An English-language version of Al-Jazeera International "faces enough hurdles to make Olympic champion Edwin Moses tremble," reports the Associated Press. The channel's parent network is pretty
much the first and last word in broadcast news in the Arab world. But the spinoff has missed a target launch date and won't set another--and it has no public commitments to show it in the United
States. A competitor also beat it to the market, and it is also the subject of a campaign by people who don't want it seen here. However, the company's operators are still forging ahead with plans to
create a global news service. "Give us a fair crack of the whip," says Lindsey Oliver, the network's commercial director. One prominent American hire is former ABC reporter Dave Marash, while
Britain's well-known interviewer David Frost is also on the roster. A right-wing fringe group called Accuracy in Media has been trying to keep AJI out, with a spokesman saying that if it arrives, "we
believe that nothing but death and destruction will result"--a contention that Oliver mocks. "I don't suppose that David Frost has ever been accused of being a terrorist before," she says.
advertisement
advertisement
Read the whole story at Associated Press via USA Today »