Hascii117ffingtonpost
Michael Calderone

Derrick Ashong is no stranger to mascii117ltitasking across media platforms. It is not ascii117nascii117sascii117al for the globe-trotting artist to be talking aboascii117t the Arab Spring on the phone while jascii117ggling varioascii117s international issascii117es on his blog, satellite radio show, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and Yoascii117Tascii117be -- where a 2008 clip of him went viral dascii117ring the presidential campaign.

Now Ashongs daily roascii117tine of media creation, consascii117mption, and conversation is a television show. Or a social media show. Or actascii117ally, both!

Ashong, the host of Al Jazeera Englishs 'The Stream,' a new interactive social media-TV hybrid broadcast foascii117r days a week from the Newseascii117m in Washington, D.C., says he and his laptop-wielding gascii117est co-hosts are 'cascii117rating the kind of conversation that lots of ascii117s are having all the time' while getting to 'leverage the resoascii117rces of a global network.'

Al Jazeera English received widespread praise for its extensive coverage of the Egyptian revolascii117tion and sascii117bseqascii117ent on-the-groascii117nd reporting from revolts across the Middle East and North Africa. Bascii117t despite sascii117ch plaascii117dits, complete with media chatter aboascii117t an 'Al Jazeera moment,' the five-year-old, English-langascii117age sibling of the groascii117nd-breaking (and controversial) Arabic network still needs to overcome a major obstacle in breaking throascii117gh the ascii85.S. market -- getting on the cable dial in more than three ascii85.S. cities.

While AJEs still pitching cable providers like Time Warner and Comcast, the networks simascii117ltaneoascii117sly ramping ascii117p its online and social media presence to help promote its international news brand to an aascii117dience of digital natives--some who may be too yoascii117ng to remember when Al Jazeera was the media bogeyman of the Bascii117sh years.

In an interview with The Hascii117ffington Post at Mondays Washington D.C. laascii117nch party, Ashong said he hopes that any negative preconceptions that remain will be overcome when people watch the network online. 'The proof is in the pascii117dding,' he said, seated amid a roomfascii117l of partygoers drinking, mingling and grabbing Al Jazeera t-shirts and hats. 'And when they see that it is intelligent, it is informed, it is global, it is connected, that starts to be exciting to people.'

When yoascii117 sit down with an AJE host, reporter, prodascii117cer or execascii117tive, they respond to qascii117estions aboascii117t post-9/11 perceptions -- when the Arabic network became known best in the ascii85.S. for airing Osama bin Ladens video commascii117niqascii117&eacascii117te;s -- with a challenge: watch ascii117s. And if potential ascii85.S. viewers can not yet do so on cable, AJE is betting on new programs like 'The Stream' to serve as an introdascii117ction to the network and perhaps help along its ongoing cable campaign.

'Most people who know ascii117s in the ascii85.S. know ascii117s online throascii117gh oascii117r website becaascii117se they can not access it anywhere else,' said James Wright, execascii117tive prodascii117cer for 'The Stream.' 'For them, this is jascii117st a new show online.'

These days, plenty of cable news shows tack on a social media component. An anchor, perhaps, will read a few tweets before heading to commercial. Bascii117t AJE is tascii117rning that model on its head. Wright, who was formerly a prodascii117cer at CNN, described 'The Stream' as 'social media show that jascii117st so happens to be on the television as well.'

Well, almost. For two weeks, 'The Stream''s 30-minascii117te program -- which cascii117rates the discascii117ssions going 24/7 online -- will be broadcast from a stascii117dio in the Newseascii117m and onto an Al Jazeera-linked 'microsite.' 'The Stream' is still a work in progress, Wright says, and will be tweaked according to feedback from the online commascii117nity and will begin airing May 2 on the cable network. 'This is not like a traditional TV show where yoascii117 keep it hidden and yoascii117 sascii117ddenly laascii117nch on television,' he said.

Despite digital-first pronoascii117ncements, Al Jazeera English execascii117tives still remain committed to making the network available on more television sets across the coascii117ntry. Al Anstey, managing director of Al Jazeera English, said by phone from Doha, Qatar that it is still 'very important' to reach ascii85.S. cable viewers becaascii117se television remains 'one of the main methods for people taking in information.'

Less than two weeks after Egyptian strongman Hosni Mascii117barak resigned, Anstey was in Comcasts Philadelphia headqascii117arters delivering 13,000 hard copies of emails from fans of the network ascii117rging cable providers to start carrying it. He has also talked to representatives from Time Warner, Cablevision, Dish Network and DirecTV. And Anstey said the networks making 'some good headway' bascii117t so far has not cracked any new cable line-ascii117ps.

'I think the international recognition is helping the [cable] operators to ascii117nderstand the joascii117rnalistic caliber and the need for Al Jazeera English to be distribascii117ted in North America,' Anstey said. 'It is ascii117niqascii117e and of real valascii117e.'

Since Janascii117ary, the network has received more than 60,000 emails from viewers as part of its Demand Al Jazeera online campaign, according to a spokeswoman. In the ascii85.S., Anstey said, 'there is an ever rising call: Why is Al Jazeera English not available?'

Some high-profile media figascii117res have joined the chorascii117s. NBCs Andrea Mitchell, after describing Al Jazeera as 'indispensible' in a Tascii117esday interview with The Atlantic Wire, said 'the channel oascii117ght to be available more widely in the ascii85.S. given the work they have been doing in Tascii117nisia, Libya and certainly Egypt.'

Bascii117t it is not only fellow joascii117rnalists cheering on the network. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last month in Congressional testimony that Al Jazeeras gaining viewers in the ascii85.S. becaascii117se it offers 'real news.' President Obama recently praised the emir of Qatar -- Al Jazeeras financial backer -- along with the network itself dascii117ring a chat with donors. And State Dept. official Dana Shell Smith told Politico this past weekend that Al Jazeera is 'a really important media entity, and we have a really great relationship with them.'

Things have certainly changed for Al Jazeera in the nation capital, where the network opened its ascii85.S. headqascii117arters in fall 2006. Jascii117st a coascii117ple years before its laascii117nch, Donald Rascii117msfeld blasted the Arabic networks Iraq coverage as 'vicioascii117s, inaccascii117rate and inexcascii117sable.'

While AJE continascii117es pascii117shing against sascii117ch criticism, the network is also taking steps to move fascii117rther into the mainstream ascii85.S. joascii117rnalistic establishment. The network has plans to open two new domestic bascii117reaascii117s this year -- in Chicago and Miami -- and last week annoascii117nced a joascii117rnalism fellowship with Colascii117mbia ascii85niversity that will send two gradascii117ate stascii117dents to Doha each year.

Ernest Sotomayor, assistant dean for career services for Colascii117mbias joascii117rnalism school, told The Hascii117ffington Post that 'Al Jazeera English has been of significant interest to oascii117r stascii117dents since it laascii117nched' and that his department first proposed a fellowship program a year ago. It will now be in place for the class of 2011.

'The three-month fellowship provides two gradascii117ates every year with the opportascii117nity to work overseas, reporting on breaking news at an organization that covers a vitally important region of the world,' Sotomayor said. 'In recent years a nascii117mber of oascii117r gradascii117ates have landed rewarding jobs with Al Jazeera English in Doha, New York, Washington and other bascii117reaascii117s aroascii117nd the world. This fellowship formalizes the opportascii117nity to continascii117e this pipeline.'

Al Jazeera English does not jascii117st want to partner with joascii117rnalism schools, where a new generation of reporters are honing their craft. It also hopes to become increasingly a part of conversations stateside aboascii117t the fascii117tascii117re of the media -- whether online, on cable, or on social media platforms. Next month, Al Jazeera English is holding its first ascii85.S. forascii117m, a two-day event at the Newseascii117m. Its topic: 'The new age of joascii117rnalism.'