I'll check it out for sure, to see what it's about, and what type of coverage is involved with various subjects-- (Soledad O'Brien's coming back!
) Hopefully there will be lots of human interest stories about parts of the USA/world that are neglected in coverage, particularly in poorer/developing communities.
also, there is a suburban Detroit-based Arab-culture TV/internet-radio network,
Middle Eastern America TV, that has a distribution deal with Comcast-
Website www.meatv-radio.com
Phone: 248-996-9636
Fax: 248-996-9635
Organizational Background: MEA TV and Radio is a 24 hour National Middle Eastern American television and radio network broadcasting on cable and satellite.
Curiously: When AJA made a local press release announcement concerning opening a Detroit bureau, the language in it decried the rationale that metro Detroit has the largest Arab/ethnic middle-eastern population in the USA, but instead said the company's point of interest was the American auto industry.
I happened to be with a group of local black journalists who met with the CEO/President of MEA TV, Wally Jadan, a few weeks back. Regarding the debut of Al-Jazeera America, he was less overwhelmingly enthused. Based on the conversation that we had, he is convinced that AJ, is, quietly, just as agenda-driven as a Fox/NewsCorp, citing historical ties to the Qatar government, and allegedly anti-west provocateurs therein.
But we'll see-- hopefully AJA's reporters and anchors-- as well as production staff-- prove to be just as diverse as the parent network.
