★ Since this video was uploaded, the CuriosityStream + Nebula Bundle went on sale for just $11.59 for a limited time. This is an amazing deal at less than $1/month for bonus videos, top-notch documentaries and the ability to support creators like myself. curiositystream.com/polymatter

I remember a saying like "The BBC tells the truth 364 days of the year so that they can lie on the one day that matters". I don't know about the current sentiment about BBC, but the main idea seems to me like it would fit Al Jazeera perfectly.

Al Jazeera never reports anything negative about Qatar: the coup in Qatar and the father-son squabble, the horrific conditions of migrant labour workers in Qatar, etc,

As a black ,Afro-European, catholic living in Qatar, it’s often said that the two pillars of the country are Al Jazeera and Qatar Airways. Shows u how important those two companies are to the country. P.S - Despite not having a democracy, the monarchy functions similar to a tribe in some aspects due to the small amount of citizenry. The Royal Family has exerted pressure from within the family itself and amongst the most influential Qatari families(sort of like an aristocracy) with the rest of the citizenry functioning like a bloated upper middle class. They really don’t need democracy as Qataris directly work in government. Therefore all policies that could harm the Qataris citizenry that stem from the royal family can’t actually go ahead as they rely on the citizens to carry them out. Furthermore, due to Islamic law, the emirs have multiple wives and therefore multiple children(which is why MBS in Saudi Arabia carried out a purge to secure his power) The risk of a coup is too high and therefore in the Emirs best interests to stay on good terms with his citizens. Just something I’d like to share. Great video BTW

I just wanted to say that the fact that you include your sources is extremely appreciated. Even if I don't read them, it's still important that you do that because for me it still increases your credibility, and it gives the more curious viewer extra material.

9:53 it's actually pretty insane how small Al Jazeera goes, I like researching obscure topics and on UKposts it's probably either the associated press, France 24 or Al Jazeera, they have highlights of Sudanese unionist in the 2011 referendum, Thai Malay separatist , and pro government Egyptians during the Arab Spring which are topics rarely talked about or given its proper highlight

It's honestly easy to understand: appear neutral and reliable for news which doesn't actually matter so that you build credibility to do the real propaganda you actually want.

This was very fascinating, thank you! A friend worked as a journalist in Doha for years and I always found it confusing. She lived in an expat compound and was somewhat separate from day to day life there but still shared so many stories, and this helps explain a lot.

Great video as always, keep up the good work.

The video is well made and quite informative, but hardly answers the question posed in the title. The diplomatic incentives of Qatar are well presented, as is the reach of Al Jazeera, but it doesn't feel clearly presented as to why having such a notable entity is useful to Qatar. If their goal is to be the world's middleman, it almost seems counter intuitive to fund an entity that has so consistently pissed people off. Maybe it is just the editing, but I think the argument is missing a few premises before the conclusion.

This actually reminds me of The Straits Times (Singapore's newspaper) and CNA (Singapore News broadcaster). Both are technically government run/mouthpieces, but I was surprised by how liberal the content can go, given how our nation is kinda conservative. I know it's not a direct comparison, but I feel that there are some parallels.

Another great explanation about a complicated issue from PolyMatter, I've always been wondering why Qatar has taken it upon themselves to publish balanced reporting on international issues.

Judging from Aljazeera English and especially AJ+, I've always felt that Qatar was just trying to appeal to useful idiots in the West by hypocritically adapting its political agenda to their values and narrative.

Worth noting that Afghanistan was given that 27/100 freedom score and Myanmar given that 28/100 score based on *2020*, not *2021*. They have yet to be updated to account for the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan or the Coup in Myanmar; their updated report should come out in February or March.

Small mistake - you frequently included Bahrain in your Qatari borders

Your channel is so valuable. Just started listening. Balanced, important, informative

Used to live in qatar and interesting little things; people would literally have jaguars, panthers, etc in their super cars. Also if anyone crashes with a native arab, regardless of whos fault it was, you would be at fault as an expact

I had been wondering exactly this question for a while now. Thanks polymatter!

So basically by giving all sides a say they make sure they can recieve a favor from anyone if they need it without having to worry about their population. That is actually quite brilliant

While you mentioned this, it bears repeating: Aljazeera Arabic is one of the most biased news sources out there. Their stance on everything from regional politics to the LGBTQ community is almost 100% informed by the official stance of the Qatari government. The other major news network in the Arabic-speaking world, Alarabiya, is no better, with a similar bias towards the views of the Saudi Arabian government instead.

Brilliant video, wondered this since a long time

For Aljazeera English, the red line is not only not talking about Qatar but fight Qatars fight against anyone who is opposing Qatar

One thing people should consider; the Al Jazeera Arabic and English broadcast a polarizing view of what network really stands for-usually relaying a polarizing points from each other despite being in the same network. That alone, already shows the facade and masks that has been playing for a while now.

As an arabe this may be true for Aljezera english but arabic idk about that

Congrats I've been watching this channel for a while, and this is the first time it genuinely made me wish to subs to nebula.

Nice explanation. As one who was formally an expat in Qatar working for their government, I really like the way you explained that in simple terms... I have struggled explaining to people in the past. Thanks again for a great video.

The most important bias is the mother tongue. I speak Spanish and usually watch news channels in different languages and countries. I sometimes don't understand anything but it clearly show the difference in perception on some topics in the images they show, attitude and comments. All channels just show news that can be sold to their region and repeat again and again the same bias their readers or subscribers have. People only watch things that are similar to their ideas or ideologies.

As an English speaker in North America, Al Jazeera used to be my go to source for international news. Now that I use a news aggregator however I've been getting stories from many sources. Google News is great for showing you how different companies are covering the same story

Fascinating insights. High standard of research and presention.

I think every news source have biasity that's why it's best to read widely and not exclusively. Also it's good to know what the other side is talking about. Watching propaganda helps you to understand the intentions of various world leaders.

First time I saw a video documentary from Al Jazeera had something to do about China and the people who live there. It was a huge contrast to what I was used to and I was extremely impressed at how they managed to get real people to express actual criticisms about their own government and the state of things. How did they accomplish that as a foreign news source? They did the apparently genius level move of using all Chinese reporters. It shouldn't be a big brain move but I guess to CNN it is because ordinary Chinese citizens clam up or are even actively hostile to western news organizations especially if it's a white person talking to them through an interpreter. The video interviews were so good that it cemented my respect for Al Jazeera (well, as long as I don't need news about Qatar).

Well researched video, great content

This was so much more enlightening than NAS Daily’s superficial coverage

Great work! I am always blown away with your graphics and how well you do maps. What programs do you use to do this amazing work? I want to learn how to do these for my videos.

Lol so Qatar wants to be trending at all times and Aljazeera is their way of building clout. Them not reporting local issues is just a small price they have to pay as journalists.

very nice and informative, please do more videos about qatar, maybe the effect of the world cup on it,history of its wealth, and relation ships

it is an excellent channel..some absolutely great documentaries on it and a decent hourly news with a unique perspective

Fascinating video. Your graphics guy(s) deserve a raise

Every thing should be progressive and liberal , but not within our borders 😂😂.

That sore thumb animation is top-tier lol. Love it!

I've been wondering about this for the longest time!!!

Please keep doing such good work. I look forward to all your videos as they are such well-done, thoroughly researched topics. Amazing channel. Thank you for your hard work.

Amazing video. I am truly in awe. Perfect animations, relevant photographs, substance and narration. Bravo!!

I seldom comment , but your contents adds so much perspective into my world view and I couldn't be humbled more. Thank you

They make great documentaries, and their news seems fairly balanced and informative.

All of your videos are amazing, but this is the one that finally convinced me to subscribe to nebula

As someone who used to live in Qatar, it was pretty insane the queues at the one off-license😂

Really interesting post, thanks G

I love how the channel provides a free stream of their channel on UKposts; in the US it's one of the best ways to find out what's going on around the world

I think this is the first time a UKposts video answers something I genuinely had been wondering about.

2:12 The problem with data is that they can be wrong as well. There have been various instances when Al Jazeera reports very biasedly. Anyone who has watched Al Jazeera would agree that this news channel preaches equality and secularism to those countries who are already relatively much equal and secular, just like France, while it fails to report on various violation of human rights going on Islamic nations. It's biased.

Yeah, we have noticed how Qatar is trying to be everywhere, doing everything. As the saying goes: "have people talking about you, even if it's bad". Btw, my cousin was an expat in Qatar and told us how higher-ups qataris employed non-Muslim workers just to use their "alcohol licenses" for themselves. If their driver buys an expensive whiskey bottle, sometimes he won't be drinking it…

New PolyMatter video :)

I’ve always wondered this, thanks for explaining

Great video. Thanks so much for your effort.

I would contend that being independent is not the same as being objective. Like you say, they are known as a liberal station. And though I'm also a liberal, it's easy to see times when AJ takes the liberal position without support. Basically every news org does this, and perhaps AJ does it less. But I would still rather see the case made for the liberal position instead of assuming the audience will take it for granted.

Anyone notice the mistake with the most watched ? They say 2001 but 2013 is what is written on the video

I think you should use authoritarian vs democratic instead of conservative vs progressive. 'Conservative' means wildly different things in different countries because the status quo that is being 'conserved' and the values they are based on are wildly different. Technically the CCP is the 'conservative' party of China but you would be hard pressed to find many conservatives (outside from a few corrupt hypocrites in politics or business that only really care about their own money or career) from a western country that agrees with the CCP or Qatar's government. Edit: After reading some of the replies to this I think I need to clarify something. There is a reason I included the 'hypocrite politician' as an exception. Politicians always have and always will lean more authoritarian because it's in their own self interest to do so. The more power they have to more they can force others to 'play ball' with them and extract wealth from others. If you think that your 'side' is better about that than the others then you haven't looked hard enough. The real divide is between those with power and those without it. Using authoritarian vs libertarian/democratic reflects that real divide far more accurately and is what Polymatter should use instead.

America: "Tone down that reporting" Qatar: "lol no" *airlifts cows*

Really nice video essay

I feel like the central thesis of this video wasn't as well laid out as some of PolyMatter's other content. What I think PolyMatter is arguing: Qatar wants to make itself indigestible to it's larger neighbors by increasing its profile on the world stage. By doing so, it hopes to win the favor of global powers (namely the US) to intervene on its behalf in the event of invasion by regional rivals (namely Saudi Arabia) ala Kuwait in the gulf war. Therefore, running a liberal and relatively unbiased news media organization buys Qatar favor with said powers along with global profile and standing.

i love polymatter videos so much !!

As an ex Qatari resident this was the fastest I clicked on a Polymatter video

I don't see the lack of sensationalism. To me it's a lot like RT where it criticises other governments, often unfairly, and defends its own.

Moral of the story: always get your news from multiple sources

Jimmy Dore: CNN shows the missiles taking off and Al Jazzera shows the missiles landing.

But the issue is. There are two Aljazeeras. The arabic version is far more conservative and religiously oriented than the English one. They are pretty unbiased supporting the Islamic Brotherhood organization against most states in the middleeast.

I just posed this question yesterday. 😂 Brilliant!

Al Jazeera has a very willing blindspot and there are multiple reasons employed that rationalize the blind spot. I think the most used blind spot is: "Stuff doesn't really happen here." And that's kinda right. It's a tiny country in population and territory. On the other hand, if I were a journalist and people were literally dying kilometers from my home from malice -- that's a story no matter how insignificant the place. That's just the worst of it too. There are also the poor living conditions and exit-visa debacle for foreigners as well. If you want tight immigration policies -- ok, whatever. But people should be allowed to leave whenever they flipping want -- doubly so for foreign nationals. Oh, and the most obvious blindspot is the hand that feeds -- the Qatari government and its policies. This has been an ethics problem in news media for ages now. How to criticize the financiers? Some organizations just do it because that's the zeitgeist. PBS and, to a lesser extent, BBC come to mind. Other organizations should probably opt for using more methods to separate themselves from a single or a few controlling interests.

I may be wrong, but Qatar itself is kinda unknown in the West, most people wouldn't be able to even point the region it is from, it is easier for a person to identify Al Jazeera than the country itself. It isn't like other media outlets, CNN is american, RT is russian, BBC is british, in all these cases, the home country is by far more known.

AJ does amazing reporting on topics that CNN and BBC wouldn't be brave enough to ever touch. The Lobby documentary was incredible.

Thanks, me and my brother always asked ourselves this

Future video idea: you should look into the weirdness and ambiguities of Eastern Europe news media. Of course, most people immediately think of Russia and its laughable reporting quality (if you can even call it reporting). But Hungary, Poland, and Ukraine all have very interesting and compelling stories to tell regarding the news media environment.

Unexpected video topic but highly appreciated.

I still remember during Bangladesh mob lynching on Hindus how they spreaded news stating that " the whole fault of lynching belongs to minority(hindus)" and when it comes to India "they blame the majority "

As a resident of qatar, this video especially hit home.

in my country (Cuba) one of the few news channels that is allowed is RT. they have so high production values everything is so shiny and yet 90% of the content is about how the American empire is in decline. They did a report about the upcoming Qatar World Cup ,pretty good stuff about the construction of stadiums and the cultural impact of so many tourists in an ultra conservative environment. then they casually say "the West" is making up allegations about human rights violations and death of migrant workers just like they did in Sochi. that was the real point they wanted to convey

Hipocrisy is the best foreign policy

Had no idea....great video.

The first rule of Al-Jazeera is you do not talk about Qatar. The second rule of Al-Jazeera is you do not talk about Qatar ….

The idea that NPR is unbiased is very questionable

That title makes me think it’s a garden path sentence

A video that I would love to see is on "how to modernize north korea". I think that would be a very intresting subject.

I'm Iranian and at least in the case of news relating to my country, AJ's reporting isn't remotely close to the truth.

so its basically rt where its foreign reporting is more accurate than the news of the countries it is reporting on but not on its self

This answers a question I’ve always had in the back of my mind. I never knew what to make of this weirdly respectable Qatar-funded news outlet. Thank you!

very interesting information and video

I'd like to add that Qatar isn't really a repressive regime for natives, every native Qatari is effectively born a millionaire with the freedom to do whatever they want. If they want to drink and party they can always fly to their second home in the West and do so there. The only people really being oppressed over there are the foreign labourers that do all hard work.

AJ+: “Why LGBT is good for America” Al Jazeera English: “Is the LGBT movement good?” Al Jazeera Arabic: “How to stone Gays 101”

Stopped video after it said Al Jazeera is reliable and non biased.

Qatar's expertise is on mass communication and UAE's on mass transportation, through their expertise on those they are retaking the positions held by Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq with their old order replacing them with a new orders. Qatar and UAE is aware that its conservative generations must not be offended while they go on with their ideals.

I don't think, Aljazeera will be 'killed' because it is vital in keeping good (!) relations with (especially western) countries as it is quite unbiased etc

12:46 Did someone said "Conspiracy theory?" Hold up, RT does that a lot and they make particular news headlines so that you can get more confused also sometimes shitposting like TF.

This should go viral

"Al Jazeera is super progressive, and also unbiased!" 😂

the upcoming World Cup at Qatar, while watching the matches, just think about the deaths of thousand of workers who built the stadiums

This is a question I’ve always wondered. AJ+ is super liberal even though Qatar is conservative.

i came from nebula just to share my incredulity at the phrase; "airlifting cows" i didn't think that could be said outside of a joke let alone put in practice lol

I've been watching Al Jazeera for over a year and these are questions I also have shared. I appreciate this video probably more than all!

I have been thinking about this for agess! Just assumed maybe Qatar was more liberal than the rest of the region