• Buzzfeed, Thursday, March 21, 2013 3:36 PM

As it ramps up for its July launch, the deep-pocketed Al Jazeera America "needs a star," writes David Freedlander. "We need to find people who are known, but we want them to be known for their journalism, not for their celebrity, not for their past failure, not for their messy divorce,” Bob Wheelock, executive producer for the Americas for Al Jazeera English, tells Freedlander.

While it is fielding offers for 170 open positions,  and reportedly has received resumes from some familiar names interested in what Wheelock says will be "long-form, deeply reported TV journalism," it's still unclear "whether Al Jazeera will be able to attract top-level talent, the kind that will draw in American viewers and lead other broadcasters to follow suit," writes Freedlaner. "Part of the problem is the lingering suspicion that the network has an anti-American bias."

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