{"id":90905,"date":"2006-08-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-08-22T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2006\/08\/22\/al-jazeera-timeline\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:16:35","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:16:35","slug":"al-jazeera-timeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2006\/08\/22\/al-jazeera-timeline\/","title":{"rendered":"Al Jazeera Timeline"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an interview with the PEJ<\/a>, Al Jazeera International Washington bureau chief Will Stebbins argues that the relationship between the U.S. government and Al Jazeera has changed for the better, a development he traces to last year\u2019s appointment of former presidential counselor Karen Hughes to the position of undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs. But in the post 9\/11 world, the history between the Arab news channel known for airing Osama bin Laden videos and the Bush administration has often been marked by hostility and tension. (It is worth noting that Al Jazeera has angered some Arab governments as well. Saudi Arabia has barred Al Jazeera from its soil and Tunisia, Morocco and Libya all temporarily recalled their ambassadors to Qatar to protest Al Jazeera\u2019s reporting).<\/p>\n\n

The timeline below\u2014compiled with the help of a variety of media sources, including Al Jazeera, as well as the Committee to Protect Journalists\u2014chronicles some of the major elements of the relationship between Al Jazeera and the US government and its allies.<\/p>\n\n

November 1, 1996<\/strong> \u2013 The Arab news channel Al Jazeera is launched with a start-up grant of $140 million from the emir of Qatar. \u201cFree from the shackles of censorship and government control,\u201d according to its website, Al Jazeera \u201chas offered its audiences in the Arab world much needed freedom of thought, independence, and room for debate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

January 1, 1999 <\/strong>\u2013 Al Jazeera expands from six hours a day to 24 hours a day. Today, it has more than 30 bureaus and an estimated worldwide audience of 50 million viewers.<\/p>\n\n

[and]<\/p>\n\n\n

October 3, 2001 <\/strong>\u2013 U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell expresses concern about Al Jazeera to the Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani in a meeting. Following the meeting, one senior State Department official said the emir was \u201cdefensive\u201d about the issue and countered that he did not feel Al Jazeera was any more inflammatory than any other Arab media outlet. Still, according to the official, the emir said he \u201cwould take it under advisement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

October 7, 2001 \u2013 <\/strong>Al Jazeera broadcasts a statement by Osama bin Laden two hours after the US-led coalition begins military strikes against Afghanistan. In it, bin Laden says the U.S. will have no rest until the Middle East conflict is resolved and U.S. military bases in the region are shut down.<\/p>\n\n

October 30, 2001 <\/strong>\u2013 When asked by correspondent Muhammad Al-Alami of Al Jazeera\u2019s Washington bureau about the authenticity of pictures showing Afghani children as war casualties, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld accuses the network of propounding Taliban propaganda. He adds that Al Jazeera has \u201ca pattern of not making judgments about the accuracy of the propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

November 3, 2001 \u2013 <\/strong>Al Jazeera airs another tape of bin Laden, dressed in camouflage and armed with an AK-47. Bin Laden says that the war in Afghanistan is in a religious war and that \u201cthe people of Afghanistan had nothing to do with this matter. The campaign, however, continues to unjustly annihilate the villagers and civilians, children, women and innocent people.\u201d Bin Laden also calls the U.N. an instrument of crime against Muslims. White House spokeswoman Anne Womack says the statement \u201cjust shows how isolated bin Laden is from the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

November 13, 2001<\/strong> \u2013 The U.S. launches a missile attack on Al Jazeera\u2019s office in Kabul, Afghanistan. In making the case that this was a deliberate attack, Al Jazeera\u2019s managing director, Mohammed Jasim al-Ali, says \u201cThis office has been known by everybody, the American airplanes know the location of the office.\u201d Although no Al Jazeera staff was hurt in the attack, the building was destroyed and some employees\u2019 homes were damaged. In a letter to Al Jazeera dated December 6, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Victoria Clarke says \u201cthe building we struck was a known Al Qaeda facility in central Kabul.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

December 26, 2001<\/strong> \u2013 Al Jazeera releases another video tape of bin Laden. \u201cOur terrorism against the United States is worthy of praise to deter the oppressor so that America stops its support for Israel, which is killing our children,\u201d bin Laden states in the video. \u201cThis is nothing more than the same kind of terrorist propaganda we have heard before,\u201d says White House spokesman Scott McClellan.<\/p>\n\n

March 4, 2003 <\/strong>– The New York Stock Exchange bans Al Jazeera (as well as several other news organizations whose identities were not revealed) from its trading floor indefinitely, citing \u201csecurity concerns\u201d as the official reason. A few months later the ban was rescinded, according to a New York Stock Exchange spokesperson.<\/p>\n\n

May 2003 <\/strong>\u2013 With the help of the U.S.-supported Iraqi interim government, the CIA releases documents showing that Al Jazeera had been infiltrated by Iraqi spies, and was regarded by Iraqi officials as part of their propaganda effort. Al Jazeera spokesman Jihad Ballout tells Reuters the network was unaware of \u201cany member of Al Jazeera who is working for any foreign intelligence\u201d organization.<\/p>\n\n

April 8, 2003<\/strong> \u2013 U.S. bombs hit Al Jazeera\u2019s office in Baghdad, killing reporter Tareq Ayyoub and wounding cameraman Zohair al-Iraqi. Al Jazeera\u2019s Baghdad correspondent Majed Abdel Hadi calls the U.S. missile strike and Ayoub\u2019s death a \u201ccrime.\u201d At a briefing in Doha, Qatar, Brigadier General Vincent K. Brooks says of the Al Jazeera attack: \u201cThis coalition does not target journalists. We don\u2019t know every place journalists are operating on the battlefield. It\u2019s a dangerous place, indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

April 27, 2003<\/strong> \u2013During a briefing, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher says of Al Jazeera: \u201cOn Iraq they have established a pattern of false reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

September 23, 2003<\/strong> \u2013 The Iraqi interim government suspends Al Jazeera (and Al-Arabiya, an Arab news channel based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates) from reporting on official government activities for two weeks for what it says was support of recent attacks on government members and U.S. forces.<\/p>\n\n

January 20, 2004 <\/strong>\u2013 In his State of the Union Address, President Bush refers to Al Jazeera as a source of \u201chateful propaganda\u201d coming from the Arab world.<\/p>\n\n

April 15, 2004<\/strong> \u2013 When a reporter asks Rumsfeld, \u201cCan you definitively say that hundreds of women and children and innocent civilians have not been killed?\u201d Rumsfeld, referring to Al Jazeera\u2019s coverage of civilian casualties in Iraq, replies: \u201cI can definitively say that what Al Jazeera is doing is vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

July 2004 <\/strong>\u2013 Al Jazeera\u2019s banner is taken down at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. A DNC spokeswoman says politics had nothing to do with the sign moving and cites logistical reasons for the decision. However, she adds that \u201cw e\u2019re trying to create the kind of atmosphere we want to best present John Kerry and the Democratic Party.\u201d An Al Jazeera spokeswoman responds: \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone would deny that the Al Jazeera logo and name are not part of John Kerry\u2019s communications plan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

July 31, 2004 <\/strong>\u2013 Al Jazeera airs a tape of a 22-year-old American named Benjamin Vanderford being beheaded, but the tape turns out to be a hoax. The tape was produced and distributed over the internet by 23-year-old Robert Martin and his girlfriend 20-year-old Laurie Kirchner, in San Francisco. \u201cWe never intended this to be taken as real,\u201d said Martin.<\/p>\n\n

August 7, 2004<\/strong> \u2013 The Iraqi interim government shuts down the Baghdad office of Al Jazeera for one month, citing national security concerns. \u201cThis decision was taken to protect the people of Iraq and the interests of Iraq,\u201d Prime Minister Iyad Allawi tells a news conference. Although it was only a one-month ban, the shutdown was extended indefinitely in September 2004, and the offices sealed. The bureau is still closed, but Al Jazeera continues to report from Iraq through a network of stringers.<\/p>\n\n

January 30, 2005 <\/strong>\u2013 The New York Times reports that the Qatari government, under pressure from the Bush administration, is speeding up plans to sell the channel.<\/p>\n\n

June 2005<\/strong> \u2013 Rumsfeld accuses Al Jazeera of encouraging Islamic military groups by airing beheadings of American troops in Iraq. In response, the network says in a statement that \u201cAl Jazeera … has never at any time transmitted pictures of killings or beheadings and … any talk about this is absolutely unfounded.\u201d A Reuters report notes that Al Jazeera has shown video of hostages pleading at gunpoint for their government to withdraw its troops, but does not broadcast footage of killings posted on the Internet by militants.<\/p>\n\n

July 4, 2005<\/strong> \u2013 Al Jazeera officially announces plans to launch a new English-language satellite service called Al Jazeera International<\/p>\n\n

September 2005<\/strong> \u2013 Josh Rushing joins Al Jazeera International as a reporter based in Washington D.C. Rushing gained recognition in the film Control Room\u2014a documentary about media coverage of the Iraq war\u2014as the military public affairs officer who begins to understand Al Jazeera\u2019s perspective on the news.<\/p>\n\n

November 22, 2005<\/strong> \u2013 The British tabloid, the Daily Mirror, publishes a story claiming it had obtained a leaked memo from someone in Prime Minister Tony Blair\u2019s cabinet saying that President George Bush had considered bombing Al Jazeera\u2019s Doha headquarters in April 2004. \u201cWe are not interested in dignifying something so outlandish and inconceivable with a response,\u201d White House spokesman Scott McClellan tells the Associated Press in an e-mail. Then after refusing to comment on the story for close to a week, Blair calls the Mirror report a \u201cconspiracy theory.\u201d British Cabinet Office civil servant, David Keogh, and parliamentary researcher, Leo O\u2019Connor, are later charged with violating the Official Secrets Act for their roles in leaking the memo to the Mirror . They plead not guilty.<\/p>\n\n

July 11, 2006<\/strong> – Dima Ayyoubthe widow of the Al Jazeera reporter who was killed in the 2003 bombing of the Baghdad bureau, sues the Bush administration for $30 million for the death of her husband. New Jersey attorney Hamdi Rifai is her counsel.<\/p>\n\n

July 19, 2006 <\/strong>\u2013 Al Jazeera broadcasts a bin Laden tape in which he praises Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq\u2014killed three weeks ago by U.S. coalition forces\u2014as a \u201clion of holy war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

July 30, 2006<\/strong> \u2013 Following the Israeli attack in Qana, Lebanon, Al Jazeera takes its anchors off the air and continuously plays images of the resulting damage for several hours. The video also closed-in on the dead bodies as they were removed from the rubble. According to the Lebanese Red Cross, at least 28 Lebanese died there, including 16 children.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an interview with the PEJ, Al Jazeera International Washington bureau chief Will Stebbins argues that the relationship between the U.S. government and Al Jazeera has changed for the better, a development he traces to last year\u2019s appointment of former presidential counselor Karen Hughes to the position of undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[332,326,348],"tags":[],"bylines":[2199],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[],"research-teams":[527],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-90905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-industry","category-news-media-trends","category-television","bylines-pew-research-center-journalism-media-staff","formats-report","research-teams-journalism"],"label":false,"post_parent":90900,"word_count":1683,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2006\/08\/22\/al-jazeera-timeline\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[{"id":90900,"title":"Al Jazeera\u2019s Global Gamble","slug":"al-jazeeras-global-gamble","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2006\/08\/22\/al-jazeeras-global-gamble\/","is_active":false},{"id":90905,"title":"Al Jazeera Timeline","slug":"al-jazeera-timeline","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2006\/08\/22\/al-jazeera-timeline\/","is_active":true}],"report_materials":"","report_pagination":{"current_post":{"id":90905,"title":"Al Jazeera Timeline","slug":"al-jazeera-timeline","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2006\/08\/22\/al-jazeera-timeline\/","is_active":true,"page_num":2},"next_post":null,"previous_post":{"id":90900,"title":"Al Jazeera\u2019s Global Gamble","slug":"al-jazeeras-global-gamble","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2006\/08\/22\/al-jazeeras-global-gamble\/","is_active":false,"page_num":1},"pagination_items":[{"id":90900,"title":"Al Jazeera\u2019s Global Gamble","slug":"al-jazeeras-global-gamble","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2006\/08\/22\/al-jazeeras-global-gamble\/","is_active":false,"page_num":1},{"id":90905,"title":"Al Jazeera Timeline","slug":"al-jazeera-timeline","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2006\/08\/22\/al-jazeera-timeline\/","is_active":true,"page_num":2}]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Al Jazeera\u2019s Global Gamble","parent_id":90900},"materialsOrdered":[],"chaptersOrdered":[],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Al Jazeera Timeline","description":"In an interview with the PEJ, Al Jazeera International Washington bureau chief Will Stebbins argues that the relationship between the U.S. government and Al Jazeera has changed for the better,…","og_title":"Al Jazeera Timeline","og_description":"","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":[],"custom_schema":[],"og_image":0,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":null},"prepublish_checks":{"prc-image-alt-text":{"status":"complete","message":"No image blocks in content.","data":null},"prc-about-this-research":{"status":"incomplete","message":"Add an \"About this research\" details block.","data":null},"prc-paragraph-count":{"status":"complete","message":"Found 28 paragraphs.","data":{"count":28}},"prc-internal-link":{"status":"complete","message":"Found 1 internal link.","data":{"count":1}}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"relatedPostsOrdered":[],"bylinesOrdered":[{"key":"5a070afd-5abf-4eb7-be16-6b45fc09003c","termId":2199}],"acknowledgementsOrdered":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90905"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135722,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90905\/revisions\/135722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90905"},{"taxonomy":"bylines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bylines?post=90905"},{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=90905"},{"taxonomy":"datasets","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/datasets?post=90905"},{"taxonomy":"level_of_effort","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/level_of_effort?post=90905"},{"taxonomy":"primary_audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/primary_audience?post=90905"},{"taxonomy":"information_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/information_type?post=90905"},{"taxonomy":"_post_visibility","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_post_visibility?post=90905"},{"taxonomy":"formats","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/formats?post=90905"},{"taxonomy":"_fund_pool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_fund_pool?post=90905"},{"taxonomy":"languages","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/languages?post=90905"},{"taxonomy":"regions-countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions-countries?post=90905"},{"taxonomy":"research-teams","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-teams?post=90905"},{"taxonomy":"workflow-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/workflow-status?post=90905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}