22 Al-Jazeera Staff Resign over Coverage Biased Toward Muslim Brotherhood

by Rick Moran


Can you imagine 22 MSNBC staff resigning due to the network's reputation as a White House shill? Or staff members quitting Fox because it's a mouthpiece for the GOP?

Apparently, some media people are more honest than others.

Business Insider:

As the crisis unfolds in Egypt, Al Jazeera appears to be straining to appear neutral.
According to an article in Gulf News, 22 members of staff have resigned due to the Qatar-based network's coverage. Anchor Karem Mahmoud reportedly said that those who resigned quit after "biased coverage" of the events in Egypt, and that the group had been ordered to favor the ousted Muslim Brotherhood over the newly formed, military-backed government.
In an interview with Cairo Scene, Mahmoud explained his rationale:

The coverage over the last few weeks was the tipping point - especially the airing of extreme speeches over the last few days, which have added to the crisis Egypt is seeing right now. There has been a strong insistence of airing unacceptable statements by some parties, as well giving much more space and air time to one group over another.

Daily News Egypt earlier reported that two anchors have resigned from the station, including ten-year veteran reporter Hegag Salama, who reportedly told a Cairo-based TV station that Al Jazeera had "become an enemy of Egypt."
Al Jazeera has long been perceived as being close to the Muslim Brotherhood, and whether the accusations of bias are true or not, it appears to be severely hurting the network's ability to report on the crisis in Egypt. At a military-organized news conference earlier today, reporters from the network were kicked out, the Associated Press reports, while Reuters reports that some of the station's offices were raided by the military (though it remains on-air).

The Qatari royal family have been huge backers of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, pouring billions into the country over the last few months to try and stave off disaster. Their propaganda TV network has now been exposed and you have to wonder what kind of damage  this does to the Al-Jazeera brand worldwide. Jonah Goldberg at NRO asks a tongue in cheek question of Al Gore:

Twenty-two staffers of al-Jazeera quit in protest over orders from the brass to tilt coverage apparently in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood. This comes after reporters from al-Jazeera were kicked out of a news conference because of their sympathetic coverage of the Brotherhood.  No word whether Al Gore will resign from the advisory board he "proudly" serves on.  No doubt he's been working tirelessly to reform the organization from the inside.

It was never a secret that Al-Jazeera was biased. Now we know to what extent that bias affected its news coverage.


Rick Moran

Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/07/22_al-jazeera_staff_resign_over_coverage_biased_toward_muslim_brotherhood.html

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