Reportage will cut through the political noise generated by candidates and their campaigns to maintain a strictly objective, non-partisan analysis of the issues
New York, NY – Al Jazeera America today unveiled its strategy for covering the 2016 presidential elections, an approach that eschews horse race journalism in order to focus on the issues that matter most to voters. AJAM’s political approach will be integrated into all programming across all platforms during the run-up to the election.
Senior Executive Producers Jonathan Larsen and Bob Wheelock have joined AJAM to lead the newly-formed political team, which will draw on resources from across AJAM’s 12 domestic bureaus and Al Jazeera Media Network’s more than 80 international bureaus. Larsen previously worked for MSNBC, CNN and ABC News, while Wheelock has worked at Al Jazeera English, NBC News and for nearly 30 years at ABC News.
“This is AJAM’s first presidential election, and we are going to be covering it differently,” said AJAM’s President, Kate O’Brian. “We will be focused on speaking with subject matter experts more than pundits, putting real people before personalities and taking an in-depth look at the real issues on the ground as they may not be covered by other mainstream media.”
As a way to bring the issues to life, AJAM’s coverage will regularly feature first-person vignettes of individuals who can bring an on-the-ground perspective of issues ranging from climate change to income inequality. Individuals with contrasting viewpoints often will be combined to give audiences a truly balanced, non-partisan perspective.
“The nature of presidential politics is to polarize the issues so much that it’s difficult to get at the truth,” said Amjad Atallah, AJAM’s Executive Vice President for Content. “But we’ll break down the spin for our audiences so they can form their own opinions on the issues and evaluate the candidates objectively. With reporters embedded inside the Beltway and across the country, we can bring the resources and expert perspectives that no other American network can match.”
As part of AJAM’s election coverage, the network is also partnering with the Center for Public Integrity to investigate the flow of dark money and other outside spending on American political campaigns. Drawing on the deep investigative resources and storytelling capacities of both organizations, “The Buying of the President 2016” will include in-depth financial profiles of the top candidates as well as stories that look into the role of Super PACs and political non-profits.
About Al Jazeera America
Al Jazeera America is the U.S. news channel that provides both domestic and international news for American audiences. Headquartered in New York City with bureaus in 12 cities across the United States, AJAM carries an award-winning mix of live news, special programming, documentaries and more. To find AJAM in your area, visit www.aljazeera.com/getajam. Visit AJAM online at http://www.aljazeera.com/america. Like us on Facebook and follow @AJAM, @AJAMCorp on Twitter for the latest news and updates. Join the conversation using #AJAM.
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