Al Jazeera Balkans shutting down after 14 years: The end of the regional project

Photo: Shutterstock, Wikipedia

After more than a decade of maintaining a presence in the Balkans, the regional Al Jazeera Balkans television is ceasing its operations. The decision to shut it down, according to unofficial information, was made in Doha, while the reasons are reportedly financial.

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Although the specific reasons have not yet been officially disclosed, insiders claim that the parent company in Qatar made the decision to close this regional branch based on a business assessment.

Al Jazeera Balkans was founded in 2011 with headquarters in Sarajevo, and over the years developed a network of newsrooms in Belgrade, Zagreb, Skopje, Podgorica, Ljubljana and Pristina.

It was recognizable for its documentary programs and regional topics, and it stood out in particular for the fact that it was the first Al Jazeera channel to broadcast content in the languages of the former Yugoslavia, rather than Arabic or English.

Since 2018, AJB DOC, an international documentary film festival, has been organized in Sarajevo, gathering filmmakers from all over the world to promote regional production.

The news about the shutdown comes as a surprise to the public, but also to employees, considering that Al Jazeera Balkans has long been considered one of the most professionally stable media companies in the region.

It remains to be seen how the situation will develop and whether there will be an attempt to maintain some of the programming or the branding, in another format.

(Telegraf Biznis/Klix.ba)