"You have to think about people who are sitting in war rooms and plan the next bombing on civilians populations who are actually in tents in one place that they cannot move (from)"

Al Jazeera has been at the center of one of the deadliest assaults on journalists in modern history. Since October 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 270 journalists, including at least 11 from Al Jazeera. Despite losing colleagues, facing office bombings, and being banned from reporting inside Israel and the West Bank, Al Jazeera continues its coverage of Gaza.

In this episode of UNAPOLOGETIC, Ashfaaq Carim speaks with Salah Negm, the head of news for Al Jazeera English. With more than 45 years of experience in international journalism, Negm reflects on what it means to cover a genocide, how Israel targets reporters to silence coverage, and why eyewitness accounts remain essential.

Negm discusses:

The pressures and dangers faced by his newsroom

The killings of Shireen Abu Akleh and other Al Jazeera journalists

How Western media often relies on Israeli narratives

Why objectivity is misunderstood and misused in journalism

Al Jazeera’s process for recruiting and protecting local reporters

This is a rare inside look at how a newsroom endures grief, censorship, and political attacks while trying to hold power to account amidst an unfolding genocide in Gaza.

Editors Note: This episode was filmed on August 21st, before Monday deadly by Israel that killed another Al Jazeera Journalist, Muhammad Salama

Chapters:

0:00 Intro

3:40 Israel’s war on journalism

7:00 Media bias and objectivity

10:50 Why Al Jazeera hires locals

15:30 Fear and character attacks

19:00 Press freedom under threat

23:40 Gaza reporting under siege

29:00 Covering genocide in real time

47:20 Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing

51:00 Journalists killed in Gaza

1:00:00 Bans, raids, and censorship

1:08:00 Future of journalism in war