Reported by Al Jazeera
The anniversary coincides with a significant restructuring of Al Jazeera Media Network’s Arabic-language news services.
Doha, Qatar – As Al Jazeera marks its 30th anniversary with a special commemorative event, the media network’s history is a timeline of milestones and challenges – from risks, obstacles and attacks, to international awards and recognition from the communities whose stories it strives to tell.
Launched on November 1, 1996, the network broke new ground in Arab broadcasting, bringing previously marginalised political perspectives into the mainstream and creating space for debate on issues seldom openly discussed on regional television.
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On Sunday, the network hosted an event to commemorate its enduring legacy at its headquarters in the Qatari capital, Doha, attended by the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and other delegates.
Since its launch, Al Jazeera was not “just a screen”, said Al Jazeera’s Director General Sheikh Nasser bin Faisal Al Thani at the anniversary event. “It was a promise that journalism can be free and responsible, and that ‘opinion and the other opinion’ is not just a slogan, but it’s a position you take.”
For three decades, Al Jazeera “has helped transform the way news is covered in the Arab world”, Director of News Raed Fakih said in a statement, hailing the network for making room for “voices, issues and perspectives that had not been given the space they deserved”.
“Today, as we mark Al Jazeera’s 30th anniversary, we are building on that editorial legacy to broaden the scope of our coverage and give greater prominence to a wider range of events and viewpoints,” he added.
The anniversary coincides with a significant restructuring of Al Jazeera Media Network’s Arabic-language news services, separating rolling breaking news coverage, live event broadcasting, and more in-depth reporting across three channels.
Since Qatar’s late Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani launched the independent channel – a first in the Arab world – the network has promised to provide “the opinion and the other opinion”.
It launched its first TV broadcast as an Arabic-language satellite news channel in 1996 from Doha and has since…