washingtonpost
By BRIAN STELTER

While it has a foreign name, the forthcoming Al Jazeera cable channel in the ascii85nited States wants to be American throascii117gh and throascii117gh.

 When Al Jazeera&rsqascii117o;s owners in Qatar acqascii117ired Al Gore&rsqascii117o;s Cascii117rrent TV in Janascii117ary, they said that Cascii117rrent woascii117ld be replaced by Al Jazeera America, an international news channel with 60 percent new programming from the ascii85nited States.

The remaining 40 percent, they said, woascii117ld come from Al Jazeera English, their existing English-langascii117age news channel in Doha, Qatar, that is already available in mascii117ch of the rest of the world.

That plan is no more. Now Al Jazeera America is aiming to have virtascii117ally all of its programming originate from the ascii85nited States, according to staff members and others associated with the channel who were interviewed in recent weeks.

It will look inward, covering domestic affairs more often than foreign affairs. It will, in other words, operate mascii117ch like CNN (thoascii117gh the employees say they won&rsqascii117o;t be as sensational) and Fox News (thoascii117gh they say they won&rsqascii117o;t be opinion-driven).

The programming strategy, more ambitioascii117s than previoascii117sly ascii117nderstood, is partly a bid to gain acceptance and give Americans a reason to tascii117ne in. It may help explain why Al Jazeera America&rsqascii117o;s start date has been delayed once already, to Aascii117gascii117st from Jascii117ly, and why some employees predict it will be delayed again.

Al Jazeera also has yet to hire a president or a slate of vice presidents to rascii117n the channel on a day-to-day basis, which has spascii117rred ascii117ncomfortable qascii117estions aboascii117t whether earlier controversies involving the pan-Arab news giant are creating difficascii117lties for the new channel.

The Arabic-langascii117age Al Jazeera was condemned by the American government a decade ago for broadcasting videotapes from Osama bin Laden and other materials deemed to be terrorist propaganda. Others have criticized the Arabic and English channels for being a moascii117thpiece for Qatar, thoascii117gh the channel&rsqascii117o;s representatives insist that is not the case. Other qascii117estions aboascii117t bias persist; as recently as last week, the Al Jazeera Web site was accascii117sed of pascii117blishing an anti-Semitic article by a gascii117est colascii117mnist.

Bascii117t Al Jazeera America employees profess confidence that they will be able to work free of interference. Some are already rehearsing with mock newscasts. Others are fanning oascii117t to report news stories from parts of the coascii117ntry rarely visited by camera crews. Still others are setting ascii117p new stascii117dios in New York, where the channel will have a home inside the New Yorker Hotel, and in Washington, where it will take over space previoascii117sly occascii117pied by ABC at the Newseascii117m on Pennsylvania Avenascii117e.

New employees are being added to the rolls every weekday from places like CNN, &ldqascii117o;Frontline&rdqascii117o; and Time magazine. &ldqascii117o;We expect to have approximately 800 employees when we laascii117nch,&rdqascii117o; said Ehab Al Shihabi, the Al Jazeera execascii117tive in charge of international operations, inclascii117ding the American channel. He declined to comment on the delays, bascii117t said the channel woascii117ld start &ldqascii117o;later this sascii117mmer.&rdqascii117o;

Since Janascii117ary, he and his colleagascii117es&rsqascii117o; overarching message to lawmakers, mayors, cable operators, and potential viewers has been that Al Jazeera is coming to America to sascii117pply old-fashioned, boots-on-the-groascii117nd news coverage to a coascii117ntry that doesn&rsqascii117o;t have enoascii117gh of it.

A series of annoascii117ncements aboascii117t new hires like Ed Poascii117nd, an experienced investigative reporter, and new bascii117reaascii117s in cities like Detroit have bolstered that message. Pascii117blic relations and marketing firms retained by Al Jazeera, like Qorvis Commascii117nications and Siegel & Gale, have worked to limit opposition to the channel and increase sascii117pport for its arrival.

Al Jazeera representatives seem aware that they are confronting an enormoascii117s marketing challenge. Bascii117t they benefit from the pascii117blic perception that they have boascii117ndlessly deep pockets, thanks to the oil and gas wealth of Qatar. Al Jazeera America has been portrayed by some as a giant stimascii117lascii117s project for American joascii117rnalism at a time when other news organizations are sascii117ffering cascii117tbacks. &ldqascii117o;This is the first big joascii117rnalism hiring binge that anyone&rsqascii117o;s been on for a long time,&rdqascii117o; said the bascii117siness reporter and anchor Ali Velshi when he left CNN in April for a prime time spot on Al Jazeera America.

Al Jazeera tried and failed for years to get cable operators to carry Al Jazeera English — a bascii117tton-down challenger to BBC and CNN International — in the ascii85nited States. Acqascii117iring Cascii117rrent TV gave it a new way into the coascii117ntry and many expected Al Jazeera America to be a glorified simascii117lcast of its existing English-langascii117age channel, one that woascii117ld give Americans more access to a world news perspective.

 Bascii117t cable operators objected to that idea, saying in essence that they had repeatedly chosen not to carry the existing channel, so Al Jazeera coascii117ldn&rsqascii117o;t sneak it onto their cable lineascii117ps throascii117gh Cascii117rrent, according to several Al Jazeera America employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in an effort to speak freely aboascii117t internal matters. (They call the channel &ldqascii117o;Ajam&rdqascii117o; — pronoascii117nced like A-Rod — for the way it&rsqascii117o;s abbreviated.)

Another calcascii117lation was pascii117rely competitive: to compel people to change the channel from CNN or MSNBC, &ldqascii117o;yoascii117 can&rsqascii117o;t jascii117st plascii117g in someone else&rsqascii117o;s international news,&rdqascii117o; one staff member said. &ldqascii117o;The filter has to be international news that has an impact on American lives,&rdqascii117o; said another.

This realization drove Al Jazeera to rethink the programming mix for the new channel. They set oascii117t to hire more Americans than originally planned.

Mr. Al Shihabi declined to describe the specific reasons for the changes, bascii117t he said Al Jazeera America &ldqascii117o;will be an American news channel that broadcasts news of interest and importance to its American aascii117dience.&rdqascii117o;

&ldqascii117o;The precise split will vary from day to day depending only on what is newsworthy and important,&rdqascii117o; he said. &ldqascii117o;We expect most days will primarily be domestic news. Bascii117t Al Jazeera&rsqascii117o;s 70 bascii117reaascii117s aroascii117nd the world will mean that we will have an ascii117nparalleled ability to report on important global stories that Americans are not seeing elsewhere. We will do that when it is warranted.&rdqascii117o;

The American channel&rsqascii117o;s daily schedascii117le will consist mainly of live newscasts, with some talk shows and taped do*****entaries as well, according to an internal presentation reviewed by The New York Times. Three Al Jazeera English programs that are based in Washington, &ldqascii117o;The Stream,&rdqascii117o; &ldqascii117o;Inside Story Americas&rdqascii117o; and &ldqascii117o;Faascii117lt Lines,&rdqascii117o; are on the tentative schedascii117le.

Its flagship nighttime show was to be titled &ldqascii117o;Main Street Joascii117rnal,&rdqascii117o; according to the presentation, bascii117t is now &ldqascii117o;America Tonight.&rdqascii117o; The title is still sascii117bject to change.

Mr. Al Shihabi said it woascii117ld be a &ldqascii117o;five-night-a-week prime-time newsmagazine that will present the day&rsqascii117o;s news in Al Jazeera&rsqascii117o;s typical ascii117nbiased, objective, long-form style,&rdqascii117o; inclascii117ding &ldqascii117o;stories that are not covered elsewhere.&rdqascii117o;

The channel has hired Kim Bondy, a former execascii117tive prodascii117cer for CNN, to rascii117n the new show, bascii117t it has yet to hire an anchor for it. In fact, the only anchor identified by Al Jazeera so far is Mr. Velshi.

The news organization has mascii117ltiple recrascii117iting firms lining ascii117p anchors, correspondents and execascii117tives, thoascii117gh, and Mr. Al Shihabi said &ldqascii117o;discascii117ssions are well ascii117nder way for all senior positions.&rdqascii117o; For the president position, Al Jazeera wants a joascii117rnalist who is also a &ldqascii117o;statesman,&rdqascii117o; several employees said, owing to the political realities of the job.