Al Jazeera Writer Quits, Alleging The News Organization Does Not Allow ‘Freedom Of Thought’
We have heard about much of the upheaval at RT, also known as Russia Today, where a number of journalists have quit publicly over the news organization’s alleged bent for pro-Russia coverage. The station, after all, is funded by the Russian government.
But for all the coverage in the last year on RT journalists giving up their jobs over an apparent lack of autonomy from its benefactors, little has been said about another government-funded news organization and the control it could have over its journalists. That is, not much has been said until now.
In a series of tweets, opinion writer Sarah Kendzior — a St. Louis-based Al Jazeera English columnist — blasted the Qatar-owned media conglomerate for what she said was a lack of “freedom of thought.” Check out her tweets below.
Writing for AJ English has been great. I will always be grateful to them for running work on poverty, race, and other controversial topics.
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) September 20, 2014
But there are new rules. We’re discouraged from researching content of our op-eds. Op-eds should be counterintuitive “hot takes” ala Slate.
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) September 20, 2014
The rules apply to other writers too. You will no longer see the academics + researchers whose in-depth knowledge made the section distinct
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) September 20, 2014
No room for freedom of thought under the new model. My heart is broken. I thank everyone for reading. And I will miss you very much.
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) September 20, 2014
They didn’t ask me to go. They asked me to not research my own articles and to conform to a model. I don’t think that’s fair to readers.
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) September 20, 2014
I am very sad to write this. It came as a shock to me and to the other writers. I’m grateful for the past employees who made it what it was.
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) September 20, 2014
This is a lesson for all of you. You can get high traffic. You can get critical acclaim. But touch certain topics, you’ll find trouble.
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) September 20, 2014
Al Jazeera English Head of Online Imad Musa released the following statement to Mediaite on Sunday (Sept. 21) regarding Kendzior’s allegations.
“A recent Twitter conversation initiated by one of our respected contributors, Sarah Kendzior, has led to some confusion about our editorial processes at aljazeera.com.
“Sarah is one of our long-time contributors, and she has recently suggested that we have censored her because one of her pieces had not been published a few days after submission. However, her piece was scheduled to run this week, and this was communicated to her by our Opinion editor before this series of tweets.
“It is industry standard for writers to be asked to pitch their ideas before submitting their articles to avoid overlap. I’m still unclear as to how this could be misinterpreted.
“This is not a case of censorship, media restrictions or changes in editorial standards.
“Aljazeera.com – and especially its Opinion section – will always be the home of brave and thought-provoking debate and analysis on the issues that matter most.”
[Image via Flickr Creative Commons]
