Al-Jazeera

Conor Brady on the Arab news channel that's become one of the world's most influential media organisations

Fancy the idea of an investment in a growing media company? This is one with an international reputation, a steady profit stream, valuable global linkages and a dominant position in its local market. It is quoted almost daily on other news media worldwide. Its technology is state-of-the-art. It holds strategic satellite slots that make Rupert Murdoch lie awake at night. Moreover, it operates from within one of the world's richest states, with the support of government, yet with editorial independence in determining its content.

This is Al-Jazeera. Recent reports indicate a likely flotation on world stock-markets, possibly later this year, once its new English language service is up and running. In large part, the flotation option is being driven by an effective advertising boycott by Arab states – because of the station's alleged anti-Arab bias.

In less than a decade Al-Jazeera has become far and away the most powerful media player in the struggle for hearts and minds among Muslim populations across the globe. With heightened tensions between the Muslim world and the west, following the London atrocities, it is opportune to take a closer look at how it operates.

The story of how the tiny state of Qatar gave birth to this extraordinary media phenomenon is told by British journalist, Hugh Miles, in his recently published Al-Jazeera – How Arab TV News Challenges the World (Abacus Books).

Alongside CNN, it streams into the offices of kings and presidents, of generals and financiers, everywhere. It has displaced longer-established Arab news stations like Al-Arabia and Abu Dhabi TV. And it has rendered irrelevant most of the national news services of even the leading Arab states.

In every Arab city and town, in lavish palaces and in mud-walled houses, the tell-tale satellite dishes dot the rooftops. In some countries these are technically illegal. But viewers can usually evade the eyes of the law by dropping the dish behind the roofline or behind a parapet. The traveller who comes on desert-dwellers is likely to see the satellite dish on top of the tent.

Al-Jazeerah started broadcasting from the Qatari capital, Doha, in November 1996. Broadcasting in Arabic, its programming rarely impinged on the thinking of decision makers in Washington, Brussels, London and elsewhere. But it quickly began to build audiences in the Arab world through its unique formula of hard news reporting, lively discussion programmes and entertainment – notably football. It had yet to be thrust to world prominence by the events of 11 September 2001 and through its extraordinary and professional coverage of the Second Palestinian Intifada.

When Al-Jazeera did emerge as an influential medium, it took the west – and perhaps especially the western media – a long time to appreciate its significance. When it was chosen by Osama bin Laden and al Qaida to be their channel of communication with the world, it was reviled by Administration spokespersons in Washington as "Terrorist TV" and "Osama's Favourite Channel".

Many western news media at first characterised it as amateurish. Others allege that it is compromised. In Spain, one of its correspondents, Taysir Alony, has been charged with having terrorist links. He protests his innocence and says he has only been doing his job.

Today, Al-Jazeera has built a reputation for accuracy, for thoroughness, for professionalism, for courage. Perhaps above all else, it has built a reputation for its willingness to present opposing views on even the most bitter arguments. In virtually every respect, it has broken with the traditions of Arab news services which faithfully reflected government orthodoxies with boring, safe content and with no concessions to dissent.

It is not a paragon. It propagated and never fully retracted the atrocious myth that 4,000 Jewish people stayed away from work in the Twin Towers on 9/11 because they had forewarning of an Israeli plot to attack the World Trade Centre.

Al-Jazeera (literally "The Island") was conceived as the brainchild of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. There are only 80,000 adult Qataris, who live at one of the highest levels of personal wealth on the planet. Their tiny emirate controls one of the world's richest oil and gas fields. Its security is guaranteed by a massive US military presence. There is no income tax in Qatar. Water, gas and electricity are free.

The Sheikh is something of a benevolent despot. His vision was to give the Arab world a television news service that could rival the powerful western networks. He funded its launch but has assiduously steered clear of any editorial involvement. It is now a commercial operation, independent of the state, paying its own way. It frequently draws down the wrath of Arab governments in the region. The Sheikh stands behind his creation, notwithstanding, and insists that he will not intervene.

Apart from Osama bin Laden and al Qaida, Al-Jazeera has also become the preferred platform for statements from various radicalised Muslim groups. But within the region, it has acquired a healthy reputation as an Arab news organisation that has taken on – and bettered – the fabulously sophisticated and well-resourced Israeli media machine.

It did so by employing time-honoured, hard-slog methods of news reporting on the ground during the Second Intifida, from 2000 onward. Its reporters and camera crews got into the thick of the conflict and reported what was happening. This was in stark contrast to the traditional approach of Arab news organisations which concentrated on statements and speeches from leadership figures.

For many Arab viewers, the defining moment came in September 2000 when an Al-Jazeera cameraman filmed the Israeli army shooting of a 12-year-old boy, Muhammad al Dura, cowering behind his father for shelter on a street in Gaza. The footage was shown repeatedly and widely across the world, to the anger and dismay of the Israelis.

Much of Al-Jazeera's professionalism flows from the influence of 120 BBC-trained journalists who joined the station in 1996 after they lost their jobs when the BBC's Arabic Channel was shut down. The west's loss was Al-Jazeera's gain. Keep an eye on the stock-market for further developments.

Conor Brady is Emeritus Editor of the Irish Times. He is a senior teaching fellow at the UCD Graduate School of Business where he lectures in modern media