Al-Jazeera is to cut about 500 jobs worldwide, with most of the layoffs expected in the broadcaster’s home base in Qatar.
The news network said the cuts were in line with changes in global media; many organisations have been forced to reduce staff and tighten budgets – though the state-funded channel will also have been impacted by falling oil prices.
The move will bring down al-Jazeera’s global staff of about 4,500 by more than 10%.
Acting director general, Mostefa Souag, said the network had spent months evaluating options. He said: “Based on this review, we have embarked on a workforce optimisation initiative that will allow us to evolve our business operation in order to maintain a leading position and continue our recognised commitment to high quality, independent and hard-hitting journalism around the world.”
Al-Jazeera was launched in 1996 as an Arabic-language news channel. It radically altered reporting of the region and grew to have a global impact with more than 70 bureaus around the world. An English-language channel was launched in 2006.
It has since scaled back its ambitions, announcing in January the closure of its American cable news channel, launched in October 2013, after consistently low ratings.
The slump in oil prices, which has left crude selling at around $40 (£28) a barrel compared to more than $100 in mid-2014, has led Qatar to make cuts to other state-funded institutions, as well as laying off many workers in the energy sector. Even after slashing government spending, the Gulf state expects to run a budget deficit of more than $12bn this year.
But the al-Jazeera redundancies could also reflect a waning enthusiasm by rulers in Doha for the soft power and foreign influence offered by the broadcaster, which says its mission is to “provide a voice for the voiceless in some of the most underreported places on the planet”.
Al-Jazeera was heavily backed by the former emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani at its inception, and won a large following across the Arab world with a style and openness that other broadcasters had rarely served up to the local audience. However, reports have suggested his son and successor Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani was less prepared to fund a network whose English language service has insisted on editorial independence and antagonised other states in the region with its coverage.
Last year, Egypt jailed three al-Jazeera journalists reporting on events in Cairo. Other governments have objected to the airtime it has given to Islamist groups in Syria, Libya and elsewhere. It has not shied from controversy in the region, having also broadcast the first televised interview with an Israeli speaking Hebrew.
In an email sent to employees on Sunday, and republished in Doha News, Souag said: “As you know, other leading media organisations across the world are being forced to redefine their business models as well, with negative impact on their staff. Al-Jazeera is no exception.”
Other companies facing such cuts include the Guardian Media Group, which is seeking to lay off a similar proportion of its workforce, 250 people. The Independent, a British daily, published its last ever print edition on Saturday, while in Australia the publisher Fairfax is planning to axe 120 journalists across the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Australian Financial Review. The job losses at al-Jazeera are so far less severe than many staff feared when rumours first circulated in late 2015.
A second Qatar-backed Arabic news network, al-Araby al-Jadeed, launched in 2014 and started broadcasting in 2015.