It's Time to Dump Al Jazeera

For years, Al Jazeera was one of the only news outlets left   in the Middle East covering real stories of importance to average people and not just those in power. But that changed when Qatar fell under Saudi Arabia’s control and now Al Jazeera is nothing more than a Saudi mouthpiece pushing propaganda as if it were actual news. It’s time we dumped Al Jazeera and find other ways to get the truth.

The political bias

Before its Qatar-based network began broadcasting in 2006, most Americans had never heard of Al Jazeera. Then again, most Americans didn’t know that much about the Arab world either, which is why so many people were pleasantly surprised by how unbiased and informative they found AJE (Al Jazeera English) during their coverage of events like 9/11. Unfortunately, things changed when a new organization took over: it was called AJ+ (launched in 2014), but no one cared what it stood for.

Lack of credibility

Al Jazeera isn’t exactly 8Xbet a household name in America. After all, why would Americans feel compelled to watch a news channel based in Qatar when they can tune into CNN or Fox News? The problem with AJ is that it’s so blatantly biased—and there are plenty of reasons for Americans to distrust it.

Anti-Israel bias

It is no secret that Al Jazeera has a bias against Israel. With its coverage of Operation Pillar of Defense, it’s clear that its 8Xbet  coverage has been consistently one-sided and biased. Regardless of whether you agree with Israel’s policies toward Gaza, every news organization should strive for objectivity when reporting on international conflict. Unfortunately, that isn’t how things work in Qatar.

Selective reporting

It’s hard to take an impartial view of Qatar’s foreign policy when it is being conducted in such a partial way. Decades ago, Qataris built a pipeline that transports vast amounts of natural gas from Iraq through Saudi Arabia and on into Europe. In 2009, Qatar struck a deal with Taliban leaders that allowed for US supply trucks from Afghanistan to travel along their nation’s roads in exchange for protection against attacks by US troops.

Inaccurate reporting

While some of Al Jazeera’s reporting is reliable, you can’t count on it as a consistent source of truthful and objective information. Its coverage frequently skews towards one side or another, and often in ways that do not serve people who are looking for clear truths. For example, Al Jazeera has given disproportionate airtime to Donald Trump compared with other candidates in both parties.

Hate speech

The only reason one would even consider trusting Al Jazeera is if they hadn’t watched it. The channel has been known to propagate anti-Semitic, anti-American and anti-Israeli rhetoric. Since its inception in 1996, it has been accused of broadcasting hate speech. For example, in 2011, former executive Wadah Khanfar used an interview with Hezbollah leaders Nasrallah and Khalil Harb to accuse Israel of apartheid and ethnic cleansing.

Using misleading information

It was a mistake for Qatar, at first, to try and pass itself off as an Arab state by hiring legions of English-speaking journalists—most of whom were non-Arabs. But it’s understandable why they did it in a region where little is actually transparent. It’s also understandable why Qatar initially avoided criticism by aligning itself with other Arab regimes and didn’t broadcast dissenting political views on its own soil until recently.