to the finals. Bad weather conditions and poor visibility meant it took several attempts before the pilot could land. Then immigration and customs procedures took longer than usual. As a result, I reached the hotel only a few minutes before the scheduled jury meeting. Despite my exhaustion, I dropped my luggage in my room and went straight up to the 11th floor where the meeting was taking place. So meticulous about details, the Chinese organisers of the meeting had created a state-of-the-art venue, measuring up to the global event. Each jury member was assigned a dedicated station equipped with a monitor and voting device. All the members were connected to the central database with all the contesting entries.
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