and studies of equality in terms of the time allotted to each guest with- out prejudice. Upon a closer examination of the work of the Interviews teams, it became clear that this was a shared responsibility between the net- work and external actors who decided to withhold their voices from the network’s channels. Some countries even decided to completely close Al Jazeera’s bureaus and prohibited its correspondents from working. There were several campaigns of intimidation and accusations of be- trayal, and sometimes, even punishment against those who participated in Al Jazeera’s programmes. This weakened the presence of other voic- es, and propelled Al Jazeera to look for alternatives, such as seeking parties who are sympathetic or close to authorities preventing people from participation, or the journalist resorting to playing “devil’s advo- cate” in their reporting. Preventing certain voices from appearing on the channel certainly affects diversity on Al Jazeera’s platforms and affects the balance of truth, because the presence of the champions of a cause supports qual- ity more than a close or sympathetic voice. But, this also is the reason behind the increase in the number of times a certain guest appears. The reality is that sometimes the network’s channels cannot avoid booking the same guests when they are under the demand of the day’s news and events and must invite reliable, seasoned interviewees who will not present surprises on air that will take away from the overall quest for the truth. Editorial Challenges The editorial challenge is tied to well-known media production tools and technical and editorial templates. Editorial standards are the professional, practical side that ensure the high ethical standards men- tioned above, and shine in partnership with the network’s production units. It is well-known that the art of journalism involves choosing what is best in terms of quality and relevance to address the intend- ed audience, which, at the end of the day, is based on experience and experimentation. For example, when the Quality Control team recom- mends that a news report last two minutes, and not be broadcast less
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