Despite its deep ties to terrorism and anti-Semitism, Al Jazeera continues to receive a highly favorable score from media ratings firm Ad Fontes.
Earlier this week, Israeli armed forces rescued three hostages from the Gaza home of Abdallah Aljamal, an Al Jazeera columnist and “Hamas terrorist.” This incident starkly exposes an Al Jazeera connection to Hamas, the organization behind the brutal terrorist massacre of Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023.
Amid mounting evidence of Al Jazeera's connections to terrorism, the Israeli Knesset even passed legislation to shut down the outlet’s offices over serious security concerns.
Yet, media ratings firm Ad Fontes, known for its leftist bias, continues to bestow a high rating on Al Jazeera. Ad Fontes labels Al Jazeera as left-leaning and deems it a “reliable” source for analysis and “fact reporting.”
According to Ad Fontes, “Al Jazeera (website) is a news organization funded in part by the government of Qatar. Launched in 1996 as a broadcast station ‘for the public benefit,’ it is now a global network with bureaus in 70 locations around the world.”
Ad Fontes gave Al Jazeera a reliability rating of 41.56 out of 64. In stark contrast, Fox News received a low score of 35.25 out of 62, and The Daily Wire was rated 32.26, making them only “generally reliable” by Ad Fontes’s standards.
Not to be outdone, NewsGuard has a history of offering favorable statements about Al Jazeera after initially criticizing the media outlet for failing to disclose its financial ties to the Qatari government.
“Al Jazeera’s connection to the Qatari government, going back to the news organization’s founding in 1996, is well documented. But until earlier this year, AlJazeera.com made no mention of Qatar, failing to disclose government ownership and control to its readers,” NewsGuard reported.
Only after meeting with NewsGuard executives did Al Jazeera update its website to acknowledge that it is “funded in part by the Qatari government.”
However, Al Jazeera’s financial ties to Qatar are just the tip of the iceberg. The Media Research Center has extensively documented Al Jazeera’s role as a propaganda tool sympathetic to terrorists, particularly as it relates to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In addition to one of its columnists allegedly holding three Israeli hostages, Al Jazeera reporters Ismail Abu Omar and Mohamed Washah were also reportedly busted moonlighting as Hamas terrorists.
At least one of these so-called journalists was shown in military garb instructing on how to use military weaponry, as reported by The Times of Israel in February.
But don't expect Ad Fontes and NewsGuard to hold Al Jazeera accountable. As previously revealed by MRC, these anti-free speech internet traffic cops are focused on censoring right-leaning media while apparently turning a blind eye to media sympathetic to terrorism.
Shame on them.
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