CTV reports that, “One of the longest running and most contentious debates in Canadian broadcasting is coming to an end with the expected approval by federal regulators to allow Al Jazeera’s English television network to be carried here.”
“Sources close to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission indicate that Al Jazeera English, the international spinoff of the Qatar-based Arabic language news network Al Jazeera, will likely be cleared for Canada this summer, possibly within weeks.”
“Arguing that the newer English channel – which has hired journalists from the BBC, CBC, CTV and Global – is different (from Al Jazeera Arabic), Tony Burman (a former CBC executive who is now managing director of Al Jazeera English based in Doha, Qatar) has proposed a special consultative committee to discuss the network’s on-air content every six months to ensure that there are no major concerns.”
To see ‘ACTION ALERT: Support the Al Jazeera English application to broadcast in Canada’, please go to http://canadians.org/action/2009/08-June-09-2.html.
The CTV report is at http://ctv2.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090628.escenic_1200118/business/Business/businessBN/ctv-business.
