American International Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 3 No. 9; September 2013 68 Professionalism and Objectivity of Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel Dr. Sami Al-khazendar Associate Professor Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty of Arts, The Hashemite University P.O. Box 150459, Zarqa 13115, Jordan. Dr. Yahya Ali Assistant Professor Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty of Arts, The Hashemite University P.O. Box 150459, Zarqa 13115, Jordan. Abstract This study aims to evaluate the performance of Al-Jazeera Channel using two major indicators -- objectivity and professionalism. The study was based on a survey conducted in nineteen Arab countries on a sample of 611 Ph.D. holders specializing in political science and media. The results show variation in the evaluation of objectivity and professionalism of Al-Jazeera performance. Al-Jazeera was evaluated lower in terms of objectivity (63.5 points) compared with professionalism (77.9 points). The overall performance of Al-Jazeera reached 71.4 out of 100 points. Moreover, the nationality of the experts and specialists affected their evaluationsofAl-Jazeera objectivity, professionalism and overall performance. Keywords:Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel, Media, Professionalism, Objectivity, Arab Media Introduction Media is an important actor in our daily life. Media enables us to communicate with each other and with others around the world in addition to providing news of events and incidents in the world. Thus, the media shoulders a great deal of responsibility to deliver information which affects the way we think, and ultimately how we behave. The media playsseveral significant roles in public life. Perhaps the most critical are to protect political and civil rights, and to maintain transparency in decision-making processes. The media assertsavital role in influencing people’s attitudes toward social, political and economic issues. Hence, the quality of the message delivered to society has a great impact on attitudes and ultimately on behaviours.For example, the media hasa great impact on the evolution of voting intentions (Dobrzynska et al, 2003; Nesbitt-Larking, 2010). At the same time, it is hard to assess the impact of media upon people’s choices. The relation between democracy and media is significant because free media promotes plurality and debate, which are important indicators for democraticconsolidation. The consolidation of democracy requires establishing an effective communication process that enables citizens to communicate with other social groups. This could be done through critical and independent media (Guerrero and Nesbitt-Larking, 2010). Moreover, the liberal perspective argues that a “democratic” media has three main pillars that constitute a baseline that control the professionalism and impact of the media. These pillars as stated by Guerrero and Nesbitt-Larking (2010) are“to watch over the uses and abuses of power on behalf of citizens, provide the public with information to base their choices, opinions and decisions on public matters, and become themselves an open and free marketplace of ideas.” The role of the media is of great importance because to stand against the oppression of the state, the media is one of the key actors that tackle such responsibility (Barendt, 1993). Thus, the media is considered a natural allyfor citizens in controlling abuses of power, and as a result professionalism in the media is important for evaluation of the impact of such media on the public.