Al Jazeera Arabic

Al Jazeera Arabic went on air in Doha in 1996 and permanently changed television journalism in the Arab world. Until then news broadcasting in the region was a monopoly of state television and the debate programme did not exist; Al Jazeera found its audience immediately with programmes in which opposing views met live and with reporting that stepped outside the state account.

Its influence on regional politics was clearest during the Arab uprisings of 2011; its broadcasts were blocked in several countries, its bureaus closed and its correspondents detained. The channel is the subject of a permanent argument about impartiality because of its funding relationship with the Qatari state, and that information is necessary for readers on questions of intra-Gulf rivalry.

Against that, Al Jazeera Arabic is one of the most comprehensive institutions in Arabic-language journalism in field presence and archive.