AJ+

Although AJ+ was built inside Al Jazeera, a larger traditional news media organization, it was guided by the spirit of a media startup, intending to shift the world off its axis — disrupting the traditional mainstream media landscape, whose key nodes are embedded in the corridors of power and mostly amplify its narratives. As pioneers of social-first video with eye-catching yellow text on screen, AJ+ journalists hit the ground running, mobile phones in hand, ready to document and amplify the marginalized communities around them and abroad. From the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, to the Syrian refugee crisis across Europe, our earliest deployments documented the first days of the BlackLivesMatter movement and the treacherous journey many Syrian refugees made for a safer life in Europe. Our early efforts succeeded far beyond all expectations, prompting us to quickly reproduce the model in Arabic, French and Spanish. We’ve spent the last decade-plus talking with people around the world who are fighting back against corporations, corruption, land grabs and the everyday threats of the climate crisis: Native Hawaiians taking on Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg in a land rights battle. The Munduruku tribe at war against illegal mining, logging and land grabbing in Brazil's Amazon rainforest. And, Jamaican residents of Bob Marley Beach resisting luxury developments and tourism. — and for the times we didn’t, we spoke to experts who could give context to the world around us, informed by the past and looking to the future. We’ve connected the dots on the link between racism, colonialism and football, and shared the historical story of Indonesians fighting Dutch colonization and winning. We brought you the data, history and perspectives to understand and engage. In the years leading up to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, we shared hundreds of stories from the occupied West Bank and Gaza, cutting through the veil of obfuscation imposed by many mainstream media outlets on a struggle over land and political rights. Our coverage of Israel and the Palestinians living under Israeli occupation is a cornerstone of who we are at AJ+. We’re holding a mirror to decolonization struggles across the globe, elevating the principle of solidarity and of communities everywhere organizing and taking action to make change. We brought you the story of the chef preserving Gaza’s cuisine amid a genocide, a look at how Israel made Gaza the world’s biggest prison and the journey of our very own Dena Takruri traveling to her father’s hometown of Hebron to document settler violence, segregated streets and harassment by Israeli soldiers. ...we’ve collaborated with Palestinian video journalist Bisan Owda, who has given us a firsthand look at the genocide through which she and her community are living, beginning each video diary with “It’s Bisan from Gaza and I’m still alive” . She’s entered the hearts of our audience and also received the highest levels of professional acclaim for her profound and courageous on-the-ground reporting. She’s entered the hearts of our audience and also received the highest levels of professional acclaim for her profound and courageous on-the-ground reporting. As we mourn Israel’s killings of our Al Jazeera colleagues and other media workers in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, we remain steadfast in our mission to bring you accurate, factual and fair journalism that is morally committed and impactful. We’ll be here to filter out the noise and make sense of the interconnected world we live in – amplifying the disruptors and changemakers that challenge global systems of power and oppression with the hope of building a more equitable, sustainable, just and safe planet for all.