As Al Jazeera America heads toward its August 20 launch date, the nascent news channel continues to add big names to its talent and executive pools. On Monday, the channel announced the hiring of ABC News veteran Kate O’Brian as president and Ehab Al Shihabi as interim CEO; today it announced that Emmy Award-winning journalist Joie Chen will serve as host of its daily primetime news and current affairs magazine program, “America Tonight.”
“Joie is a strong journalist with a natural, warm presence on screen and we’re excited to see her at the heart of our primetime schedule,” said Paul Eedle, Al Jazeera America’s deputy launch manager in charge of programs, in a statement. Chen spent more than a decade at CNN, where she won an Emmy Award for her work as an anchor covering the bombing at Centennial Olympic Park during the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Al Jazeera America also added seasoned reporter Trevor Aaronson to its 16-person investigative unit, as an investigative digital reporter based in Washington, DC. He joins a team that includes lead investigative reporter Josh Bernstein, reporters Andrea Stone and Tony Karon, and department head Edward Pound. Formerly, Aaronson served as co-founder and associate director of the nonprofit Florida Center for Investigative Reporting.
Brief Take: Al Jazeera America’s recent spate of high-profile hires projects its intention to quickly become a destination for hard news in the U.S
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