14 June 2012 Last updated at 07:04 ET

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The Qatar-based international news station Al-Jazeera has transformed the media across the Middle East

Influential pan-Arab and international TV broadcaster Al-Jazeera has raised Qatar's media profile.

The Doha-based operation is owned by the Qatar government. Its main Arabic news network can be outspoken on subjects deemed as sensitive in the region, but avoids criticism of Qatar and its Gulf allies, specifically Saudi Arabia. It has faced curbs in several Arab countries where it has ruffled feathers.

Al-Jazeera English, launched in 2006, touts itself as the first Middle East-based English-language news TV. In late 2011, the network said it was available in more than 250 million households worldwide.

Al-Jazeera Balkans began broadcasting in 2011 from Bosnia, and Al-Jazeera Kiswahili, to be based in Kenya, is in the pipeline. There are plans for a Turkish network.

Qatar's domestic broadcast media are state-controlled. The main newspapers, though privately-owned, have links to the ruling family. Political and financial pressures "weigh heavily" on the editorial line taken by newspapers, says Reporters Without Borders.

BBC World Service radio in Arabic, Radio France Internationale, France's Arabic-language radio service Monte Carlo Doualiya, UAE-based MBC and Radio Sawa from the US are available on FM in Doha.

There were 687,000 internet users by December 2011 (Internetworldstats.com). Authorities filter political criticism, material deemed offensive to Islam, pornographic content and online privacy resources.

The press

• Al-Watan (The Homeland) - privately-owned, pro-government daily
• Al-Rayah (The Banner) - privately-owned, pro-government daily
• Al-Sharq (The East) - privately-owned, pro-government daily
• Gulf Times - English-language, sister paper of Al-Rayah
• The Peninsula - English-language, sister paper of Al-Sharq
• Qatar Tribune - English-language, sister paper of Al-Watan

Television

• Al-Jazeera - influential pan-Arab satellite broadcaster, financed by the Qatar government
• Qatar TV - state-run; operates main Arabic service, Koran channel, English channel, satellite channel

Radio

• Qatar Broadcasting Service (QBS) - state-run, programmes in Arabic, English, French, Urdu

News agency

• Qatar News Agency - state-run, English-language pages