&gt; I&#x27;d be very interested to know about AJ Arabic (and I don&#x27;t speak Arabic at all). If you don&#x27;t mind sharing a little more: How does it differ from AJ English?<p>In general, the &quot;feel&quot; of the channel is different, to the point where if AJ English had another name, you&#x27;d have no idea they&#x27;re related. More specifically, AJ English is a bit more general in its global coverage, whereas AJ Arabic focuses more on the region. The two channels are completely independent entities actually, and it seems to work well.<p>&gt; Also, maybe 15 years ago I&#x27;d hear how AJ Arabic was the only real journalism in the Arab world and a force for democracy and reform. Was that your experience? Is it still?<p>Personally, I believe yes, it&#x27;s the only channel that actually cares about the Middle East. Granted, I&#x27;ve only been watching it for 8 years or so.<p>&gt; Finally, how and how much does AJ Arabic serve Qatar&#x27;s rulers&#x27; interests? How much better or worse is it than the other government sponsored competitors<p>As with any other news channel, AJ Arabic has a clear agenda. Put briefly: anti-Israel, pro-Hamas, anti-Egyptian government, pro-Brotherhood, anti-Iran, anti-Syrian government. Even with their clear biases, I feel they do a good job showing both sides of the equation, especially in their discussion programs.<p>The other competitors in the region are Al Arabiya, BBC Arabic, and France 24 Arabic. Al Arabiya is sponsored by the Saudi government I believe, but is headquartered in the UAE. Similar to AJ, it is anti-Israel and anti-Iran&#x2F;Syria, but the rest is the opposite. So as you can see they usually cover regional news differently. BBC Arabic and France 24 are pro-Israel and neutral when it comes to Iran.<p>&gt; The best coverage I&#x27;ve found, in English, of the Middle East is Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post, both from Israel. [...] They cover important stories I don&#x27;t see in AJ English and cover other stories better - though I read all three anyway.<p>I have not read it to be honest. I might take a look at it when I get the chance. However I would be truly surprised if it was actually neutral.<p>The way I see it is that there simply is no neutral news source. For me however, I feel that AJ Arabic properly represents and covers the Arab&#x2F;Muslim causes, and does so in a professional manner.