The top executive team at forthcoming international news channel Al Jazeera America is falling into place, and not a moment too soon—the network is set to launch in less than a month.
Ehab Al Shihabi, executive director for international operations, has been named interim CEO of the network, and ABC News veteran Kate O’Brian has been tapped as president.
Al Shihabi, a five-year veteran of Al Jazeera, has overseen the network’s more than 70 bureaus around the globe, and headed up development of Al Jazeera America. He also participated in the launch of Al Jazeera’s Balkans and Al Jazeera’s Turkish channels.
O’Brian comes to Al Jazeera from ABC News, where she was SVP of news, responsible for all of the network’s newsgathering operations. As president, she will be responsible for defining and implementing the editorial strategy and operations across the network, including news, documentary and all other programming.
Al Jazeera America is set to launch August 20.
Brief Take: While Al Shihabi’s continued involvement with Al Jazeera America was expected, the O’Brian announcement comes as something of a surprise as her name had not been mentioned in speculations on who the network would make its new president. But the oft-decorated veteran journalist has a proven track record of connecting with American news watchers, and the “vision, tenacity and integrity to ensure that Al Jazeera America will quickly become the success we expect it to be,” said Dr. Mostefa Souag, acting director general of Al Jazeera Media Network, in a statement.
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