Al Jazeera chief calls for global effort to protect journalists

Acknowledging the pressures facing both his network as well as reporters across the globe, Mostefa Souag, the acting director general of Al Jazeera, said Tuesday that media organizations need to cooperate in order to ensure journalists’ safety.

“I am not talking about just the [Middle East] region,” Souag said during a National Press Club Headliners luncheon. “I am talking about worldwide media institutions. We need to work together.”

Souag suggested that this effort could begin with a conference to develop a comprehensive strategy.

Eventually, he said, that could be followed with outreach to world governments along with steps to persuade propaganda arms to stop serving as mouthpieces for oppressive regimes.

Souag’s proposal reflects the dangers that have dogged Al Jazeera reporters for over two decades.

Since its inception in 1996, 11 journalists for the Qatari-owned broadcaster have lost their lives in the field while many more have been imprisoned.

In one high-profile incident, reporter Mahmoud Hussein was arrested in late 2016 while visiting his family in Egypt on the grounds that he was disseminating “false news.”

He remains in detention nearly two years after his initial arrest.

Souag explained that the risks sometimes go beyond the physical.

“If journalists don’t feel safe, it’s very difficult for them to do their job,” Souag said. “In certain cases they might even start self-censoring themselves.”

To avoid this, Souag said that the network will move their staff before this has a corrosive effect.

“We don’t keep them in that same place,” he said.

During his remarks, Souag also addressed several of the controversies surrounding Al Jazeera.

When it comes to criticism that the network gives a platform to terrorist organizations, Souag dismissed the charge as “misinformation.”

Instead of boosting terrorists, Souag said the network “has been providing people with knowledge in order for people to make an educated decision about their lives.”

“I might agree with you completely that such-and-such organization is a terrorist organization, but I don’t have the right to deprive you the right to know what this organization is thinking about,” Souag told Club President Andrea Edney.

“Presenting [Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden] to people is to demistify this guy who is threatening the world. It is not to glorify him,” Souag added.

Souag similarly pushed back against lingering concerns that Al Jazeera’s coverage is slanted by Qatar, a major geopolitical focal point when Gulf states severed ties with Qatar last year.

More recently, this issue has been brought forward by U.S. lawmakers who have pushed for Al Jazeera to register as a foreign agent.

“Al Jazeera is completely independent,” Souag said. “We have no government control whatsoever.”

Souag said that the network would be open to an investigation from the U.S. Justice Department to confirm this.

“We are completely confident they will find us to be completely far away from any government pressure or from any government interference in our job and that we are practicing the highest standards of the profession,” Souag noted.

Edney followed up by asking Souag about a planned documentary on the Israel lobby in Washington, which the Qatari government reportedly assured U.S. Jewish groups would not be released.

Souag denied the reports.

“The documentary was produced, it’s true, but there was some issues with it,” Souag said, citing “editorial and legal” issues. “It has never been canceled. It is delayed and pending.”

As the luncheon ended, Souag was asked to lay out what he considered to be Al Jazeera’s greatest achievement.

“Putting the profession, that is journalism, professional journalism on the map in the Middle East for the first time,” Souag replied.