Al Jazeera Supporting NPR

by Monica Davis

Al Jazeera America lost no time getting its feet wet in American media.  The latest incursion into supporting American media, public media, such as underwriting NPR programming, is front and center today, as sponsor messages on NPR  include Al Jazeera America among the network’s sponsors..

NPR is often in the dangerous position  of having to fundraise, aquire underwriters and support the stations through the underwriting process:

NPR finished the first six months of its fiscal year $2.6 million in the hole , Paul Farhi reports, and its corporate underwriting, which The Post less politely calls “advertising,” is down sharply. The organization has been dipping into its endowment over three of the last four years, which new NPR chief Gary Knelltells Farhi is not sustainable: MOREHERE

In an interview, Al azeera America’s David Folkenflick said Al Jazeera America has great promise:

Al Jazeera America promises news without ideological tilt and is an anomaly in almost every regard. It has hired hundreds of journalists at a time most of the established news organizations are sloughing them off. It has limited ads to just six minutes of commercials an hour. Many rival channels run closer to 20. Kate O’Brian is president of Al Jazeera America. MOREHERE