Al Jazeera: Next All-News Network Power?

Now comes Al Jazeera America this afternoon available from the getgo to about 60 million homes thanks to the channel spots formerly occupied by Current TV The latest allnews service to strike up and the second this summer following the quiet start of One America News Network from the backers of Wealth TV Al Jazeera America for some people stands to be the most controversial of this trio of August relaunchesControversial in their minds because of its parent organization the organization39s roots and the organization39s image of offering worldwide coverage on a frequent basis to be deemed antiAmerican and antiUS valuesPart of what makes this channel39s launch fascinating is the emphasis on being a proUS network Pro in establishing 12 news bureaus around the country including Miami Detroit New Orleans and Nashville Pro in a desire to uncover stories and simmering issues not getting attention elsewhere Pro in creating ways in primetime to showcase those stories and issues such as the nightly newsmagazine America Tonight and the investigative documentary series Fault Lines on Sunday nights And off the bat pro in diversity of journalistic talent involved including former CNN anchor Joie Chen as the lead face of America Tonight followed by former Good Morning America news anchor Antonio Mora presiding over talk hour Consider ThisWith 850plus people hired to run and report for this service quotwe39re more than ready for our launchquot declares AJA chief executive Ehab Al Shihabi quotThis will be a channel with less opinions less yelling and celebrity sightings People want indepth coverage of news that matters to them and we39ll offer thatquotAl Shihabi and president Kate O39Brien know that there39s considerable public perception of a negative nature to transform No wonder that on their conference call with reporters last Thursday and studio tours of their New York and Washington DC facilities the following morning this person attended the NY tour executives pointed to a recent focus group showing that initial reaction to a Al Jazeerarun channel was largely negative and when test rehearsals of coverage was presented the result converted to largely positiveAnother element which can become a positive for AJA early on less commercial time per hour leaving more time for coverage Six minutes an hour will be set aside for sponsors compared to the 1215 minutes an hour load on most broadcast and cable nets Still Al Shihabi39s coy on disclosing the names of advertisers to the point of detailing product categories in broad strokesOne thing AJA accomplished with its weekbeforelaunch press activity after backing off from a presentation at the TV Critics Tour in Los Angeles late last month was impressing observers with the scope and look of its coverage The NY studio has one of the most flexible video walls created for news casting the onair graphics are clean not overwhelming the eyeballs and there39s as much diversity behind the scenes as in front of the studio news desksHowever what will have Al Jazeera America and One America News last well beyond its Tuesday afternoon launch will not be a matter of more time impressive studios or graphics It will be the quality of its news coverage and how much that impacts the nature of our lives To paraphrase a quote from Edward R Murrow Al Jazeera America will be remembered by the answer to those objectivesUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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Al Jazeera: Next All-News Network Power?

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Al Jazeera: Next All-News Network Power?

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