Inside look at the internal strife over Al Jazeera America

[Catherina]

Inside look at the internal strife over Al Jazeera America

As the new US network is finally set to launch, serious concerns arise about its brand and intent: especially from within the organization

Glenn Greenwald
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 14 July 2013

...

The alternative was that AJAM (Al Jazeera America) could try to replicate the inoffensive, neutered, voiceless, pro-US-government model favored by most US news organizations: as a way of appeasing negative perceptions associated with the Al Jazeera brand in the US. Those perceptions in some American precincts - that the network is "anti-American", "anti-Israel" or even "pro-terrorist"- stem from the network's coverage of US foreign policy (especially the War on Terror) that has been far more critical (in the best sense of the word) than most US news outlets were willing to be. For years, Bush officials fed this perception by accusing the network of being an anti-American source of terrorist propaganda. The US (accidentally, it claims) attacked al Jazeera bureaus on two occasions, killing its personnel. It even imprisoned an al Jazeera camerman, Sami al-Haj, for six years in Guantanamo without ever charging him with a crime.

...

Earlier this week, Bishara sent a scathing 1,800-word email to multiple Al Jazeera executives, directed particularly at those overseeing the new network. The missive, a copy of which was provided to the Guardian and whose receipt was confirmed by AJAM executives (published here), excoriates network officials for running away from the Jazeera brand due both to "the rush to act out of a personal ambition" and "to appease those who won't, or don't necessarily want to be, appeased". Such a re-branding effort, he wrote, "insult(s) the intelligence of the American people". Bishara was especially incensed at the efforts he said the executives have undertaken to avoid having the news network be labeled "anti-American".

...

Based on that report and others, Burman wrote that one must have "completely lost your marbles" to believe that "American viewers will turn away from their current channels and switch to Al Jazeera to get their American news". Moreover, said the former AJE chief, "the rumoured shortlist of potential 'presidents' includes several of the people who have driven US cable networks, including CNN, to a level of utter mediocrity." It has been reported that the list of finalists to run the network include former CNN executives along with one from ABC.

...

One Al Jazeera insider, granted anonymity to speak critically of his employer, said one central problem was that the new network was relying heavily on risk-adverse US consulting and lobbying firms such as DLA Piper, Qorvis Communications, and David Alexrod's consulting group, "all of whom don't understand the Jazeera brand or the industry." He added that the consultants guiding network officials are squarely "from the American mainstream, not the critical left or even a critical movement that could speak for millions of people." He added that the Massad Op-Ed was taken down at the urging of a DLA Piper consultant, petrified of what impact it would have on the new AJAM brand. Al Shihabi's publicly trumpeted meeting with Emanuel was arranged by people who worked for Alexrod, he said.

...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/14/al-jazeera-marwan-bishara-email

Rahm Emanuel.... David Axelrod... risk-averse consulting firms... what a joke. If this interests you, I recommend you read the whole article.

While in Chicago, we also met with members of the business community and visited with local officials, including Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel.



Ehab Al Shihabi, executive director of Al Jazeera’s international operations, with Mayor Emanuel

http://america.aljazeera.com/update/al-jazeera-america-visits-chicago

[xchrom]

1. du rec.