Al Jazeera is downsizing its Washington, D.C. office to focus more on news gathering around the U.S. “From April 15th, we will no longer be opting-in with presentation from the DC Centre into news bulletins,” Al Jazeera English Manager Editor Al Anstey said in an internal memo obtained by The Atlantic’s Steve Clemons. “Instead we will be taking more live contribution from the field from stories we are covering across the USA. We will continue to produce Inside Story from DC five days a week.”
Here’s Anstey’s full memo:
Dear All,
Today in our Washington DC office we are completing the “next frontier” project to restructure our broadcast model for News contribution from America.
From April 15th, we will no longer be opting-in with presentation from the DC Centre into news bulletins. Instead we will be taking more live contribution from the field from stories we are covering across the USA. We will continue to produce Inside Story from DC five days a week.
In addition to the changes in News output, in Programmes we are also moving Empire to New York later this year. Though Empire does broadcast from locations which are specific to the subject of the show, New York is a natural base given its global make up and its global influence.
This change is part of the wider restructure which began over two years ago in order to enhance one of our core strengths of news gathering and reporting from the field. We recently started up our bureau in Chicago. We are soon to formally open our office in Los Angeles. And we are now fully operational from Miami. These bureaux add to our existing presence and strength in Washington DC, and New York, and our bureaux across Latin America. Our commitment to coverage of the Americas remains as strong as ever. With the US and Mexican elections this year, and with all the other stories from the United States and global stories which relate to the USA it is very important we continue to improve and enhance our coverage from the region.
Very best,
Al
AL ANSTEY | MANAGING DIRECTOR
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH
www.aljazeera.net/english
