The Doha Debates

Freedom | Al Jazeera | Doha Debates | An Interview with Tim Sebastian

Yousra Samir

Image by Julie Lindsay

Qatar's second revolutionary step towards greater freedom of press and speech has to be the Doha Debates, a monthly debates show, established and hosted by BAFTA award-winning journalist Tim Sebastian, based in Qatar Foundation, and aired eight times a year on BBC World.

Sebastian came up with the idea in 2004, and the Doha Debates kicked off with its first series in 2005, with the aim of providing a platform for free speech for people living in the Middle East. It is one of the only shows in which people can quiz their leaders, as well as foreign leaders, on their decisions and policies. In May 2010, the Doha Debates completed its sixth series.

The debates are based on the centuries-old Oxford Union format, and, in each episode, panelists speak for and against what is usually a controversial motion. After battling it out, the audience has the chance to ask the panelists questions.

Famous guest speakers to the show have included former US President Bill Clinton, Sheikha Moza, Israeli President Shimon Peres, and former Iraqi Prime Minister, Ayad Allawi. Members of the audience come from within Qatar as well as from other Arab countries. Many of them are university students, but anyone can attend.

Some of the most controversial motions have included asking whether Dubai is a bad idea, whether it was time to talk to Al Qaeda, and whether Arab states should handover Sudanese President Bashir to the International Criminal Court.

The Doha Debates operates with the condition that, like Al Jazeera, it has editorial independence.

The man who secured the show's editorial independence is its host, famous award-winning BBC reporter, Tim Sebastian, renowned as the former host of Hard Talk. I was given the lucky opportunity of putting him in the hot seat for a grilling.

Next : An Interview with Tim Sebastian

Doha Debates Movie: Muslim Extremism

Watch an extract from the Doha Debates.

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