Arab News Network Al Jazeera to make U.S. Debut this week

This is how the Minneapolis StarTribune is reporting the story- The Al Jazeera TV network is best known in the United States for providing an outlet for Osama bin Laden’s videotaped diatribes. Now it wants to radically alter its image by giving a voice to underrepresented Americans.

Al Jazeera America, a 24-hour news channel, premieres Tuesday in roughly 48 million homes with 12 stateside bureaus, a team of respected American broadcast journalists, including former NBC anchor John Seigenthaler and CNN’s Soledad O’Brien — and a promise to put substance ahead of style.

“It’s going to be fact-based and unbiased, with less opinion, less yelling and fewer celebrity sightings” than the likes of CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, said Al Jazeera America’s CEO Ehab Al Shihabi.

Competition aside, that issue of bias may be Al Jazeera America’s biggest challenge. It’s mainly funded by the Arab emirate of Qatar and has the reputation — right or wrong — of promoting an anti-American, pro-Palestinian platform.

For the rest of the story: https://www.startribune.com/entertainment/tv/220130751.html