Al Jazeera marks 30 years of transforming news in Middle East and beyond

Al Jazeera is marking 30 years to the day since it was launched in 1996. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as well as senior network officials, attended a ceremony here in Doha. The chairman of the board and Al Jazeera's director general hailed at the network's achievement over a short period. Their message? Al Jazeera remains committed to telling stories to our global audiences with impartiality, truth, and accuracy. Now, the Arabic channel went live first, followed 10 years later by Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera has achieved what we didn't expect it to achieve in a short period of time if we compare it to other international news organizations. We are ahead by a long, long way and we are far more successful in both traditional and digital media. We are far ahead than many of our rivals. This couldn't have happened without the grace of God and the belief and resilience of the people who worked for Al Jazeera to give all they can for the sake of serving the truth and only the truth and to give a voice to the voiceless in the north and the south. Al-Fakhru la yakfi. Pride in history, no matter how great, is not enough. Al Jazeera, which started a bold idea, cannot remain faithful to that beginning unless it has the courage of renewal. Renewal which is guided by Al Jazeera's Vision 2030, which aims at protecting Al Jazeera's values, independence and credibility with the tool of changing what should be changed so that these values remain present and influential in response to the changes of the industry and needs of our global audience. Thank you.