Floating on Cloud Nine for 23 Years
Floating on Cloud Nine for 23 Years Khalid Saleh | Senior Presenter Al Jazeera News Channel
For 23 years, I have had the privilege to be among a constellation of top journalists, media technicians and administrative officers from every corner of the globe. This unique assemblage of elite professionals was brought together by Al Jazeera. Together we created a new landscape for the media in the Arab world - by virtue of accuracy, credibility and objectivity. Al Jazeera was a pioneer in providing a platform for ‘an opinion and the counter opinion,’ setting an example for others to follow. It feels as though it was just yesterday that Mohammed Jasim Al-Ali, the then managing director, who was instrumental in Al Jazeera’s journey and successes, telephoned me. It felt like a turning point in my professional life. He commended my work as a TV meteorologist at Qatar TV and requested that I join Al Jazeera. “You have only two weeks to be on Al Jazeera’s screen,” he told me. It is hard to describe my feelings at that moment: it was joy mixed with enthusiasm. I cannot deny that I had my fears. Al Jazeera then had the most advanced TV equipment and technologies. However, the encouraging words of Al-Ali gave me the incentive I needed.
On my first day of recording before going on air, the unthinkable happened. As I was reading the script I had written and practiced, the information and graphics that appeared on the weather map did not correspond. I felt butterflies in my stomach. A few minutes of confusion followed. But years of experience with Qatar TV gave me the confidence I needed. I requested that the technicians examine the equipment. They found the glitch. A last minute system update was responsible. With a sigh of relief, I went in full thrust. My first on-screen live weather forecast report was in 1997; it was highly admired. Within a few days, I felt as one with my colleagues; since Al Jazeera’s spirit encompasses us all. This was an added incentive for more hard work. In 1999, there came another milestone in my career. A few seconds before I was due to go live on air, the teleprompter jammed. The producer decided to skip the weather segment, but I said I was ready to do it without a script. After the report, I heard a round of applause from everyone in the newsroom. My fellow presenter, Jamal Rayan, said on air: “I bear witness that our
colleague Khaled has given the weather report without a script. He did it off the cuff.” Since that day, I have been presenting the weather report entirely without a script. I should say that with every achievement came new challenges and pressures. However, the noble mission for which Al Jazeera was founded, laced with the professional ethics and values we all adhere to, have always provided the impetus to keep going. When the going gets tough, only the tough get going.
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