Al Jazeera sets up Jhb office to build Africa focus

English was already the lingua franca of science, business and academia. Now English appears to be fast emerging as the media language of choice. Al Jazeera is preparing to debut a 24-hour news channel in English. A TV station in Russia also started English broadcasting this month (but got hacked down).

Recently, an ex-FIFA sports official praised the French newspaper, L'Equipe, for some of it's hard-hitting doping coverage, including revelations about Lance Armstrong. But, he added, they just don't get the same notice because their reporting is in French.

His implication: If news is not in English, it didn't happen.

Have you seen any examples of growing use of English in media or backlash against it?

Disclosure: This question is asked in preparation for writing a story for the IHT, so I may get back to you for follow-up.

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Al Jazeera sets up Jhb office to build Africa focus

Al Jazeera’s new English channel is positioning itself to focus on Africa and the developing world, with its Africa bureau in Johannesburg gearing up for the launch in the first quarter of 2006, writes Bate Felix. Claude Colart, who heads the Al Jazeera International’s Johannesburg bureau as senior news producer, said news from the continent will be given the same status as news from other parts of the world, and “would be driven by stories other than events”. These stories would not focus only on wars, famines and catastrophes as on other networks, but on a range of subjects from across the continent, he added. Colart stressed that editorially, the Africa bureau of Al Jazeera International will be independent from the European desk and it will have the latitude to determine its own news items and stories. That is why, he said, the channel has gone on a major recruitment drive across the continent to get the best people. The channel has recruited SABC presenter and senior reporter Kalay Maistry as their Southern Africa correspondent. As part of the continental drive, said Colart, bureaux have been set up in Nairobi to cover East Africa, Lagos to cover West and Central Africa, and there are plans for another bureau in the West African region. These bureaux, plus an existing bureau in North Africa will form part of the channel’s over 30 worldwide bureaux and four broadcast centres in Kuala Lumpur, Doha, London and Washington DC. Colart said the channel is in negotiations with Multichoice which has a satellite imprint that covers the continent to carry its signal in Africa. He also added that they are negotiating with SABC and other national broadcasters and media organisations on various forms of partnerships and program exchange. The 24-hour English news channel will be independent from the current Arab Al Jazeera, with a separate editorial team. Already renowned journalists, anchors and news producers from around the world have joined. Nigel Parsons, formerly with CNN and the BBC, is the managing director, while Steve Clark, formerly with England's Sky News, is director of news. Other famous names include David Foster, David Frost and former CNN journalists and anchors Veronica Pedrosa and Riz Khan. Many analysts say that Al Jazeera International will become an alternative to CNN international and BBC world. The original Arab Al Jazeera was first launched in November 1996. It rose to prominence after September 11, when it broadcast Al Qaeda tapes. The Channel has recently come under the spotlight again. It has been reported that according to a leaked top-secret memo, US President George Bush considered bombing the channel’s offices in Qatar.