Job cuts will be mainly in Qatar. Most departures will not concern journalists.
The management of Al-Jazeera, the information group created 20 years ago by the royal family of Qatar, has announced the elimination of 500 positions out of 4,500 worldwide, mostly at the headquarters in Doha. According to general manager of the chain, Mostefa Souag, “all options were considered” to maintain the competitiveness of the chain. It is ultimately the downsizing that has been chosen to ensure its leading position, “its commitment to quality journalism, independent and powerful in the world,” said Mostefa Souag in a statement. According to an official of the chain, the first dismissals should take place next week and most of the departures do not concern journalists.
These job cuts come as Qatar, big gas producer but also oil, is facing a collapse in prices of these energy sources. The country plans a budget deficit of over $ 12 billion in 2016, the first in fifteen years.
On January 13, the management of the news channel had already announced the closure in April of Al Jazeera America, two and a half years after its launch. The Director General of the Qatar channel had then said it had found no viable business model in the US where Al-Jazeera had opened twelve offices on 70 of the chain in the world. Its audience has never exceeded a few tens of thousands of viewers.
According to the Pew Research Center, Al-Jazeera America would have realized in 2014 a turnover of less than $ 100 million, by far the lowest of all national news channels. This closure would result in the elimination of 700 positions.
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