( CNN ) -- The sentencing in Cairo of journalists from Al Jazeera 's English-language channel this week has shocked the West . Australian Peter Greste , formerly of the BBC , received seven years : so did Canadian-Egyptian Mohammed Fahmy , who had worked with CNN . Baher Mohammed , an Egyptian producer , was given 10 years . The Australian Foreign Minister , Julie Bishop , herself a trained lawyer , said the sentence was incomprehensible `` based on the evidence presented in the case . '' Fear of the Muslim Brotherhood appears to be a factor . Mohammed Morsi was elected as Egyptian president in 2012 with support from the Brotherhood and from Qatar . Since Morsi 's displacement in July 2013 , relations between Egypt and Qatar have been uncomfortable . Al Jazeera 's Arabic-language channel Mubasher Misr ( `` Egypt Live '' ) was identified as particularly close to the Brotherhood . The sentences handed down to Al Jazeera journalists may reflect the distrust of the current Egyptian regime for the Qatari owners of the TV station . Al Jazeera has transformed both television reporting within the Middle East and coverage of the Middle East elsewhere . The characteristic logo of Al Jazeera is constantly seen on images fed to major television networks across the world . The channel was established by the Emir of Qatar in 1997 and originally employed many who worked -- before it folded -- with the BBC Arabic World Service . Its style was more in line with western news media than national Middle Eastern channels of the time . The impact of its coverage of the first Gulf War established its credentials . Although demonized by the U.S. government in the period following 9/11 , when it broadcast interviews with al Qaeda leaders , it has developed a formidable reputation both in the Middle East and beyond . Possibly the best way to gauge its success though has been through impartial interviews with its audience . I oversaw a survey , during which we interviewed more than 2,000 Arabic speakers who watch satellite-delivered Arabic television in Europe . It revealed that Al Jazeera is widely viewed and is particularly popular with those of Middle Eastern , as opposed to North African Maghrebi heritage . Many talked with pride of the channel : one man in Nicosia said `` it transformed how media treats news of the region . '' It has a reputation for balance . An English viewer said `` Al Jazeera is very much impartial , '' while a German viewer said that Al Jazeera news was `` better '' than German news as it was less locally focused . Several participants recommended Al Jazeera English to non-Arabic speaking friends so they discovered alternative points of view in the Arab world . Al Jazeera courts controversy . Debates are often raucous , stories are broken and images shown that may offend some viewers . While on the one hand Al Jazeera is suspected of fundamentalist Islamic links , on the other some Arabic speakers in Europe denounce it as a mouthpiece of the U.S. For example , one Arabic speaker from Stockholm cited the huge U.S. air base in Qatar as a reason for distrusting the channel . But Al Jazeera is part of a trajectory of modernization of media in the Arabic world . It broadcasts in Modern Standard Arabic , the modern literary lingua franca which spread in the 1920s as the intelligentsia of the Arabic speaking world sought to modernize ( Arabic dialects are so numerous as to be mutually incomprehensible . ) Egypt , the Middle East 's most populous nation , was at the heart of that process of modernization -- the Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram was the paper of record for the Middle East throughout the first part of the 20th century . After World War II , anti-imperialist radio , encouraged by then-president Gamal Abdel Nasser , took on the pan-Arabic mantle . That process has continued in recent times . The satellite station Nile TV International is a hugely successful entertainment channel watched in the Arabic-speaking world and Europe . During the Arab Spring , new forms of communication used in Tahrir Square -- including Facebook and Twitter -- were portrayed as the new face of freedom of speech . The fate of the Al Jazeera journalists shows just how far Egypt has now fallen . READ MORE : Gorani : Why we should all be worried by the jailing of Al Jazeera journalists . READ MORE : Zakaria : The old Egypt is back .
The jailing in Egypt of three Al Jazeera journalists has shocked many in the West . Slade : A lot of people are saying that this is a very serious step backwards. Its success is part of a trajectory of media modernisation of media in the Arabic world , says academic . That process continued during the Arab Spring with the growth of social media in Tahrir Square and elsewhere .