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Al Jazeera's split coverage on Saudi-Qatari feud

Al Jazeera's English and Arabic channels differ in their coverage of the Saudi-Qatari feud.
A general view shows the newsroom at the headquarters of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite channel in Doha February 7, 2011. As much as CNN capitalized on its coverage of the 1990-91 Gulf War, Al Jazeera English has won praise for its on-the-spot reporting and context about the Egyptian protests. It will be talking to U.S. cable operators about deals "in the coming days and weeks," Al Anstey, managing director of Al Jazeera's English-language service said in a telephone interview from Qatar. REUTERS/ Fad

Eight years ago, I wrote an optimistic column praising the Qatari-based Al Jazeera satellite network. My piece, “The Al Jazeera Revolution Turns Ten,” was published in five languages and reprinted around the world. The success and changes that the Doha-based television station brought to Arab media disappeared with the so-called Arab Spring. While Al Jazeera's original Arabic channel remains the most watched news station in the Arab region, its professionalism and impartiality has taken a few hits in recent years. The international Al Jazeera English is, however, a different story.

The English channel's tone is softer, and it is audibly calmer. Well-known and respected reporters, anchors and editors from a number of nations comprise the Doha-based station team and the channel's foreign outposts. This version of Al Jazeera won a Peabody Award in 2012 for its Arab Spring coverage. Its 24-hour news coverage shifts among regions and their priorities, allowing it, for example, to provide prime-time viewers in China with news relevant to them at 8:00 p.m. The concept has been so successful that CNN International felt compelled to add an anchor to prime-time evening hours broadcasting out of Abu Dhabi.

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