Al-Jazeera tackles US market, starting Tuesday

WASHINGTON (AFP) – With a cast of TV news stars, deep pockets and an ambitious agenda, Al-Jazeera launches its US news channel on Tuesday, aiming to shake up the broadcast journalism market stateside. The US cable channel will reach more than 40 million households and vastly expands the footprint of the Qatar-basedmedia group, despite questions about how it will be received by American viewers. Al-Jazeera America’s audience is likely to start out small, but its bosses hope tohave a big impact when it competes against already established brands such as CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. Americans will be able to get 14 hours ofnews, documentary and discussion programming daily, and updates at the top of every hour 24 hours each day. But the selling point will be long-form reporting of stories overlooked by other news organizations. “We know Americans want in-depth coverage of the news that matters to them,” said Ehab Al Shihabi, interim chiefexecutive of Al-Jazeera America. “They want more unbiased coverage andless opinion, that’s what Al-Jazeera is about.”from vanguard news