NEW YORK – (July 30, 2013) – Al Jazeera America, the new American news channel that will launch on Aug. 20, today announced that Libby Casey, one of the hosts of the very popular program Washington Journal on C-SPAN, will become the first correspondent at the channel’s new Washington, D.C. bureau.
Al Jazeera America will be a news, lifestyle and investigative journalism channel that will offer the U.S. audience objective, fact-based and in-depth news focused on issues that are important to everyday Americans. The Washington bureau is one of 12 that the new channel will have across the country.
Marcy McGinnis, senior vice-president, newsgathering, said that a strong Washington, D.C. bureau with an experienced correspondent is critical to Al Jazeera America’s success. “We want to be well positioned to explain how the news from Washington affects the rest of the country and the world,” she said. “Libby Casey, who has reported from inside the beltway and as far away from Washington as you can get and still be in the United States, is the perfect person to do that.”
Before joining Al Jazeera America, Casey was a host and producer for C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, the channel’s three-hour morning political and public affairs show. Casey has been acclaimed for her interview segments connecting Americans with top leaders in Washington including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, members of Congress, governors, journalists and think tank experts.
Casey also spent several years covering Alaska for public radio, reporting the biggest stories in the nation’s biggest state.
Casey has received Edward R. Murrow Awards, a Silver Reel and top awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. She received the Public Service Award from the Alaska Press Club for “Remembering the Fallen,” a series which profiled soldiers killed in Iraq.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be a member of the Al Jazeera America team,” Casey said. “Its commitment to quality, unbiased and fact-based journalism reflects the values I was committed to at C-SPAN and public radio. I’m looking forward to this new opportunity to present the news on that basis.”
See more press releases from Al Jazeera America here.
