JEDDAH, 11 July 2004 — Qatar-based Arab news channel Al-Jazeera said yesterday it will issue a code of ethics to govern its news coverage and maintain its “honesty, courage, fairness, balance and independence.”
A press statement faxed to Arab News said Al-Jazeera’s “foremost ... intent is to adhere to professional core values, distinguish between what is news and what is opinion and analysis, and monitor its output acknowledging unintended mistakes if and when it occurs and ensuring it does not recur.”
The code will emphasize the channel’s role as a forum for pluralism, seeking the truth while adhering to the principles of professionalism, the statement said.
The code will be launched during a two-day international media forum, hosted by Al-Jazeera, in Doha from tomorrow. The forum, titled “Changing Media Perceptions: Professionalism and Cultural Diversity”, will be attended by some 120 Arab and Western journalists.
Al-Jazeera has often been criticized for its coverage of the war on Iraq, especially by the United States.
In June, President George Bush’s national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, accused Al-Jazeera of “purely inaccurate” reporting and suggested it was presenting a biased account of developments in the Middle East.
In February, US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld branded the channel as “violently anti-coalition” and accused them of turning Arabs against America.
“We are being hurt by Al-Jazeera in the Arab world,” Rumsfeld added.
The station has also been accused of being an outlet for Al-Qaeda, broadcasting videotapes and audiotapes purportedly from Osama Bin Laden or his aides.
But the station’s director, Waddah Khanfar, defended Al-Jazeera, saying it “aspires to (being) a bridge between peoples and cultures to support the right of the individual to acquire knowledge and strengthen the values of tolerance, democracy and respect for liberties and human rights.”
Recently, Al-Jazeera has started reading statements from militant groups instead of broadcasting their tapes in an attempt to limit the rhetoric included in the tapes and broadcast only newsworthy excerpts.
