Al-Jazeera America Prepares for Tuesday Launch

[brooklynite]

Source: Time

In a warren of offices at a former bank building near Madison Square Garden, dozens of journalists are at work on gleaming new electronic equipment, ready to turn their test runs of Al-Jazeera America into the real thing.

The Qatar-based news organization will finally establish a firm foothold on American television Tuesday after a decade of trying. At 3 p.m. EDT, Al Gore’s former Current TV will turn out the lights in more than 45 million TV homes, replaced by the new U.S. affiliate of Al-Jazeera.

The network has hired many veterans of U.S. television, including John Seigenthaler, Joie Chen, Antonio Mora and Sheila MacVicar, and is promising a meaty diet of news that it believes will contrast with the opinionated talk that dominates American news networks. “We’re breaking in with something that we think is unique and are confident, with our guts and some research, that the American people are looking for,” said Kate O’Brian, the former ABC News executive who is now Al-Jazeera America’s president.



Read more: http://business.time.com/2013/08/19/al-jazeera-america-prepares-for-tuesday-launch/

[madrchsod]

1. finally!

news that is worth watching.

[democrank]

2. K & R

Looking forward to it.

[cascadiance]

3. Just wait for those Saudi-owned Faux News addicts ranting about us "libs" watching "Al Queda" TV!

Be prepared to fire right back at them for that bit of hypocrisy!

[Dawgs]

5. Read some earlier. They are actually pretty funny. See link inside n/t

http://www.ajc.com/news/ap/entertainment/al-jazeera-america-prepares-for-tuesday-launch/nZSMJ/

[cascadiance]

9. Interesting note in this article that those who want to stream AJ through the internet should note..

Even with Al-Jazeera rarely available on TV in the U.S., the Al-Jazeera English network had a substantial following online. But that will end; as a condition of being carried on cable systems, Al-Jazeera will no longer be able to send out a live Internet stream of its programming.

That seems unwise, Marash said. Essentially, Al-Jazeera will be trading a young and growing audience online — the distribution form that best represents the industry's future — for a smaller, older television audience, he said.

"None of this makes any sense unless you talk about it in the context of ego," Marash said.

AJA has said little about its online plans. Al Shihabi said the company's goal is to get near-universal carriage on television, making the worries about the online audience moot.

So, some of you who really want to watch this, but don't have a cable system that is carrying Al Jazeera, might want to consider moving to satellite television services like Dish or DirectTV where in addition to getting Al Jazeera, you'll get other channels like FSTV, LINK TV, and RT. And you'll get MSNBC in HD on Dish.

Perhaps especially stick it to those with Time Warner cable, since they actively shut down Current TV (and now Al Jazeera America) when the sale was announced, and would perhaps deserve people leaving their systems in this regard the most.

If they ask you why when you sign out, explain that they aren't being consistent if they aren't taking Fox News off of their system when it is also owned by Saudis as well! If they can't explain why they selectively want one middle eastern owned channel and kill another, then tell them that other media options offer more responsible programming decisions than they do that meet their customers wishes and needs.

[bananas]

13. I wonder how that will affect youtube video clips? nt

[Iliyah]

4. Its already started

from fake news . . beware. . .brainwashing will ensue!

[QuestForSense]

6. They should know!

[YOHABLO]

7. Faux news is on basic cable .. I don't think Al-Jazeera will be. It's not fair.

Many people like myself can not afford the the package that would include Al-Jazeera .. so really it's only those elite libs who will be able to watch and listen. So corporate cable does include FOX as part of it's basic cable package. You get my drift?

[bananas]

11. And Al Jazeera will stop online streaming as part of this deal

as described in post 9.

[bananas]

12. And Al Jazeera will stop online streaming as part of this deal

as described in post 9.

[School Teacher]

10. At Last, News for Adults about the Real World

I am delighted. At last Americans all over the country can access some real news for adults that is reality based. Yes, the rest of the world does exist! I have been watching on line for years and have learned so much! It makes CNN look like a narrow clown show.

[cascadiance]

15. I'm looking forward to newer episodes of Fault Lines, and Listening Post this weekend...

FSTV earlier had Fault Lines, but they've been only having repeats for the last year or so of that show which started out great with good reporting and had Naomi Klein's husband Avi Lewis doing a lot of it.

Al Jazeera's "Listening Post" show this weekend (2 PM PST on Saturday) looks to be having a half hour on the national security "leak" mess. Would be cool to see a different take from the way our corporate media is currently covering it. Looking forward to see how they start off their coverage in this area as hopefully a vision of what they'll have to offer later.

[cascadiance]

14. Letterman a few minutes ago started ranting about Time Warner (cutting off some CBS affiliates?)

Since this outfit was one that actually shut down Current TV when Al Jazeera was announced, perhaps we should focus a campaign on getting people to move to satellite from Time Warner Cable around the country...

[Alamuti Lotus]

16. Five years ago, I might have been excited by this news

The station has since followed the Qatari dictatorship in kowtowing to the Wahhabi/Zionist arrangement of the region. At best, the station will be broadcasting US Gov't propaganda in a slightly different accent than the usual. It will, of course, be a honeypot for the xenophobic idiots who know no better, but they need little excuse to act in an amusing manner these days. Net effect: eh.

[JDPriestly]

17. Do they promise to refrain from discriminating against people based on religion such as Jewish

people? The law requires them to be free from discrimination based on religion or ethnicity. Does anyone know what their policy is on hiring Jewish people?

[jzodda]

18. This sucks

So I can't watch it but at the same time they have messed with http://www.aljazeera.com/ to the point where I can't watch the live stream, can't watch any videos. I looked forward to doing so every night for 20-30 minutes for the past few years.

Anybody know another good news site like this that I can watch? Maybe I will look for a good proxy