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Al Jazeera, known as AJA, is a Qatari Arabic-language news network based in Doha and operated by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which also runs Al Jazeera English. It is the largest news organisation in the Middle East and North Africa, and its editorial operation is independent of the English-language service.

Founding

The channel was created by emiri decree on 8 February 1996 under Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, then Emir of Qatar, who had first raised the idea of an international Arabic news service in August 1994. Al Jazeera went on air on 1 November 1996 with six hours of programming a day, later extended to twelve and then to a continuous schedule.

Many of its first staff came from the BBC's Arabic television service, which had closed in April 1996 after censorship attempts by the Saudi government. The Qatari state funded the channel with a loan of about 137 million dollars for its first five years, later converted into a grant, and continued to cover operating losses above 100 million dollars a year in the following period.

Editorial Character

Al Jazeera built its reputation on coverage that treated its audience as adults. Its early reporting was openly critical of autocratic leaders in the region, and it gave airtime to a wide range of viewpoints, including voices that state broadcasters excluded.

Frontline coverage of the Second Intifada and the Iraq War established its credibility, and by the early 2000s it had become the main source of news for a majority of Arab viewers. That reach gave Qatar a diplomatic instrument of unusual weight in regional affairs.

Bulletins, investigations and talk

The schedule is built from rolling news bulletins, investigative reports, documentaries and talk programmes, with correspondents across the Arab world and beyond. News coverage dominates, and the channel's Arabic service carries its own presenters, analysis and editorial line.

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