Long before the Arab Spring, Al Jazeera was hailed and championed for its different coverage of events in the Arab world, it was a source of information and important features. It used to be a hope for real journalism, but Al Jazeera crushed that hope when its voice became a tool to serve its Qatari sponsor.
The fall of Al Jazeera started with the rise of the Arab spring .The shift in its voice started gradually changing with the beginning of Arab revolutions in 2011, agendas surfaced serving certain political stances.
Syrian journalist Aktham Suliman quit his job in the Qatari Television network after he felt he was no longer able to become independent journalist "Before the beginning of the Arab Spring, we were a voice for change," he says, "a platform for critics and political activists throughout the region. Now, Al-Jazeera has become a propaganda broadcaster."
When President Mohamed Morsi was ousted in Egypt, Al Jazeera started fabricating and spreading lies about the events in Egypt; this was proved by its own staff. 22 Al Jazeera journalists resigned accusing it of “airing lies and misleading viewers”, they claimed journalists were instructed to favor the Muslim Brotherhood. Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy sued the station accusing it of being a sponsor for the Muslim Brotherhood and its equipment was used by Muslim Brotherhood activists across Egypt. Also, Lebanese journalist Ali Hashem resigned from Al Jazeera after leaked emails showing his rejection to the unprofessional and biased coverage of the Syrian civil war.
Furthermore, the Doha based station used to broadcast messages from Osama bin Laden and allowed Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Islamic theologian, to advocate violence on his own talk show.
WikiLeaks documents claimed that Qatar is using Al Jazeera as a bargaining chip in foreign policy negotiations by adapting its coverage to suit other foreign leaders and offering to cease critical transmissions in exchange for major concessions.
So it is no surprise to see that closing Al Jazeera was one of the demands in the 13-point ultimatum given to Qatar by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt in order to lift the trade and diplomatic embargo, but what is surprising is the claim that closing Al Jazeera is a “siege against journalism”. The kind of journalism Al Jazeera now represents is the kind all respectable media outlets trying to fight in the era of the rise of fake news. Al Jazeera was brought down by its own management and sponsors who wanted to use it as a political tool.
No one knows how the events will unfold in the crisis of Qatar and the collation led by KSA, whether Qatar will really close Al Jazeera or not but should Al Jazeera survive this ordeal it must reevaluate its situation, revisit its editorial stances, and make a pledge to return back to becoming a true voice for independent journalism otherwise it will be again and again subjected to vicious verdicts of the politics it planted itself in.