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Al Jazeera Arabic has been accused of biased coverage on the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

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The Al Jazeera English news channel has won awards for its reporting, yet industry insiders have derided it as little more than a BBC clone.

Khanfar does not skip a beat before denying allegations that the network has become a Fox News for the Middle East.

"I don't think that Al Jazeera is not objective. I think Al Jazeera is very objective," he says. "On the issue of Palestine and the Israelis we have been covering this story for many years now, since the beginning of Al Jazeera. Within the Israeli landscape as well, we also have reporters.

"As you know the issue of Palestine and Israel is maybe one of the most sensitive in the region and it needs a lot of balance," he continues. "It needs a lot of thinking on how to do it without being trapped by alienating yourself from one side or another.

"But I can tell you that we are monitoring what we are doing."

There is a difference between reporting on the anger and frustration on the Arab street and trying to perpetuate it, he argues.

"We don't think that should be our role."

His removal from Al Jazeera's board of directors in 2007 sparked rumours that the Qatari government was trying to rein in the station, particularly in regard to its coverage of Saudi Arabia.

But Khanfar argues that the move was only designed to ensure the independence of the board of the newly formed Al Jazeera network, which amalgamated the news, documentary and sports programming divisions into one organisation.

"I thought, and the board also was thinking the same, that there should be a separation between the legislative and the executive levels of action," he says.

"I attend board meetings and I interact with the board on a daily basis, but the issue is membership of the board. I think this is very useful for both parties."

If Al Jazeera Arabic is known for being controversial, the criticism levied at its English language sister channel could not be more different.

The channel has won several industry awards for its reporting, but industry observers have also described it as bland, and little more than a BBC clone.

Khanfar says Al Jazeera English has been successful in its remit to "give a voice to the voiceless", adding that the English network's coverage of developing countries and the southern hemisphere is unrivalled.

"The Western media did not cover the South as it should have. We are headquartered in the South. We have excellent investment in the South, in reporters who understand the environment and culture and language; people who can understand the fabric of the society and the collective mind of the nations that we are reporting from."

At the time of writing, Al Jazeera and other news channels and media outlets are facing tight restrictions on reporting from Iran in the wake of the country's disputed presidential election.

Video footage of protestors on the streets of Tehran is reaching the outside world, but it's not coming from Al Jazeera, CNN or any of the other big broadcasters. It is being filmed on regular people's mobile phones, and downloaded from YouTube. How does that affect the traditional players, whose role has always been to provide the public with that same footage?

"It will never undermine the conventional media; all these images that come out of YouTube need analysis and confirmation, they need much more credible, professional discussion," he says firmly.

"We are using new media and we are looking to develop our new media department into a much more active way of covering news. So it is a platform of covering news and it is a platform for delivering news as well," he continues.

"But definitely, I don't think that the new media will replace or undermine conventional media anytime soon. Conventional media will be stronger with the new media, not weakened."

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