Al-Jazeera set to tackle US market

Google – AFP, Rob Lever (AFP), 17 August 2013

A journalist films the logo of Al Jazeera America's America Tonight at

the Newseum in Washington, DC, August 16, 2013 (AFP, Saul Loeb)

WASHINGTON — With a cast of TV news stars, deep pockets and an ambitious agenda, Al-Jazeera launches its US news channel on Tuesday, aiming to shake up the broadcast journalism market stateside.

The US cable channel will reach more than 40 million households and vastly expands the footprint of the Qatar-based media group, despite questions about how it will be received by American viewers.

Al-Jazeera America's audience is likely to start out small, but its bosses hope to have a big impact when it competes against already established brands such as CNN, MSNBC and Fox News.

Americans will be able to get 14 hours of news, documentary and discussion programming daily, and updates at the top of every hour 24 hours each day. But the selling point will be long-form reporting of stories overlooked by other news organizations.

"We know Americans want in-depth coverage of the news that matters to them," said Ehab Al Shihabi, interim chief executive of Al-Jazeera America.

Joie Chen, host of Al Jazeera America's

 America Tonight, at the Newseum in

Washington, DC, August 16, 2013

(AFP, Saul Loeb)

"They want more unbiased coverage and less opinion, that's what Al-Jazeera is about."

Yet some analysts say the channel will face a tough sell to US audiences because of its history in the Middle East, where it was the outlet for videos distributed by Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Some conservatives claim it is still anti-Western.

Shihabi said he believes Americans will come around once they see the programs.

He said surveys indicate that "75 percent of people who did not watch Al-Jazeera came on the negative size and 90 percent of those who watch Al-Jazeera came on the positive side."

Shihabi said 850 staff have been hired for 12 US bureaus, and will draw on 70 bureaus worldwide to give Al-Jazeera unmatched scale.

While the channel will be available to fewer than half of US households -- notably absent from Time Warner Cable, which is in discussions on carrying Al-Jazeera -- Shihabi hopes to reach 100 percent soon.

"We are investing heavily in advertising and branding," he said. "I'm sure it will be a short time before Al-Jazeera will be viral and people will be demanding Al-Jazeera."

Since acquiring Current TV, a struggling US cable channel which nevertheless had reach to US homes, Al-Jazeera has brought in well-known names in the industry, such as Soledad O'Brien and Ali Velshi from CNN, and Sheila MacVicar, formerly with ABC and CNN.

Al-Jazeera America president Kate O'Brian said the channel will "stay away from pundits and crazy celebrity news" while "covering all the stories that need to be covered."

"Our success is how well we tell the stories," she said in a conference call with reporters. "We will get people talking about the channel and wanting the channel."

Along with 24-hour news, Al-Jazeera will include several showcase programs starting with the 5:00 pm time slot and carrying into "prime time" evening viewing.

Shihabi said the channel will have only six minutes of advertising per hour, compared with an average of 15 minutes for most other channels.

Al-Jazeera's US operation is headquartered in New York, with a vast news hub and studio across from Penn Station. In Washington, the channel has taken studio space formerly occupied by ABC at the Newseum, overlooking the US Capitol.

David Shuster, a newly hired anchor and MSNBC and Fox News veteran, said he sees a "huge opportunity" because of the vast resources of Al-Jazeera, which he said probably becomes the largest broadcast news organization in the world.

"It turns the news business on its head," Shuster told AFP. "People want to watch the news, they want to be taken to the scene of what is happening."

He said other cable news outlets have become politicized and that "rather than invest in the field they put talking heads out there who yell and scream at each other."

Joie Chen, a former CNN and CBS journalist and one of the big US names lured to Al-Jazeera, said she was attracted by "the quality work they were doing."

"I wanted to be able to participate in the story telling. I did not want to be a news reader," said Chen, who will host the channel's flagship US program "America Tonight."

"We are not focused on the size of the audience, we are focused on the quality of the reporting.

"We want to tell stories that are currently underreported."

Former NBC news anchor John Seigenthaler sees Al-Jazeera providing "a little more depth, a little more perspective, a little more context, what we are all looking for in journalism."

Seigenthaler, the nightly news anchor, said the new channel will have notable advantages over other broadcasters.

"When I asked about ratings, they said they are not interested in ratings, they are interested in delivering the news. That's why this seemed like a different journey."

Related Article:

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…2 - Drama

Number two: Against everything you think is Human nature, Human Beings are going to start to react differently to drama. At the moment, drama is attractive. You're seeing your media on its last gasp of reality, giving you reality programs so you can watch drama, as though you didn't have enough of it at home. I want you to watch for this shift, because it's going to tell you that there is a shift taking place in basic Human nature. Eventually, these current things are not going to be attractive at all. Not at all. There'll come a time when you look backwards in time and you will see when you watched those particular kinds of entertainment and say, "How barbaric that was!" It's going to change.

This means a shift in what Human Beings want to see as their entertainment is at hand. It's a shift in what they want to experience in their lives and in their free time. There will be more of a motivation to the things that soothe their souls, instead of the drama that mixes them up. They will not be fed anymore by what used to feed them in an old energy. If you turn on a television show that was produced in the '50s, how do you like it? Does it seem trite and laughable in its innocence? It does, and that's due to a shift of your reality today. So, coming will be an actual shift of how Human Beings react to drama.

You're not going to be as interested in things that are dramatic, but rather you're going to be more interested in things that are informative and heartwarming. That's coming. I know, some of you will say, "I doubt it, because Humans are Humans." Some will even argue and they'll say, "Well, Kryon, most of humanity, you have said, are not old souls. So, therefore, they won't shift along with us. So how can most of humanity shift?" I'll tell you this - there are some things that will be worldwide and there are going to be some things that are only old-soul wide. You'll see. But the seeds are planted first with you. So what you feel and what you do will eventually be seen in the general population. How do you feel right now about what is on television, old soul? You're already objecting! You're already seeing the barbarism. You're already seeing those who have no integrity in their journalism and wish to scare you instead of inform you. That is going to shift. You will demand it.

Think of it this way: The old souls are the seeds who plant an energy that grows and allows new seeds to be made. Eventually, even the young souls will have an allowance for this seed inheritance, which the new energy of the earth is providing. That was number two. ….”

"... 6 - The News

Number six. I'll be brief. Watch for your news to change. It has to. When the media realizes that Human Beings are changing their watching habits, they're going to start changing what they produce for you to watch. Eventually, there's going to be something called "The Good News Channel," and it will be very attractive indeed. For it will be real and offset the drama of what is today's attraction. This is what families at night, sitting around the table, will wish to watch. They'll have something where the whole picture of a situation is shown and not just the dramatic parts. You will hear about what's happening on the planet that no one is telling you now, and when that occurs [we have no clock, dear one], it's going to compete strongly with the drama. I keep telling you this. Human nature itself is starting to be in color instead of black and white. Watch for it. And that was number six. ..."