Al Jazeera's Director General: Why we saw the Arab revolutions coming and the West did not.

[Better Believe It]

We saw the Arab revolutions coming
Al Jazeera's director general asks why, when Al Jazeera saw the uprisings coming, the West did not.
Commentary by Wadah Khanfar
March 1, 2011

These unfolding transformations have been less of a surprise for us at Al Jazeera. Since our launch nearly 15 years ago, we have chosen to keep close to the Arab street, gauging its pulse and reflecting its aspirations. It was clear to us that a revolution was in the making, and it was happening far from the gaze of a tame and superficial establishment media that allied itself with the powerful centre - on the assumption that the centre is always safer and more important. Many media outlets in the region failed to recognise what was happening among the Arab grass roots. Keen to conduct interviews with high-level officials and ever willing to cover repetitious news conferences, they remained oblivious to what was happening on the ground.

At Al Jazeera we have spared no effort to search for the real actors, wherever they happen to be: Whether in the cities, in the countryside, in camps, in prisons or in the blogosphere. We have been guided by a firm belief that the future of the Arab world will be shaped by people from outside the aging elites and debilitated political structures featured so disproportionately by most other news outlets.

Al Jazeera swam against that dominant current. We gave all the players the avenues they needed to communicate, providing diverse viewpoints on the issues. During the recent uprisings we were inundated with videos, pictures and writings from the new generation. We opened our screens to them; it is their voices that viewers found so compelling in our coverage.

We refused to compromise on our editorial policy, which gives priority to the grievances and aspirations of ordinary people. Neither threats of punishment nor promises of rewards from information ministers, intelligence agencies or royal courts persuaded us to ignore or betray the oppressed and persecuted who demand nothing but freedom, dignity and democracy.

Please read the full article at:

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/03/2011317269573443.html#

[elias49]

1. We are all in debt to Aljazeera. nt

[Rage for Order]

2. That explains all of the forward-looking expose`s the network ran recently

That showed long-time regimes being challenged and toppled in quick succession

:eyes:

[Better Believe It]

3. They are the best source of real news and journalism on TV