Al Jazeera Balkans
HDTV) | |
Ownership | |
---|---|
Parent | Al Jazeera Media Network |
Key people | Tarik Đođić (General Director) Sanja Fazlagić (Head of News) |
Sister channels | Al Jazeera Documentary Channel |
History | |
Launched | 11 November 2011 |
Replaced | NTV 99 |
Links | |
Website | balkans |
Availability | |
Terrestrial | |
Analogue (Bosnia) | Sarajevo area UHF 56 Fojnica area UHF 36 |
evotv (Croatia) | Channel 105 |
Streaming media | |
AJB player | Watch live |
Al Jazeera Balkans (AJB) is an international news television station headquartered in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina aimed at the media markets of the countries that used to be constituent units of SFR Yugoslavia. It is part of the Al Jazeera Media Network.
The station broadcasts in local variants of the "common language spoken in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro"[1] (commonly known as Serbo-Croatian[2]) from 7.30 to 3.30 CET (start and end 30 minutes later on the weekends), with both of live, pre-recorded original, and subtitled Al Jazeera English programming. The live dirty feed of Al Jazeera English is simulcast the remainder of hours with simply Gledate AJE (transl. You are watching AJE) text-bug overlaid at the top-right corner of the screen. Al Jazeera Balkans is a sister channel of the Arabic language Al Jazeera and the English language channel Al Jazeera English. The station broadcasts news analysis and features as well as documentaries, live debates, current affairs, business, technology, and sports news.
History
Purchase
On 22 September 2010, after months of speculation,
Preparation
Soon after the purchase announcement, Al Jazeera made a lease agreement with BBI Real Estate regarding the usage of the 800m2 space at the top floors of Sarajevo's
In parallel, it set about staffing its planned Balkans operation whose launch was set for January 2011.[7] With the Slobodna Bosna newsmagazine reporting Al Jazeera Balkans offering minimum monthly salaries in excess of €1,000 as well as 5-year term contracts,[8][9] the run on the station by interested local journalists was sizable.[10]
The network also decided to go after marquee local name(s) for top editorial and/or management positions. It began looking at Croatian state broadcaster
By the beginning of 2011 it was clear the planned January launch would be postponed as Milić was finishing up at HRT with a rousing sendoff following his final Dnevnik newscast. The veteran broadcaster soon moved to Sarajevo, marking his professional return to the city having previously worked there from 1990 until 1992, first as part of Yutel and later as the Bosnian government's spokesperson in the initial months of the Bosnian War.
In late March 2011, the station aimed for a late summer / early fall launch in September with news director Milić pontificating on how Al Jazeera Balkans might fit into the Balkans media scene: "There are over 100 television stations in the region [former Yugoslavia] at the moment. We cannot hope to compete with them on the local level, but Al-Jazeera will offer its regional access, an idea which was abandoned in the 90's due to wars and emotions those conflicts triggered".[16]
Over the coming months, Al Jazeera Balkans looked into different broadcast models. For a while it entertained the idea of taking over a local station in each of the
The affiliate broadcast model was ultimately abandoned as AJB opted for individual deals with local cable and
Launch
With €15 million reportedly invested in the project (according to general director Đođić),[19] Al Jazeera Balkans began broadcasting on 11 November 2011, launching their website on the same day. The network's visual appearance is mainly based on that of its English-language counterpart. It broadcasts from the Eutelsat W3C satellite and also offers a live web stream just like its Arabic and English counterparts do.
Audience and programming
According to a report from the
Programmes
Al Jazeera Balkans produces its daily content as well as some weekly content (Al Jazeera Business and Sportski magazin) in its studios located at the ARIA Centar's top floor. Its weekly interview programmes, Oni pobjeđuju and Recite Al Jazeeri, are shot on remote locations.
Reaction and reception
Bosnia and Herzegovina
With the September 2010 announcement of Qatar Media Corporation buying NTV 99 with a view of turning it into a Balkans-wide news channel, Boro Kontić, head of the Open Society-funded journalist training facility Mediacenter in Sarajevo, likened the arrival of the Arab media conglomerate to the atmosphere before the start of the Bosnian War, when it was announced that Sarajevo was to become regional headquarters for the European TV channel Euronews: "People aren't afraid of a new war, exactly, but rather political upheaval. People feel they are being monitored, if such a large international media company moves into the local market. But it has the potential to become an objective and independent information channel in the Balkans and it could also help to overcome the petty interests that arose after the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia - be it in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia or Montenegro".[7] In terms of Al Jazeera Balkans viewership prospects, Kontić said: "In the beginning it will probably be interesting for people to watch it, because they may be tired of local television stations -- so-called public stations, but what are in essence politically controlled. So they may be interested to see whether there is a different perspective on the region [from Al-Jazeera]. But we have a saying: a wonder lasts but three days".[22]
Borka Rudić, general secretary of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Journalists Association, found Al Jazeera's decision to come to Bosnia-Herzegovina especially interesting in light of the country not having a strong media market, saying: "Money is not the reason behind the network's decision to settle here. No TV station is completely immune to the desire for political influence. I believe Al Jazeera will affect the public opinion in Bosnia, but I don't fear the strengthening influence of radical Islamic forces. I do not think that the arrival of Al Jazeera immediately increases the influence from the East, or that this was the motive for Al Jazeera to settle in Sarajevo".[7]
Serbia
The June 2011 revelation of Al Jazeera Balkans asking its job applicants to state their personal position/opinion regarding the international status of Kosovo with the answer potentially determining whether they get hired or not while at the same time making a takeover bid for Serbian nationwide television network TV Avala caused a lot of reaction in the country.
Slobodan Reljić, former editor-in-chief at the NIN magazine conveyed that he's not particularly shocked at the way Al Jazeera Balkans picks its staff because contemporary global media outlets have given up on objective journalism. He further added, "they are going to hire a squad of young and good-looking 'warriors' for the station owner's 'cause'. Goran Milić is the right man for the job with loads of experience to execute that task in the 'most professional' manner because none of his personal beliefs will ever enter into it. He's been hired to do a job, and he's going to deliver the 'real' television. Al Jazeera is known for having learned their tricks from Western role models, from the BBC, which does it extremely 'professionally', after all".[23]
Olivera Kovačević, RTS television host, touched on the issue of potential Al Jazeera Balkans journalists from Serbia having to disregard their own country's constitution if the station's hiring criterion is to treat Kosovo as an independent state: "The very act of asking that question during a job interview – thereby interrogating an applicant on his/her political orientation – is in breach of that person's human rights. I accept that every media outlet has an editorial policy, but no one can demand of me to ignore my country's laws and constitution that say Kosovo is part of Serbia. It's going to be a tough call for the broadcasting regulators in Serbia whether to allow an outlet with such policy to own a station that broadcasts nationally in Serbia".[23]
The opposition Serbian Radical Party (SRS) called on the Serbian Broadcasting Agency (RRA) not to allow the Al Jazeera Balkans' purchase of TV Avala due to the "anti-Serb campaign led by the Al Jazeera director for the Balkans, Goran Milić". Speaking at party's press conference, SRS presidency collegium member Vjerica Radeta stated: "Milić has never ceased with his anti-Serb campaign, but the most scandalous of all is that the requirement to get a job at this station is accepting Kosovo as an independent state".[24]
International
Tim Judah wrote a piece on the launch of Al Jazeera Balkans in The Economist, going through the various ethnic, religious, political, and linguistic specifics in the former Yugoslavia before wondering "whether people from one part of the Balkans are still interested in the others" outside of "enjoying each other's reality shows". Right after mentioning that "news broadcasts from Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Belgrade and Zagreb are all utterly different", Judah claims Al Jazeera Balkans faces the problem of "many Serbs and Croats assuming it is "Muslim" television". He concludes by saying that Al Jazeera's Arabic service played a key role in the Arab Spring and wonders "what sort of influence Qatar may want, or gain, in the Balkans".[19]
Writing in his blog on
Shawn Powers, assistant professor at the
Film festival
In 2018, Al Jazeera Balkans launched its documentary film festival the
See also
- International broadcasting
- Al Jazeera English
- Al Jazeera America
- Al Jazeera Arabic
- Al Jazeera Türk
- AJ+
- Yutel
- Competitors
- N1
References
- ^ a b Al Jazeera launches Balkans channel. Aljazeera.com, 12 November 2011.
- ^ Al Jazeera launches Balkans television channel. BBC, 11 November 2011.
- Blic. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ a b Hawkes, Rebecca (19 September 2010). "Al Jazeera to launch regional Balkan TV". Rapid TV News. Archived from the original on 23 September 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ^ BBC News Europe, 11 November 2011 - Al Jazeera launches Balkans television channel
- ^ "Sjedište Al Jazeere Balkans u BBI Centru". sarajevo-x.com. 7 October 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ a b c "Al Jazeera makes its Balkan debut". Deutsche Welle. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ a b "Minimalna novinarska plata u Al Jazeeri Balkans 2.000 KM". sarajevo-x.com. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- Blic. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ "Navala na Al Džaziru Balkans". B92. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ "Al Jazeera ponudila posao Aleksandru Stankoviću". sarajevo-x.com. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ "Denis Latin generalni direktor Al Jazeere Balkans". sarajevo-x.com. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- Blic. 16 October 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- Blic. 15 October 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ "Balkanska Al Džazira spremna za start". Politika. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ "Al-Jazeera to start broadcasting in Balkans in fall". B92. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ "Al Džazira kupuje srpsku TV Avala?". B92. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ "Al Džazira preko Avale stiže u Srbiju?". Frankfurtske Vesti. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ a b "News in the ex-Yugoslavia: Broadcasting to the Balkans". The Economist. 12 November 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
- ^ The Washington Examiner 11 November 2011, Aida Cerkez - Al Jazeera launches Balkan broadcast[permanent dead link]
- ^ Rapid TVNews.com - Al Jazeera Balkans to launch 11 November
- ^ RFE/RL. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ a b Bojić, B.; Nedeljković, V. (17 June 2011). "Skandal zbog pitanja o Kosovu: Al Džazira krši Ustav Srbije". Press. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ "SRS: Ne dozvoliti rad "Al džaziri"". RTS. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ Nelson, Fraser (20 October 2011). "Al Jazeera scores another victory in the information war". The Spectator. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
- ^ Schwartz, Stephen (15 November 2011). "Al Jazeera Enters the Balkans". The Weekly Standard. Retrieved 19 January 2014.