For too long the subaltern world, and Africa, has relied on reporting of events in the world by outlets at the centre of empire. The stories that emerge from these institutions tell complicated lies, peddle myths, and repeat racist tropes about the Global South. Yusuf Serunkuma lauds the impact of Aljazeera, a major news network which was set-up in 2006 and has changed our understanding of the world. He tells the story of lions visiting an art exhibition only to be astonished by the claims made by hunters and their admirers. A lion shakes its head and is heard muttering, “If only lions could paint!” Africa too, Serunkuma concludes, must create its own media network to tell its story.
By Yusuf Serunkuma
It was in the course of Israel’s bombardment of Palestine in 2012 that a remarkable difference between how the international news networks reported on the violence became ever more visible. While the other networks focused their cameras on and privileged images of rubble and debris, hardly less ugly than other aspects of the assault, Aljazeera English (AJE) made sure to include human life: the maimed and killed, displaced, and starving, women and children. Many viewers must have noticed the stark difference. So did the Israeli government. Aljazeera journalists and their overall operations then became a target. The network’s bureau was shelled by the Israel Defence Forces, causing immense damage. Years later, in 2021, the building that housed the Aljazeera network inside Gaza was demolished by the IDF forces.
In the recent episode of bombardment, labelled a genocide by many commenters, institutions and scholars, the network was shutdown by the Israeli government. But before the shutdown, attacks on AJE and other journalists had become the norm. The targeted killing of Palestinian-American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh was one out of many such killings of journalists. Israel has killed over 105 journalists since 7 October. Why? Because the Arabs, the subalterns, finally learned to tell their history in the language and modes of the proverbial hunters themselves. The story of the hunt no longer favours the hunter.
Outside of reporting the conflict in Palestine, and the broader Middle East, we ought to reckon with the evolution and example of Aljazeera in the struggle for representation, justice, equality and independence for the entirety of the subaltern, postcolonial world. This is especially so in sub-Saharan Africa where the story of the hunt continues to favour our predators. It is notable that, despite being non-African, through intentional editorial and political decisions, the Qatar-based network has penetrated deep into the hearts of Africans, inspiring millions, and catalysing cross-continental conversations. British broadcaster, the BBC and American outlet, CNN, used to be the to-go-to networks for all international news coverage, as Africa and the Middle East remained invisible. We were spoken for, represented, and studied, while remaining largely on the margins.
By the late 2000s, however, the Qatar-based network had successfully broken the monopoly that both the BBC and CNN had enjoyed across the formerly colonised world. It was the outlet being watched in every home, office, and workstation. It was the TV of choice in hotel lobbies.
Suffice to mention that while the BBC and CNN thrived on their respective empires, oftentimes, patronisingly exhibiting their nationalistic superiority and grand Eurocentricism, Aljazeera English thrived entirely on good-old humanistic, and anti-imperialist journalism. The network did much more than simply pushing back on Eurocentric narratives; it reported on and informed the subaltern world and fostered co-subaltern conversations.
However, it ought to be noted that the network has a fair number of shortfcomings. Many times, they have reported inaccurately (for example, on the Rwandan opposition), reported some stories rather simplistically (like the DRC, events in West Africa etc.), and sometimes, reproduced Qatar government foreign policy positions (see reporting on Syria and Iraq). Yet these editorial and operational conundrums tend to be true of all networks. Indeed, notwithstanding these shortfalls, AJE has sustained the voices of the subaltern, and offered a counter-narrative destabilising normalised ‘stories’ about the poor — the still exploited peripheries of the capitalist world. Indeed, it is not wild to say that presently, the BBC and CNN and other major networks have started following the example set and the challenge posed by AJE.
*
For many Africans, recalling when they first committed themselves to AJE it is foundational story. So deeply did the outlet penetrate into the souls of many people across the world that talking about it is to tell a personal story. So, when I was leaving my parent’s house in 2010 to become a man of my own, the first thing I installed in my new apartment, before furniture and kitchenware, was DSTV for one single reason: Aljazeera. I was so obsessed with global events, and badly wanted their documentaries on Latin America, and anti-capitalist struggles. Eventually my wife fell in love with AJE, too.
Opened in 2006 the network quickly became a part of our lives, reporting our tragedies, conflicts, and folklore, giving us voice. When telling our life-stories nowadays, or dissecting our politics, it is not unusual to cite an Aljazeera news item, interview or feature. For many, AJE is a ‘national outlet.’ If it is not only dark-skinned or brown faces on screen, it is the stories from the subaltern world being reported critically but from an intimate vantage point. Off the top of my head, I can name AJE reporters Mohammad Adow, Rageh Omar, Catherine Soi, Ayman Mohyeldin, Haru Mutasa, Cath Tuner, Yvonne Ndege, Kamal Hyder, Sohail Rahman, Folly Bar Thibaut, Lucia Newman, Zeina Khodor, Nazanine Moshiri. They have connected regions and told our common trials and tribulations. From the stories being foregrounded, and the profile of the reporters, one is able to tell that this is not random, but the outcome of deliberate political and economic decisions.
On Aljazeera, brown and black journalists deliver good journalism in good English. To all of us “conscripts of a western modernity,” or still-recovering colonised minds, if you like, good English is an essential detail. The subaltern world feels like they belonged to this space. Indeed, not to be left behind, yours truly, after a year of working at The Independent magazine in Kampala, felt confident enough to apply for a job at Aljazeera. Although unsuccessful, it is fair to say that this application was more about the network and less about the applicant. Indeed, despite feeling confident about my abilities, I would never have countenanced the idea of applying for a position at the BBC or CNN. Both are so distant, not only geographically but also politically.
But at one point, anyone savouring the goodness of AJE had to stop and gasp: As a new player in the global news industry, this network must be rich, how do they manage this finesse? The talents and the tools at their disposal were among the best in the business (journalists frustrated by the outlets they had worked in or simply attracted by the new kids on the block). Understanding that assembling such talent does not come cheaply – financially, politically – Qatar, the country supporting the network became visible. Remember, for a long time, AJE advertised just one business, Qatar Airways. Thus, we were transported in seeing Qatar, not just as an oil-rich country, but involved in both economic and political contestations: decolonisation, representation, Orientalism. If only Edward Said was alive to write a piece about the de-orientialising potential of this network. To the African continent, Qatar-AJE still stands as a humbling reminder that for us to spread our colours, and paint the world on our terms, we have to own our natural resources, exploit them ourselves, to obtain the results we want. Then, we’ll have the means and freedom to paint our world – even when painting our tragedies. As I argued recently, decolonisation is thoroughly an economic, agrarian project.
The election violence in Kenya: 2007-2008
Aljazeera English had opened only a year before, when the 2007-2008 election violence in Kenya broke out. The network was almost unknown to many news watchers across the subaltern world. For a very long time, it did not broadcast in the United States. When Kenya went up in flames, however, because of the position the country occupies in the region, and because of the fluidity of the moment, this story had to be reported wholesomely, live, and continuously. Kenya’s Mombasa port is the gateway to the world for many landlocked East African countries. Nairobi is also the headquarters of many international organisations and a regional hub for many of the activities of international actors in the development and security industries. The entire region and world were watching and were hungry for more coverage. Aljazeera broke through the fog and brought us the conflict live.
We all wanted to know what was happening and how it might affect the entire region. At a personal level, my uncle with whom I lived had only recently moved to Nairobi to work with the UNHCR. The violence prevented him from returning to his workstation in Nairobi. So, we remained glued to the network, watching with bated breath every aspect of the mayhem. AJE was the only outlet offering 24-hour coverage, reporting both breaking news, and analysing events. Working with both local and international reporters, it was relentless. In this instance as in others since, Aljazeera penetrated deep into the hearts of the continent. Where other networks will devote no more than a couple of minutes to a conflict, Aljazeera devotes entire hours, underscoring a deliberate intention to report the subaltern world.
The Arab Spring, 2010 onwards
It did not take long before the Arab Spring broke out. This being mostly in the Arab world, with years of reporting in this region through Aljazeera Arabic, Aljazeera English outdid itself. The Arab Spring changed not just the Arab world, but the entire world forever. In a world where (constitutional, capitalist-supported) autocrats reign large, we looked forward in anticipation for a Black Africa Flood – just as our autocrats did. Aljazeera English brought Tahrir Square into our living rooms. I vividly recall Ayman Mohyeldin unceasingly bringing us live events. We lived this experience because Aljazeera made it visible. The network made the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak look like something that was happening to the whole continent, as it made the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power all the more understandable. We watched firsthand NATO’s demolition of Libya, and the agony of a once modern and thriving country being reduced to a slave route. I will never forget the sight of market women in downtown Kampala, glued to their TV sets, crying when the NATO-backed rebels finally caught up with Moammar Gaddafi and murdered him.
Outstanding shows
But it wasn’t only the wonderful reporting; there is also the network’s shows, films and award-winning documentaries. The most outstanding of them all remains Richard Gizbert’s ‘The Listening Post’. They don’t just report the news, rather, they report and debate the way the news is reported. This is a mainstay of courses in critical media studies, discussing angles of reporting, media freedom, and vantage points. An absolute classic for journalism schools. The show called ‘The Stream’ continues to connect the subaltern world on social media, focusing on activism, and other current issues especially as debated on the margins of society, in the spaces of public and popular culture.
Then there is ‘Counting the Cost’, ‘The Inside Story’, and ‘Talk to Aljazeera’ that remain outstanding shows, which take us deep into the world of news with exceptional analysts (mostly scholars, activists and cultural icons), and the newsmakers being challenged to explain their actions. I will never forget Mohammad Vall when he sat down with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and asked the aging head of state whether he wouldn’t be remembered as a dictator. As a regular viewer and lover of the network’s films, I do not know how many times I cited The Rageh Omar’s Report on Somalia, America’s New Frontline Part I and II, and how this show inspired my work as a graduate student from Uganda going into Somalia, and how it gave me some sense of international geopolitics in the Horn and Africa more generally. The films streamed by AJE’s Witness, and People Power, especially when ordinary people stand up to western imperialism, and capitalism, particularly indigenous people’s struggles against oil giants, ignited my interests in political economy.
At a personal level, my bookshelves are loaded with titles inspired by AJE’s punditry, Op-ed writers and commentaries: Marwan Bishara’s The Invisible Arab, David Lamb’s The Arabs, and Belen Fernandez, Thomas Friedman: The Imperial Messenger. To this day, I’m often checking their website to see if the next Op-ed by some of my favourite writers Hamid Dabashi, Robert Grenier and Belen Fernandez has landed.
The point I am labouring to make is this: There’s a popular saying in African tradition, that before the lions learn to write their history, the story of the hunt will always favour the hunter. This also means, the animals have to learn to exploit and use their resources for their own benefit. AJE-Qatar have showed us, all is possible as long as you take control of your resources, and fulfil your dreams. If there are any lessons to take from the ways in which the world has finally reacted to the plight, dispossession, ethnic cleansing and Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians, it is that the Arab world has finally begun to tell its story.
David Lamb introduces his 1987 book, The Arabs: Journeys Beyond the Mirage, with the story: “Public relations, I was to learn, was a concept the Israelis understood, and the Arabs didn’t, and during my tour in the Middle East I was constantly struck by the Arabs’ inability to present to the world a favourable or accurate image of either themselves or their causes.”
If Lamb were to rewrite this introduction today, he would not miss the centrality of Aljazeera, and how this network has transformed the world’s view of not just the Middle East, but the entire subaltern world. No wonder, the empire continues to target Aljazeera. So, for example, former President Obama attacked the network in his post-presidential memoir, The Promised Land, (Dabashi gave us a fitting review) comparing AJE to the outlet, much-hated by liberals, Fox News.
And as I write, AJE no longer operates in Israel, having been shut down. We in Africa, with our innumerable conflicts, ignorance about each other, and our relations with the world rotating around competition and exploitation, need our own network with the focus, activism and commitment of Aljazeera.
Yusuf Serunkuma is a regular contributor to roape.net and a columnist in Uganda’s newspapers, as well as a scholar and a playwright. In 2014, Fountain Publishers published his first play, The Snake Farmers, which was received with critical acclaim in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.
Featured Photograph: During events in Libya in 2011 journalists watch Al Jazeera Arabic on television (25 February 2011).
