Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani took over Qatar in 1995, wresting control from his father in a bloodless coup. With a bottomless pit of petrodollars, he has modernized his country and spread its influence abroad. One instrument is Al Jazeera, which he/Qatar funds. So what happened this week, when a despot who has banned opposition parties, trade unions, and dissent, hands off power to his 33 year old son? What happens when this despot is Qatari? How would Al Jazeera report it?
With sycophancy. Here is a fluff piece about the benevolent dictator:
Last night, Al Jazeera tweeted the link to a story in which it "interviewed" "random" Qatari citizens and asked them whether the emir is a great man or the greatest man ever. A conversation took place between the AJ reporter responsible for that piece and yours truly.
Citizens share memories of life under emir Sheikh Hamad Al Thani as they welcome his son by #AJE's @anealla http://t.co/O0UjpcYsrP #Qatar
— AJELive (@AJELive) June 25, 2013
.@AJELive @anealla I understand the Qatari royal family pays AJ's electric bill. But come on, a little objectivity please.
— Tamerlane's Thoughts (@TamerlaneBlog) June 25, 2013
@TamerlaneBlog @AJELive Hi Tamerlane. Thanks for your tweet. I would like to reassure you not one of these comments was censored...
— Anealla Safdar (@anealla) June 25, 2013
@AJEnglish @anealla I appreciate your response and I like AJ. But odd that AJ is pro-democracy everywhere in Mideast but Qatar gets a pass.
— Tamerlane's Thoughts (@TamerlaneBlog) June 25, 2013
@anealla @AJELive I'm sure none of sycophants' comments were censored. But what did opposition or unions or migrant laborers have to say?
— Tamerlane's Thoughts (@TamerlaneBlog) June 25, 2013
2 comments:
Really good reporting! Somebody had to point out this double-standard from Al-Jazeera about current events in Qatar.
There's nobody you can trust... or is it? What do you think of the BBC?
@Ripituc: I will continue to watch AJ. I will just ignore its Qatar coverage.
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