Fearless journalism is the hallmark of Al Jazeera: News anchor

Fearless journalism to become the 'voice of the voiceless’ has been the identity of Al Jazeera Network, according to one of the anchors of the media house.“Your work speaks for itself and there will always be people who will cast allegations. That might also be the reasons why we get banned from reporting in some places. But, we always want to tell the world the stories that were not told by other news media and that is why we are always different,” Kamahl Santamaria, principal anchor, told Gulf Times, as Al Jazeera Network marks its 25th anniversary. Santamaria who was part of Al Jazeera English from its inception in1996 believes that when the channel is restricted from reporting, it is a proof of doing the right job. “We don’t look at the agenda of the other news channels. We do best what we can, for our viewers by setting the right news agenda. Our highlight is that on many occasions, we do not look like other channels. It is so important that we maintain our identity by being different,” Santamaria said.The anchor feels that the Arab Spring was a huge and decisive moment for the channel.“What really changed for us was the Arab Spring. During the Egyptian revolution, the front page of YouTube was streaming Al Jazeera. Thereafter, we could see so many journalists from other channels arriving there from the US, the UK and elsewhere,” he said.Santamaria who has covered four US elections recollected some of the experiences.“It started with president Obama’s election and since an American president’s election is so connected with the entire world, it is always very exciting. However, president Trump’s election was entirely different as the outcome was quite against all the electoral forecast. We should have understood the popularity that he did have and we failed in that. Most media got their shock of their lives,” he said. According to Santamaria, covering and watching what is happening in Egyptian Revolution during the Arab Spring and knowing that the whole Middle East has been shaken up has been one of the big moments of his career with Al Jazeera.“Another striking moment in my career with Al Jazeera was while reporting Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013. During the reporting, I met a fisherman whose house was blown away in the typhoon. He went inside of what is left of his house and brought a plate of fish saying this was the entire catch he had. He cooked it and offered to me. It was one great moment of realisation, the story of a simple, helpless individual which is all the more important to me,” he said.Santamaria said it was unthinkable in 1996 to have a 24-hour news channel from Doha. “But when we look back, it shows how the news channel has evolved and its global impact, making Qatar a news hub. When we started, several parts of the world such as the Middle East, North Africa, Southern Asia, South America were under-reported. We could change that. People watch us, people rely on us and there is a great responsibility on what we do. They come to you because they trust you,” he said.