Another Al Jazeera Profile…

Multichannel News’ Mark Raubichaux interviews Al Jazeera’s Managing Director of Al Jazeera English, Al Anstey. (via TVNewser)

MCN: Unfairly or not, since 9/11, critics hve said Al-Jazeera has allowed anti-American, anti-Semitic content to air, and it doesn’t carry opposing views. True?

AA: I refute them whole heartedly. We don’t just cover opposing views, we cover all the relevant views. And covering the Egyptian story this week, we have covered all the relevant views in that story. And there is absolutely no partiality.

I can only talk for the English channel. We’ve begun this channel with the highest standards of journalism and we continue now with the highest standards of journalism. It’s not like we’ve evolved into this, it’s from Day One. We are populated by journalists from networks across the globe, including in the United States who have a reputation, and rightfully so, for the best journalism on this earth. And that is critical to what we do; without the credibility we are nothing.

MCN: Some say this is Al-Jazeera’s CNN moment, referring to that network’s coverage of the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Is this your CNN moment and, if so, how do you capitalize on that?

AA: There are similarities. I read with interest that we’re watched in the White House for the president and his advisers to know what’s going on, on the ground. We are the channel of reference on this story and for a number of stories that have happened during our history. So this is, in a way, the turning point for us in the United States is we’ve become the channel of reference and we’ve got this evidence of demand and that demand is exponential as we’re increasingly recognized for what we do.

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