The campaign was created by Saatchi & Saatchi Beirut, which was briefed to create the campaign after one of Al Jazeera's reporters, Tarek Ayoub, was killed and another injured in Baghdad by US forces prior to the capture of the Iraqi capital.
The Al Jazeera reporter died on the same day that two other journalists were killed at the Palestine Hotel after a US tank fired on the international media's headquarters in the city.
The ad shows a picture of Al Jazeera's Baghdad bureau after the missile attack that killed Ayoub. A caption reads: "Telling the truth is hard. Not telling it is even harder."
The ad goes on to read: "Al Jazeera Channel has never shied away from reporting the truth and has paid the price repeatedly through accusations, political attacks and boycotts by liberal as well as conservative governments and states; and by having a number of our offices closed down."
"Recently, the ultimate price was paid. Our Baghdad bureau was hit, reporter Tarek Ayoub killed and cameraman Zuhair Falih injured. This is too high a price to pay for telling the truth. But at Al Jazeera, we believe the price of not doing so would be even higher."
Jihad Ali Ballout, communications and media relations manager at Al Jazeera, told Brand Republic: "Al Jazeera briefed Saatchi & Saatchi Beirut to come up with a communication that would highlight two distinctive yet connected messages: one, Al Jazeera has become a player on the international media scene; and two, Al Jazeera will endeavour to maintain and fight for its credibility and professional integrity, irrespective of the cost."
The ad finishes with the endline: "The right not to remain silent". The campaign is running in the Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, Washington Post and Le Figaro.
Al Jazeera came in for criticism about its coverage of the war in Iraq for showing pictures of captured American soldiers, who were paraded on Iraqi television, and other images of dead British soldiers, who might have been executed by Saddam's irregular forces.
It has become one of the most-watched stations in the Arab world and one of the most talked about in the US and the UK, with hackers attacking its website and replacing its news with the US flag and porn.
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