On Tuesday, Wadah Khanfar stepped down from his role as director of the television network Al Jazeera, following the release of embarrassing documents by Wikileaks.
The documents insinuate that Khanfar was in frequent contact with the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency in regards to how Al Jazeera was covering stories involving the United States. It appears that Khanfar removed or altered content in response to objections by the DIA.
As The New York Times points out, the cooperative relationship between Al-Jazeera and the U.S. government is in direct contrast with the perception that Al-Jazeera is highly critical of U.S. politics.
The official statement from Al Jazeera is that Khanfar had been planning to resign since June and was just waiting for his replacement to be chosen in order “to ensure a smooth transition.” The network hasn’t addressed the insinuation that the Wikileaks documents are connected with Khanfar’s resignations. On Twitter, Khanfar himself has said that he is “entertainmed by all the rumors of why I have resigned.”
Khanfar’s successor is a Qatari businessman and member of the royal family. As The Atlantic Wire notes, that royal connection might have more to do with Khanfar’s resignation than Julian Assange and company.
According to Blake Hounshell at Foreign Policy, “there were already strong reasons to question just how much editorial independence the network really has.” Hounshell goes on to describe Al-Jazeera acting at times like “the official network of the Qatari Foreign Ministry” and opines that Khanfar may not have wanted to take orders from any government, be it the United States or Qatar.
Al Jazeera has played an important role in the broadcast and online discourse taking place in the Arab world. It will be interesting to watch how, or if, its coverage and tone takes on any significant changes in the future.
The documents insinuate that Khanfar was in frequent contact with the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency in regards to how Al Jazeera was covering stories involving the United States. It appears that Khanfar removed or altered content in response to objections by the DIA.
As The New York Times points out, the cooperative relationship between Al-Jazeera and the U.S. government is in direct contrast with the perception that Al-Jazeera is highly critical of U.S. politics.
The official statement from Al Jazeera is that Khanfar had been planning to resign since June and was just waiting for his replacement to be chosen in order “to ensure a smooth transition.” The network hasn’t addressed the insinuation that the Wikileaks documents are connected with Khanfar’s resignations. On Twitter, Khanfar himself has said that he is “entertainmed by all the rumors of why I have resigned.”
Wikileaks or Political Infighting?
Khanfar’s successor is a Qatari businessman and member of the royal family. As The Atlantic Wire notes, that royal connection might have more to do with Khanfar’s resignation than Julian Assange and company.
According to Blake Hounshell at Foreign Policy, “there were already strong reasons to question just how much editorial independence the network really has.” Hounshell goes on to describe Al-Jazeera acting at times like “the official network of the Qatari Foreign Ministry” and opines that Khanfar may not have wanted to take orders from any government, be it the United States or Qatar.
Al Jazeera has played an important role in the broadcast and online discourse taking place in the Arab world. It will be interesting to watch how, or if, its coverage and tone takes on any significant changes in the future.
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