The emergence of technology that facilitates a comprehensive coverage of news in real-time has enabled many media outlets to reach millions of viewers globally. The modernization of the media industry has also escalated live streaming of news online.
It is notable that the sovereignty, autonomy, and information over personal analysis determine the level of news coverage objectivity. However, some media outlets have failed the objectivity test because of their partiality when it comes to reporting certain events. This paper discusses the notion that some media outlets are biased and focuses the debate on the Al –Jazeera Television.
Al – Jazeera is the largest media outlet in the Middle East reporting events mostly to the Arab world. Presently, Al – Jazeera has also expanded to the Western world. Notably, individuals in the private sector own and run the media outlet. The media outlet is insensitively anti – Israel and America.
Al – Jazeera tend to report events involving Arabs and Islam positively and objectively. However, it has remained deeply against the Western ideals in its reporting of conflicts. The way it covers news in which the Western nations are involved normally shows a bias. This has been noted in its one-sidedness, unequal presentation, and unreasoned opinion on its commentaries.
It is notable that countries such as Algeria, Morocco, and Bahrain among others have alleged that Al – Jazeera is biased in its reporting of events. The media outlet’s leniency towards Iraq has been evident in its reporting. The media outlet reported anti – occupation aggression news in Iraq, which received global condemnation. In fact, the media outlet appears to be facilitating a psychological conflict with its fundamentalist opinions.
Al – Jazeera normally report news about the search for democracy in some Arab countries experiencing revolution. The media outlet has equated revolutions in Egypt and Libya with the ejection of totalitarianism in the search for political order. However, Al – Jazeera fails to report the lack of democracy in Qatar.
For example, Qatar does not conduct elections and the citizenry have no basic political rights. This is an indication of bias because it delivers sensational reports about problems in other countries without projecting to the world the challenges facing Qatar.
The unbalanced reporting of the war in Syria has also generated massive problems for the media house. This was occasioned by the resignation of some reporters over the media outlet’s lack of objectivity. The media outlet reported the revolutionary activities that occurred in Egypt and Libya.
However, it has reported nothing about the serious anti – government uprising activities occurring in Bahrain. The media outlet is allegedly forcing its reporters to twist their stories to conform to the ideals of Emir Sheik and his Qatar administration. Furthermore, Al – Jazeera has occasionally turned down stories, which are thought to be against the Qatari government brought by its journalists,
Al – Jazeera has created the notion that it is serving Emir Sheik’s personal agenda by failing to report on the role played by the Qatar leader in the Syrian war. In fact, many former employees contend that Al – Jazeera has degenerated into a propaganda platform. The former reporters have indicated that Al – Jazeera has deviated from its mission goals.
The media out let was originally the voice for transformation agenda and objective criticism of political activities in the region. The former workers argue that Al –Jazeera presently represents the views of the Qatari leadership particularly reporting in a lopsided manner when it comes to issues that require objectivity.