Work in progress for launch of Al Jazeera English channel

Work has started in earnest for the launch of the station, said Director of News, Steve Clark, who spoke to Khaleej Times yesterday during a stopover in the UAE. He has been busy putting together the editorial team of the new station.

"Our news reporting will uphold the strictest guiding principles of accuracy, impartiality and objectivity, while being fearless in its reporting. On air, Al Jazeera International will be innovative, but above all we will earn viewer's trust through the impact of accuracy, integrity and speed," Clark said. The station announced this week the appointments of bureau chiefs for the channel's London, Washington DC and Kuala Lumpur news broadcast centres. Clark declined to reveal future plans, but added that more bureaus were in the pipeline. The station has also appointed bureau chiefs for India, in New Delhi and for Kenya, in Nairobi.

Headquartered in Doha — Qatar — the channel will broadcast from the four news broadcast centres. Officials said Al Jazeera International, the world's first English language news channel to be headquartered in the region, “will broadcast from a unique position, from within the Arab World, looking outwards”.

The officials also said the station “hand picked bureau chiefs, and strategically placed news broadcast centres across the globe, to ensure that Al Jazeera International reporting will bring together a complete picture of world news and address the many perspectives of complex current affairs."

With inclusive reporting, Al Jazeera International will build on the heritage of the Arabic language channel, revolutionising viewer choice by offering an alternative to traditional Western news media. Offering all perspectives of a story, the channel will provide a fresh approach to news coverage.

Recently, there were reports in a section of the Western Press that Qatar was considering privatising Al Jazeera, because of various reasons, including a de facto advertising boycott by some countries in the region.

A consultancy firm Ernst and Young was reported to have been hired to look into possible privatisation models, but no final decision has yet been taken.