Closing down Al Jazeera?
We are stunned and disturbed by the call to close down Al Jazeera Satellite network and its affiliates as one of the demands by four Arab States in order for the recent boycott against Qatar to be lifted. The call for shutting down a popular, internationally recognised news network for political reasons is a regressive move on many counts.
First of all this is a direct threat to freedom of the press and the growth of multiplicity of views. Al Jazeera has established itself as an international media outlet that provides divergent views, including the Arab perspective of global issues. Secondly, in a world in which global information is monopolised by western media, to try to ban a news network that prides itself for representing the voices of the Arab world, is short sighted and self destructive. Thus, shutting it down will go against Arab interest.
It is with increasing alarm that we notice how dissenting voices, divergent opinions being either vilified as 'false news' or squashed altogether by intolerant establishments. The need for divergent news sources is, no doubt, all the more crucial. Hiring professionals from the most well-known media outlets and maintaining the highest standards of journalism, Al Jazeera has earned a reputation for bringing in fresh perspectives that are free from stereotypes and prejudice evident in some western mainstream media especially in their coverage of conflicts in the Middle East. Its critics have pointed out that it has shown bias in reporting, which, even if it is true, is just as true for other news outlets -- definitely no justification for a complete ban of its operations.
For the sake of freedom of the media, for the flourishing of pluralistic views and for the promotion of voices that are unheard, we hope that the demand for shutting down this broadcaster will be withdrawn.
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