Al Jazeera (Arabic: الجزيرة‎, romanized: al-jazīrah, IPA: [æl (d)ʒæˈziːrɐ], literally "The Island", though referring to the Arabian Peninsula in context) is a state-owned broadcaster based in Doha, Qatar, owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. Initially launched as an Arabic news and current affairs satellite TV channel, Al Jazeera has since expanded into a network with several outlets, including the internet and specialty television channels in multiple languages.

 

Al Jazeera Media Network is a global news organization with 80 bureaus around the world. The original Al Jazeera Arabic channel's willingness to broadcast terrorist views, for example on call-in shows, created controversies in the Arab States of the Persian Gulf. One of the station's office was the only channel to cover the War in Afghanistan live.

 

Al Jazeera Media Network is a news channel for public benefit under Qatari law.[6][verification needed] Under this structure, the channel receives funding from the government of Qatar but maintains its editorial independence.Critics have accused Al Jazeera of supporting the positions of the Qatari government, though Al Jazeera platforms and channels have published content that has been critical of Qatar or has run counter to Qatari laws and norms.[improper synthesis?] The network is sometimes perceived to have mainly Islamist perspectives, promoting the Muslim Brotherhood, and having a pro-Sunni and an anti-Shia bias in its reporting of regional issues.Al Jazeera insists it covers all sides of a debate and says it presents Israel's views and Iran's views with equal objectivity. Al Jazeera has aired videos released by Osama bin Laden.

 

In June 2017, the Saudi, Emirati, Bahraini, and Egyptian governments demanded the closure of the news station as one of thirteen demands made to Qatar during the Qatar diplomatic crisis. Other media networks have spoken out in support of the network. According to The Atlantic magazine, Al Jazeera presents a far more moderate, Westernized face than Islamic jihadism or rigid Sunni orthodoxy and though the network has been criticized as "an 'Islamist' stalking horse", it actually features "very little specifically religious content in its broadcasts."