Al Jazeera: An Example to Follow
Al Jazeera: An Example to Follow Dr. Osama Abuelrub | Senior Producer, Al Jazeera Net
In 1998, while busily engaged in a friendly conversation with a friend, I found myself mesmerised by the television. It was the first time I had seen Al Jazeera. I spent the whole night thinking: ‘It is exceptionally unique.’ Days passed and I graduated from Jordan University of Science and Technology and started my career as a dentist. I was also writing, as that is my ultimate passion, and realised how big the gap in healthcare and medical education in the media is. At that point, I decided to enter the fray. While it is said ‘health is wealth,’ it is also said that the media can make a change. Since it was Al Jazeera that had made a difference in our Arab world, I felt it was the only suitable platform. It became my dream to be part of this huge media establishment. The dream kept me going; I began working for radio, while keeping pace with my usual writing routine. One day while browsing through Al Jazeera Net, I came across a job opening. I immediately submitted my CV. Months later, I received a reply with a scheduled written test. ‘Nothing is random in God’s universe,’ I told myself.
I sat the test and the following day I was called for an interview. Then came the good news. I was part of the Al Jazeera team. It was a dream come true. Ever since that day, my life is not as it was. I am now a journalist with a voice reaching millions of people. A child to an engineer father and a dentist mother, my parents had always believed in me. It was them who encouraged me to write my first book, who inspired me to join the media, who motivated me to continue my studies. I practised dentistry for ten years and it was not an easy decision to move to the media. But as Al Jazeera has always put humans at the heart of its coverage, my mission was to provide accurate medical information that would benefit the audience in easy-to-digest words. By the end of 2015, Al Jazeera Clinic was launched. It was the first dedicated medical programme on social platforms. It was met with massive interaction by the audience, with millions of views per episode. Later, many followed in our footsteps and other medical programmes started to appear.
And when the whole world was struck by the coronavirus pandemic, Al Jazeera lived up to the challenge it posed. We provided in-depth information and analyses about the virus, its symptoms and methods of protection, including vaccines. We used graphics and charts to make that information accessible and we verified each and every detail while refuting the false information that spread like wildfire on social media. It was a huge collective effort by everyone in Al Jazeera Net’s newsroom and beyond, and all with one aim: to benefit the public.
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