While many media broadcast and press operations are planning how to charge for their information on the Internet, Al Jazeera will provide its content free of charge. Launching its multifaceted strategy at the start of the fifth Al Jazeera Forum in Doha in late May, the Network’s Director-General Wadah Khanfar said: "Al Jazeera is proud to announce that we will bring our ground-breaking coverage to the widest audience possible, free of charge."
Al Jazeera will provide its content free of charge across a range of digital platforms. This will include Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, as well as developing a new application for the iPad.
Secondly, Khanfar announced a programme to support the rights of online journalists, bloggers and other individuals who write and report online.
‘There are too many cases of bloggers being persecuted for telling the truth or for voicing their opinions,’ said Khanfar. “As part of the Al Jazeera Initiative for Internet Freedom, we will provide assistance to those who face online censorship and other forms of media oppression.’
In an attempt to bolster the Network’s newsgathering efforts, Jazeera is to provide people in marginalised communities and remote parts of the world with cameras and mobile phones to allow them to document stories that can be used on the Arabic and English news channels.
“Media tools are often only accessible by those who have the resources and skills to access new technology. By providing these tools Al Jazeera will be engaging a new generation of journalists,’ said Khanfar.
