November’s Good Tidings
November’s Good Tidings Jaafar Abbas | Senior Researcher, Al Jazeera
It is as if Qatar has always been on a date with destiny in November: in that month in 1996 Al Jazeera was born and in 2022 it will host the first- ever FIFA World Cup Finals in the Arab world. Now, as Al Jazeera marks its silver jubilee, it has established its leading position in the Arab and global media arena. Twenty-five years later, November 1, 1996, a Friday, is still alive in my memory. I was keen to be alone to witness this momentous event. “This is the first news bulletin from Al Jazeera in Qatar,” said the veteran presenter Jamal Rayan. It started with coverage of civil war and international military conflict in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That was followed by news on the infighting between Kurdish factions in the north of Iraq; then the developments in Afghanistan. At a time when all the mainstream media organisations in the region where vying to please those in power, steering away from professional practices and ethical codes and still under the control of ruling regimes, it was unusual to have regional or international news as headlines.
It was a clear sign that Al Jazeera was truly unique. It had broken the prevailing stereotype. In the run-up to Al Jazeera’s launch, a small number of enthusiastic media professionals dedicated themselves in a spirited environment to make a difference. Every one of them went the extra mile; from working beyond office hours to voluntarily helping others. Senior management was no exception. Administrative staff worked side- by-side with the financial and the technical teams. Everyone rolled up their sleeves to successfully complete the herculean task. Before this, the audience in the Arab world had been hostage to CNN and BBC. Even during the 1991 US- led Desert Storm for the liberation of Kuwait, Arab viewers were following these networks as their only source of news. But, during the 1998 Operation Desert Fox in Iraq, everything had changed. Al Jazeera had a fully- fledged bureau in Baghdad and covered the war minute by minute – telling untold stories and presenting news from an Arab perspective. Representatives of other international news channels were stationed in the Al Jazeera bureau’s building, citing Al Jazeera as their source and showing images carrying our logo.
Al Jazeera was first described in political and media circles as ‘the CNN of the Arab World,’ which was a negative comment disguised as praise. But that description waned as Al Jazeera has left its own indelible mark, domestically and globally, through its impartiality, professional integrity and credibility. Having proven to be a ‘rough diamond,’ Al Jazeera decided to extend its broadcast around the clock, going 24/7 in 1999.
Coverage of the events of and following September 11, 2001 marked another milestone on Al Jazeera’s journey. It was the first news outlet in the world to air the audio and video recordings released by Al Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden. The whole world was watching Al Jazeera.
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