Al Jazeera in English
- From: pluto <pluto@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2006 08:09:00 +0800
Opening this May: Al Jazeera in English
Beh Lih Yi Jan 20, 06 3:34pm
The much-awaited Al Jazeera International Channel (AJI) - with Kuala Lumpur
being one of its four regional broadcast centres - is expected to hit the
airwaves in May.
?We are aiming for the end of May,? said Veronica Pedrosa, the channel?s
Malaysia-based principal news anchor.
She was speaking at the first Asian New Media Forum in Kuala Lumpur
yesterday.
The 24-hour news and current affairs channel is the first English language
international network based in the Middle East and will operate separately
from its popular sister channel the Al Jazeera Arabic version.
Its other regional broadcast centres are in Doha (headquarters), London and
Washington DC.
Pedrosa said Kuala Lumpur was chosen due to its strategic location between
Sydney and Beijing, where there is a high number of English-educated
people.
No restrictions
Responding to a question, she denied that the Malaysian government had
imposed any restrictions or conditions on the channel to operate from here.
?Not at all. In fact, we were given incentives, we were given the MSC
(multimedia super corridor) status,? said the award-winning journalist, who
has worked for the BBC and CNN.
She added that AJI news would not broadcast directly from Kuala Lumpur but
the news will be sent back to the headquarters in Doha first and then be
broadcast to the world.
According to Pedrosa, the channel will provide audience with a ?360 degree
perspective? on world events but will not compromise on accuracy, editorial
independence and objectivity.
?AJI will be considered a competitor for CNN International and BBC World
but we actually don?t think we have any direct competitors. We are the
first English language global television network based in the Middle East.
?We are unique, the first of its kind. And we take pride in being based in
the groundbreaking free press environment of the Arab world and we will
utilise our position and vast global resources to present a unique all
round view of regional and global events,? she added.
Pedrosa was one of the five speakers at a panel discussion titled ?New
Media and Press Freedom?. The other speakers were Asian Media and
Information Centre secretary-general Dr Indrajit Banerjee, Malaysian
blogger Jeff Ooi and Hong Kong University academic Andrew Lih.
Learning experience
The two-day forum, which ends today, was attended by 50 participants from
leading ?new media? organisations, academics and non-governmental
representatives.
The forum was jointly organised by online daily malaysiakini, the Southeast
Asian Centre for E-media and Dutch-media foundation FreeVoice.
Malaysiakini chief-executive-officer Premesh Chandran said it was an
unprecedented forum that brought together the new media.
?It?s a good time to share and discuss. It?s time to look at how these
media are changing,? he said when met at the sidelines
Chandran was delighted with the response to the forum, with the
participation of top media organisations such as Inter Press Service (IPS)
and Al Jazeera.
He said participants will use the opportunity to learn from each other and
discuss problems faced by the new media.
-pluto
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