Al Jazeera English | |
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Launched | 15 November 2006 |
Owned by | Al Jazeera |
Slogan | Setting The News Agenda |
Broadcast area | coverage maps and availability information |
Headquarters | Broadcast Centers: Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington D.C. |
Sister channel(s) | Al Jazeera |
Website | Al Jazeera English |
Availability | |
Terrestrial | |
Triangle TV Auckland & Wellington |
limited scheduled transmission on FTA UHF channels at certain hours |
MHz Networks Washington |
Channel 30.5 |
Freeview United Kingdom |
Channel 89 |
Satellite | |
AsiaSat 3S Asia/ME/Australia |
3760 H / 26000 / 7/8 |
Astra 1KR Europe |
11508 V / 22000 / 5/6 |
Eurobird 1 Europe |
11680 V / 27500 / 2/3 |
G-23 (IA 13) N/Central America |
3900 V / 27684 / 3/4 |
Galaxy 19 North America |
12152 H / 20000 / 3/4 |
Hispasat 1C Europe/N Africa |
12092 V / 27500 / 3/4 |
Hotbird 6 Europe |
11034 V / 27500 / 3/4 |
Nilesat 101 North Africa/ME |
12015 V / 27500 / 3/4 |
Optus C1 SE Asia/Australia |
12367 V / 27800 / 3/4 PID: video=1121, audio=1122 |
Intelsat 9 Americas |
3840 H / 27690 / 7/8 |
Intelsat 10 East. Hemisphere |
4064 H / 19850 / 7/8 |
Thor 3 NE Europe |
12398 H / 28000 / 7/8 |
Astro Malaysia |
Channel 513 |
Indovision Indonesia |
Channel 55 |
CanalDigitaal | Channel 64 |
Canal Digital | Channel 57 |
CanalSat | Channel 331 |
Cyfrowy Polsat | Channel 95 |
Dialog TV | Channel 3 |
Digital+ | Channel 79 |
Digiturk | Channel 125 |
DStv | Channel 406 |
Globecast | Channel 463 (FTA) |
MEO | Channel 205 |
Sky | Channel 514 |
SKY Italia | Channel 522 |
TPS | Channel 330 |
Turksat 2A Eurasia |
12139 H / 2222 / 3/4 |
TV Vlaanderen | Channel 54 |
Cable | |
Buckeye CableSystem | Channel 220 |
Cable Sula | |
Cable TV Hong Kong |
Channel 34 |
Cablevision | |
Elisa | (digital tuner required) |
Global Destiny Cable Philippines |
Channel 24 |
Kabel BW | |
KDG Germany |
Channel 842 |
NOOS-UPC | Channel 64 |
Qatar Cable | |
Tele Columbus | (digital tuner required; channel still listed as Al Jazeera International) |
UCS | Channel 49 |
Welho | (digital tuner required; subscription) |
Ziggo (Netherlands) | Channel 511 |
Cable Star Iloilo Philippines |
Channel 55 |
Cablecom Switzerland) |
Channel 152 (digital CH-D) |
SkyCable Philippines |
Channel 152 |
Royal Cable | Channel 65 |
First Media Indonesia |
Channel 252 |
Parasat Cable TV Philippines |
Channel 98 |
IPTV | |
Clix SmarTV | Channel 97 |
Club Internet | Channel 59 |
Elion | Channel 66 |
Free | Channel 85 |
HKBN bbTV | Channel 735 |
Neuf TV | Channel 47 |
now TV Hong Kong |
Channel 325 |
TPG | |
Yes TV | |
Imagenio | Channel 136 |
Hypp.TV | Channel 2001 |
MEO | Channel 205 |
Bell Fibe TV (Canada) | Channel 516 |
Internet television | |
Al Jazeera | Watch (Free, 56 Kbit/s) |
JumpTV | Watch (subscription) |
Livestation | Watch (Free, 502 Kbit/s) |
Real | Watch (subscription) |
Vingo.tv Alpha | Watch registration required |
YouTube | Watch (video segments posted on YouTube by Al Jazeera) |
Yalp.alice.it | Watch Italy only |
Zattoo | Watch (where available) |
Al Jazeera English (Arabic: الجزيرة الإنجليزية) is a 24-hour English-language news and current affairs TV channel headquartered in Doha, Qatar. It is the sister channel of the Arabic-language Al Jazeera.
The station broadcasts news features and analysis, documentaries, live debates, current affairs, business, technology, and sports. The station claims to be the first global high-definition television network.[1]
Al Jazeera English is the world's first English-language news channel headquartered in the Middle East.[2] The channel aims to provide both a regional voice and a global perspective to a potential world audience of over one billion English speakers who don't have an Anglo-American worldview.[3] Instead of being run under central command, news management rotates around broadcasting centers in Kuala Lumpur, Doha, London and Washington, DC. Al Jazeera English is one of the few foreign media outlets to have agencies in Gaza and Harare.
The network's stated objective is "to give voice to untold stories, promote debate, and challenge established perceptions."[4]
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Al Jazeera English has stated objectives of emphasizing news from the developing world, of "reversing the North to South flow of information" and of "setting the news agenda" (also the channel's slogan). Some observers, including media scholar Adel Iskandar, have commented that this focus can be seen, in the eyes of Western viewers, as casting Al Jazeera English as a global "alternative" news network, though the entire Al Jazeera brand has been heavily mainstreamed in many parts of the world.[5] Other Al Jazeera English slogans and catchphrases include: "All the News | All the Time", "Fearless Journalism" and "If it's newsworthy, it gets on air, whether it's Bush or Bin Laden." Al Jazeera's Code of Ethics mirrors some of these statements.[6] The English brand identity and its "EVERY ANGLE | EVERY SIDE" promotional positioning was led by Director of Creative, Morgan Almeida, "to extend the Arabic heritage in a language familiar to diverse global audiences".
The channel was launched on 15 November 2006. It had aimed to begin global broadcasting in June 2006 but had to postpone its launch because its HDTV technology was not ready.[7][8] The channel was due to be called Al Jazeera International, but the name was changed nine months before the launch because "one of the Qatar-based channel's backers decided that the broadcaster already had an international scope with its original Arabic outlet."[9]
The channel had expected to reach around 40 million households, but it far exceeded that launch target, reaching 80 million homes.[10] As of 2009, Al Jazeera's English-language service can be viewed in every major European market, and is available to 130 million homes in over 100 countries via cable and satellite, according to Molly Conroy, a spokeswoman for the network in Washington.[11]
However the channel is noted for its poor penetration in the North American market, where it is carried by almost no cable networks except local networks in Toledo, Ohio, and Burlington, Vermont.[12] On 26 November 2009, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved a request to add Al Jazeera English to the lists of satellite services eligible for digital distribution.[13][14] Al Jazeera English has begun a campaign to enter the North American market, including a dedicated website.[15]
In 2008 Al Jazeera English won the Golden Nymph award for Best 24-Hour News Program at the Monte Carlo Television Festival. The jurors singled out Nour Odeh, Al Jazeera's Gaza correspondent, for her bravery in reporting from the Gaza Strip. Al Jazeera English also received nominations in several other news categories, for example the Best News Documentary award for the report Inside Myanmar – The Crackdown.[16]
Al Jazeera English and Press TV were the only international English-language television broadcasters with journalists reporting from inside both Gaza and Israel during the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict. Foreign press access to Gaza has been limited via either Egypt or Israel. However, Al Jazeera's reporters Ayman Mohyeldin and Sherine Tadros were already inside Gaza when the conflict began.[17][18][19]
The channel may also be viewed online. It recommends online viewing either via Livestation, a free software (live, high quality), at its own website[20] (live, low quality), or at its channel on YouTube.[21] Although Al Jazeera English is produced in High Definition (HD), the output is converted to 14:9 SD similar to BBC World. Programs are shown on the Al Jazeera English YouTube channel in their original 16:9 format.
Regular/recurrent programmes on the channel are:
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In addition to the above, Al Jazeera English runs various programmes that are either entirely non-recurrent or consist of just a limited number of parts (miniseries format).
Also cf. the channel's Programmes and Programme Schedule pages.
In addition to its four broadcast centres, Al Jazeera English has 21 supporting bureaux which gather and produce news. It also shares resources with the Arabic language channel's 42 bureaux and is planning to add further bureaux, to be announced as they open.[22] After it began broadcasting in Canada in May 2010, the network announced plans to open, in June 2010, a Canadian bureau office in Toronto.[23][24] This is a significant difference from the present trend.
“The mainstream American networks have cut their bureaus to the bone.... They’re basically only in London now. Even CNN has pulled back. I remember in the ’80s when I covered these events there would be a truckload of American journalists and crews and editors, and now Al Jazeera outnumbers them all.... That’s where, in the absence of alternatives, Al Jazeera English can fill a vacuum, simply because we’re going in the opposite direction.”
-Tony Burman, Managing Director, AJE (qtd. in Adbusters[25])
Also Al Jazeera presenters can alternate between broadcast centres.
Broadcast Centre: Doha (map)
Anchors: Nick Clark, Jane Dutton, David Foster, Imran Garda, Shiulie Ghosh, Darren Jordon, Sohail Rahman, Kamahl Santamaria,
Correspondents: Hoda Abdel-Hamid, Hashem Ahelbarra, James Bays, John Cookson, Clayton Swisher, Sherine Tadros, Nadim Baba, Imran Kahn, and Mike Hanna, former CNN Jerusalem bureau chief.
Bureaux & Correspondents
Beirut: Rula Amin, Zeina Khodr
Jerusalem: Jacky Rowland
Gaza: Ayman Mohyeldin and Sherine Tadros
Ramallah: Nour Odeh
Tehran: Alireza Ronaghi
Bureaux: Cairo, Abidjan, Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Harare.
Correspondents: Amr El Kahky, Haru Mutasa, Mohammed Adow, Mohamad Vall, Yvonne Ndege
Broadcast Centre: London (map)
Anchors: Felicity Barr, Julie MacDonald Stephen Cole, and Barbara Serra
Correspondents: Alan Fisher, Richard Bestic, Tim Friend, Nazanine Moshiri
Bureaux & Correspondents:
Athens: Barnaby Phillips
Moscow. Neave Barker
Broadcast Centre: Washington D.C. (map)
Anchors: Ghida Fakhry, Anand Naidoo, Shihab Rattansi, Daljit Dhaliwal and Kimberly Halkett
Correspondents: Rosiland Jordan, Nick Spicer, Kimberly Halkett and Rob Reynolds
Bureaux & Correspondents:
Bogota: Monica Villamizar
Buenos Aires: Lucia Newman, Teresa Bo
Caracas: Mariana Sanchez and Lucrecia Franco
New York: Kristen Saloomey, John Terret
Mexico City: Franc Contreras
Sao Paulo: Gabriel Elizondo
Toronto: Imtiaz Tyab
Broadcast Centre: Kuala Lumpur (map)
Anchors: Teymoor Nabili, Divya Gopalan, Laura Kyle, and Veronica Pedrosa
Correspondents: Tony Birtley, Casey Kauffman, and Selina Downes
Bureaux & Correspondents
Beijing: Tony Cheng and Melissa Chan
Islamabad: Kamal Hyder
Jakarta: Step Vaessen
Delhi: Matt Mcclure
Manila: Marga Ortigas
Presenters and correspondents who have joined the channel include[26] (previous employers in brackets):
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Presenters and correspondents who have left Al-Jazeera English include:
Veteran British broadcaster Sir David Frost joined Al Jazeera English[27] to host his show Frost Over the World.
Former BBC and CNN anchor Riz Khan, who previously had been the host of the CNN talk show Q&A, also joined. He hosts his shows Riz Khan and Riz Khan's One on One.
Former U.S. Marine Josh Rushing joined Al Jazeera in September 2005.[28] He had been the press officer for the United States Central Command during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, and in that role had been featured in the documentary Control Room. When subsequently joining Al Jazeera, Rushing commented that "In a time when American media has become so nationalized, I'm excited about joining an organization that truly wants to be a source of global information...."[29] Rushing works from the Washington, DC broadcasting centre.
Former CNN and BBC news anchorwoman and award winning journalist Veronica Pedrosa also joined the team,[30] along with CNN producer James Wright, and Kieran Baker, a former editor and producer for CNN, who most recently was Acting General Manager, Communications and Public Participation for ICANN. On 2 December 2005, Stephen Cole, a senior anchor on BBC World and Click Online presenter, announced he was joining Al Jazeera International.[31]
The network announced on 12 January 2006 that former Nightline correspondent Dave Marash would be the co-anchor from their Washington studio. Marash described his new position as "the most interesting job on Earth."[32] On 6 February 2006, it was announced that the former BBC reporter Rageh Omaar would host the daily weeknights documentary series, Witness.[33]
The managing director for Al Jazeera English is Tony Burman, who replaced Nigel Parsons in May 2008.[34]
The channel is available in many countries, mostly via satellite, sometimes via cable. The channel is also available online. It can be streamed live worldwide for free through Livestation. A low quality RealVideo stream allows viewing. Al Jazeera news segments are frequently included on the American public television program Worldfocus.
Online subscriptions allowing unlimited viewing may be purchased from Al Jazeera on Jump TV, Real, VDC. Headlines from Al-Jazeera English are available on twitter. According to the Al Jazeera English Watch Now webpage, not all services are available everywhere due to licensing/distribution restrictions.
The New York Times on 16 April 2007 reported that Al Jazeera English would begin running segments from its shows on the Internet video-sharing site YouTube.[35] Al Jazeera YouTube site.
Al Jazeera English is available in the UK and Ireland on Sky's digital satellite platform on channel 514, and on Freesat, channel 203.
In the United States, Al Jazeera is available on Buckeye Cable (Channel 220) in Toledo, Ohio and Sandusky, Ohio. It is also available in Burlington, Vermont, Houston, Texas, and Washington, DC.[36] The channel is not widely available on cable and was dropped by Comcast, a cable company with a subscriber base of over 12 million people, a month prior to the channel's launch due to "the already-saturated television market there" and a perception in some circles that the channel gives airtime to terrorists.[37][38] However, Al Jazeera English is available via satellite across all of North America free to air on Galaxy 19 on the Ku band in DVB format. The two major American satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network were planning on carrying the network, but due to a backlash from subscribers due to its allegations of "anti-American bias" in the channel, they scrapped the plan.[39]
On 26 November 2009, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved "a request to add Al Jazeera English (AJE) to the lists of eligible satellite services for distribution on a digital basis and amends the lists of eligible satellite services accordingly."[13][14] Al Jazeera English became available on Rogers Cable, Videotron and Bell TV on May 4, 2010.[23] However critical reception on AJE among Canadian cable subscribers were mixed.[23]
In New Zealand, Triangle TV re-broadcasts various Al Jazeera programmes in Auckland on free-to-air UHF channels as does Stratos free-to-air via Freeview satellite.
In April 2010, Al Jazeera English was taken off air in mio TV Singapore with unspecified reasons, according to the official Al Jazeera English website.
The channel initially began test streaming Al Jazeera English (then called "Al Jazeera International") in March 2006 on Hot Bird, Astra 1E, Hispasat, AsiaSat3S, Eurobird 1 and Panamsat PAS 10. Telenors Thor, Türksat and Eurobird 2 were added to the satellites carrying it. Eurobird 1 carried the test stream on frequency 11.681 under the name "AJI".
Bob Geldof: "I say what I like, I'm not beholden to anyone, if you don't like it, f— [inaudible] off."[40]
Tony Burman: "Gaza will probably be for Al Jazeera what the Gulf War was for CNN. People forget, CNN was created in 1980. What did they call it, the Chicken Noodle Network? It was ridiculed really until 1991 when the Gulf War happened. It all of a sudden became an important part of American media culture. Our coverage of Gaza [which was released for rebroadcast by other networks for free][41] is a reminder to a lot of people that there are a lot of important aspects to a lot of stories, not just the Middle East, that are being denied them."[42]
Al Jazeera English newsroom in Doha. |
Al Jazeera English studio control room in London. |
A Vinten remote camera control unit station at the Al Jazeera studio control room in London. |
Tatham Steve (2006), Losing Arab Hearts & Minds: The Coalition, Al-Jazeera & Muslim Public Opinion. Hurst & Co (UK), Front Street Press (US).
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