Less than three years after its debut in the United States (U.S.), cable news channel Al Jazeera America, has announced that it will shut down by the end of April.
This was declared in the company’s general meeting on Wednesday.
New York Times reported that, Al Jazeera America’s chief executive, Al Anstey, said the decision by Al Jazeera America’s board is driven by the fact that their business model is simply not sustainable with the economic challenges in the U.S. media market place.
As part of their meeting’s announcement, Mr. Anstey said that after the cable news network will shut down by April 30, Al Jazeera would expand its digital presence in the United States. The expansion would bring new global content into America.
Al Anstey was quoted saying “I know the closure of AJAM will be a massive disappointment for everyone here who has worked tirelessly for our long-term future but the decision that was made is in not because AJAM has done anything but a great job and our commitment to great journalism is unrivaled”.
According to NYT, Al Jazeera America went on the air in August 2013 after it bought Al Gore’s Current TV for $500 million, with the promise to be thoughtful and smart, free of the shouting arguments that have defined cable news in the United States over the last decade. But meaningful viewership never came, with prime-time ratings sometimes struggling to exceed 30,000 viewers.
To make matters worse, NYT reports that the newsroom was hit with turmoil last year when staff members complained bitterly of a culture of fear. There was an exodus of top executives, along with a pair of lawsuits from former employees that included complaints about sexism and anti-Semitism at the news channel.
Similarly, Al Jazeera America has not been free of controversy in recent months, as the news station’s general counsel, David W. Harleston, was suspended in sequel to a report in The New York Times that he did not appear to be licensed to practice law in November.
