Tribune News Network
Doha
As the world grapples with polarization and misinformation, award-winning journalist and Al Jazeera English producer Laila Al-Arian said fearless, independent journalism is the exact tonic the world needs to meet the existential challenges of the era, at a Northwestern Qatar (NU-Q) community event.
The event, hosted by the Journalism and Strategic Communication and the Liberal Arts Programmes, featured Al-Arian in a conversation moderated by NU-Q Professor Zeina Awad. Speaking to students, faculty, and staff from NU-Q and the wider Qatar Foundation community, Al-Arian discussed her film on the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and the future of journalism amid the threats the industry is facing.
The conversation began with Al-Arian explaining how she was young when her political awareness developed during the first Palestinian intifada and the 2003 Iraq war. “I was in the 3rd grade at the time, so I just couldn’t understand in my mind the disconnect between the images I was seeing and what I was hearing from my parents and from my community to how the media [in the US] was reporting on these images,” said Al-Arian. “These two events were really formative in shaping my understanding of the media and the power of narrative, and for that reason, I decided to become a journalist.”
Al-Arian went on to recount how growing up with the US as her direct context to global issues and events exposed her to the issue of a single narrative, stressing, “The media was adopting the perspective and the viewpoint of the US military.” Despite this, Al-Arian said she still developed a passion for the profession’s core purpose. “I very much believe in the mission of journalism, which is to hold power to account, to expose injustices, to tell of people who don’t have the platform or the ability to tell the story themselves,” said Al-Arian.
As a journalist for Al Jazeera, Al-Arian explained how her passion for telling stories translated into making an award-winning series investigating current affairs in the US, which led her to win an Emmy in 2018, a Peabody in 2013, and other major awards throughout her career. Despite her success, she noted being a journalist has become increasingly difficult in the last few years. “It’s a time of tremendous change, much of it is negative,” stressed Al-Arian. Amid the rise of populism and the changing news business model, Al-Arian highlighted some of the main challenges facing journalism as an industry.
But for Al-Arian, the biggest threat facing the industry today is journalists’ safety and their ability to do their jobs. “We are operating in a landscape in which people and journalists are being killed, threatened, and in many countries, imprisoned for doing their jobs,” said Al-Arian, who went on to highlight such trends’ impact on independent journalism and coverage of global issues, like in Palestine.
When asked about how she was inspired to produce her latest investigative film, The Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, Al-Arian said, unlike other stories covering major systemic issues beyond control, Shireen’s case is “a very specific killing of a journalist.” She added, “You have a country whose military is let off the hook time and again, who operates with complete impunity, and I think this is really a simple story to highlight and to make sure we all collectively use our voices to call for justice for Shireen.”
Despite the challenges facing the industry, Al-Arian said she will continue to focus on serving the public interest in her work. “It takes a lot of time, money, and specialized skills to be able to tell these stories, and as long as I have those resources, I want to shed light on people’s stories,” said Al-Arian, calling on aspiring journalists at Northwestern Qatar to prioritize making a positive impact.
