Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera was founded in 1996, and the Qatari government guaranteed its financial backing for the first five years.⁠[1]

On Friday, November 1, 1996, the Al Jazeera Channel launched from Doha. The network describes it as the first independent news channel in the Arab world; its founding tagline was “The Opinion and the Other Opinion.”⁠[2]

Transmitting from Doha and from bureaus around the world, it began continuous programming in 1999; by 2000 its programming was seen 24 hours a day in more than 20 countries, and it had become a leading source of Arabic-language news. Its programming includes news, talk shows and educational programs.⁠[1]

Al Jazeera English went on air from its Doha headquarters at 12:00 GMT on Wednesday, November 15, 2006, with broadcast centres in Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington, D.C., reaching more than 80 million cable and satellite households at launch. The network described it as the world’s first English-language news channel to be headquartered in the Middle East; its managing director was Nigel Parsons.⁠[3]

In late May 2011 Emir Hamad ibn Khalifa Al Thani issued Law No. 10, which changed the network’s status from a public institution to a “private institution of public utility” and renamed it Al Jazeera Media Network, a change intended to give it more flexibility and speed up decision-making. Planned channels at the time included Al Jazeera Balkans, Al Jazeera Turkey and Al Jazeera Swahili.⁠[4]

Al Jazeera bought Al Gore’s Current TV for $500 million and in August 2013 launched Al Jazeera America, which reached about 54 million households. On January 13, 2016, chief executive Al Anstey announced in a memo to staff that the channel would shut down by April 30, 2016, saying its business model was “simply not sustainable in light of the economic challenges in the U.S.United StatesThe United States is a federal country in North America made up of 50 states, the District of Columbia as the seat of government, and territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam; its capital is Washington, D.C. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted a resident population of 331,449,281, and the 435 seats of the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states on the basis of the census.Open the full entry media marketplace.”⁠[5]

BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopedia first published in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1768; the name also refers to its publisher, Chicago-based Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (which presents itself as The Britannica Group). The print edition ended in 2012, and the company’s main businesses since then have been the online encyclopedia Britannica.com, digital education products for schools and libraries, and Merriam-Webster dictionaries.Open the full entry records that Al Jazeera America went off the air in 2016 because of low ratings, while the network’s English-language service kept a strong internet presence.⁠[1]

In 2017 Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates imposed an economic blockade on Qatar (2017–22), alleging that it was aiding regional instability; their list of demands included shutting down Al Jazeera.⁠[1]

In May 2022 Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist who had covered the West Bank for Al Jazeera for two decades, was killed while covering an Israeli military raid in Jenin. On September 5, 2022, the Israeli military said there was a “high possibility” that one of its soldiers had killed her by mistake, but that it could not conclusively determine the source of the fire and would not open a criminal investigation; her family called for an independent U.S. investigation and a probe by the International Criminal Court.⁠[6]

In April 2024 Israel’s parliament passed a law empowering the government to shut down foreign news networks viewed as harming national security. On May 5, 2024, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the government had voted unanimously to close Al Jazeera’s offices in Israel with immediate effect; Communications Minister Shlomo Karai said its equipment would be confiscated, and police raided its Jerusalem office that afternoon. Al Jazeera called the move a “criminal act that violates human rights and the basic right to access of information” and said it would pursue all available legal channels.⁠[7]

Sheikh Nasser bin Faisal bin Khalifa Al Thani has been director general of Al Jazeera Media Network since September 1, 2025.⁠[8]

On November 1, 2026, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, attended a celebration of the 30th anniversary of Al Jazeera Media Network’s launch at its Doha headquarters, held under the slogan “And the Story Continues.”⁠[9]

As of November 2026, the chairman of the board of Al Jazeera Media Network was Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani and its director general was Sheikh Nasser bin Faisal Al Thani; the managing directors of Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English were Asef Hamidi and Issa Ali.⁠[10][9]

The network states that it has more than 70 bureaus worldwide and more than 3,000 employees from over 95 countries, and that it is available in more than 434 million homes in over 150 countries and territories; its outlets include Al Jazeera Arabic, Al Jazeera English, the Al Jazeera Investigative Unit, Al Jazeera Mubasher, Al Jazeera Documentary and AJ+.⁠[2]

Al Jazeera describes itself as an independent news organization funded in part by the Qatari government.⁠[11]

The State Media Monitor of the Media and Journalism Research Center records that Al Jazeera Media Network is a private corporation for public benefit created in 2011, when Al Jazeera Satellite Network was converted under Law No. 10 of 2011. Older corporate filings reviewed by the project show full ownership by the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, with board appointments made by the Council of Ministers and ratified by the emir; the chairman, Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani, also chairs Qatar Media Corporation. The network states publicly that it “is not owned or controlled by the Qatari government.” The State Media Monitor has classified it as “State-Controlled” in every assessment cycle from 2022 to 2026.⁠[8]

Al Jazeera: Official website: https://www.aljazeera.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[11]

Al Jazeera Media Network: Official website: https://network.aljazeera.net/ (opens in a new window).⁠[2]

X: Public account: https://www.twitter.com/AlJazeera (opens in a new window).⁠[2]

X: Public account: https://twitter.com/ajenglish (opens in a new window).⁠[11]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/aljazeeraenglish (opens in a new window).⁠[11]