Al Jazeera logo. (Joi/Flickr Creative Commons)
Although Al Jazeera’s recruiters used to incite little interest from prospective job candidates, their impending U.S. launch has prompted 18,000 people to apply for 170 openings in the new bureau, according to the Columbia Journalism Review.
Ehab Alshihabi, executive director of international operations for Al Jazeera, told CJR that he advises candidates to pay close attention to how their qualifications adhere to the job they want. “We want people who have watched our content and are familiar with the product, the company, and the Al Jazeera brand of journalism.” The candidates, he said, have no commonality of age, ethnicity or journalism credentials, but they’re unified by their levels of experience, enthusiasm and passion for Al Jazeera’s type of content.
Alshihabi said that American journalists started to notice Al Jazeera during their coverage of the Arab Spring. He said they’ll have preliminary hires set by May 1 to prepare for their American launch, and they’ll continue to hire on a rolling basis. They’ll hire radio, print, online and TV journalists.
About Michael Juliani
Funny how Aljazeera was classified as a terrorism-advocating channel in the Bush administration and now it broadcasts from the heart of America and by American-blooded people. This only demonstrate how gullible the american public is and that the game of politics is beyond the understanding of the average person. It is just the game of interests and this should be the least more non-controversial definition of politics. Nevertheless, my heart goes with Aljazeera for that it is a news channel of undisputed experience and has for more reach to the middle east, which is the hot spot of the century, than rivals such Foxnews or CNN. Aljazeera will, infact, have so much to offer to the american average citizen in terms of biased and complete coverage of the major happenings around the world.