1 July, 2010 (London) - Al Jazeera English is pleased to announce that it has received the Freesat Award for "Best News Channel". Presented on 30 June at a gala ceremony in London, the Freesat Awards recognize the very best channels and services available on Freesat, a not-for-profit digital satellite television service in the United Kingdom owned by the BBC and ITV. Al Anstey, Director of Media Development for Al Jazeera Network accepted the award on behalf of Al Jazeera English.
This is the second year in a row that Al Jazeera English has been recognized with the award. This year's nominees included BBC News Channel, BBC Radio 5, CNN International and Bloomberg. The panel of judges for the award was made up of senior representatives from the broadcasting industry.
"It is an honour to receive this award for the second year in a row and to be recognised by our peers in the industry as a leading source of news and current affairs programming," said Salah Nagm, Director of News for Al Jazeera English. "In our short time on air, AJE has worked hard to fill a void in international news by providing coverage of key regions of the world. We are pleased to be part of Freesat's strong line-up of channels and their rapidly growing UK platform."
The judging panel commended Al Jazeera for the following reasons: "Al Jazeera was the standout channel for the panel, telling stories no-one else does and helping viewers discover things about other countries that just aren't reported elsewhere. We like its journalism and impartiality and the way it shows a completely different window on the world."
Since its launch in 2006, Al Jazeera English has been recognized for its distinguished reporting and programming including being awarded "Best 24 Hour News Programme" at the 48th and 50th Annual Monte-Carlo Television Festival. AJE has also received awards from RTS, Amnesty International and YouTube and has received nominations for international Emmy awards in both the News and Current Affairs categories and the Royal Television Society awards as the 2009 "News Channel of the Year".
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Note to editors
The judges for the Freesat Awards 2010 were:
Ben Preston (Editor, Radio Times)
Clive Jones (Chairman, Netplay and Sticky Moon)
Fru Hazlitt (Managing Director Commercial & Online, ITV)
Jemima Kiss (Digital Reporter, Guardian News and Media)
Nick Bampton (Managing Director, The Third Way)
Patrick Younge (Chief Creative Officer, BBC Vision Productions)
Nick Thompson (Managing Director, Arqiva Satellite and Media)
Emma Scott (Managing Director, Freesat)
About Al Jazeera English
Al Jazeera English is the first English language world news channel to be headquartered in the Middle East. Launched in November 2006, Al Jazeera English seeks to present every side and every angle to its stories and act as a bridge between cultures. With unique access, making it the channel of reference for Middle East events, and with bureaus strategically placed around the world, Al Jazeera English provides independent and impartial news for a global audience, giving voice to different perspectives from under-reported regions around the world.
Al Jazeera English is available in more than 100 countries to more than 200 million households worldwide, and was awarded "Best 24 Hour News Programme" at the 48th and Annual Monte Carlo Television Festival and has received awards from the Royal Television Society, Amnesty International and YouTube. The channel has also received several International Emmy nominations - one in news for its coverage of the Russia-Georgia War, one in current affairs for AJE's Witness Special - Return to Nablus, one for best documentary for Shooting the Messenger and one for digital programmes for its coverage of the US election.
Al Jazeera started out more than thirteen years ago as the first independent Arabic news channel in the world dedicated to providing comprehensive television news and live debate for the Arab world. Al Jazeera was formally named the Al Jazeera Network in March 2006, transforming its operation into an international media corporation - the Al Jazeera Network now consists of the flagship Al Jazeera Arabic channel, Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera Documentary, Al Jazeera Sport, Al Jazeera.net (the English and Arabic web sites), the Al Jazeera Media Training and Development Center, the Al Jazeera Center for Studies, Al Jazeera Mubasher (Live), and Al Jazeera Mobile.
Visit www.aljazeera.net/english for more details.
About Freesat
Freesat is a satellite TV service providing digital television to everyone in the UK. It offers over 140 TV, radio and interactive channels, including High Definition (HD) services from the BBC and ITV and BBC iPlayer (ITV Player coming soon).
Freesat is a not-for-profit organisation and is a joint venture between the BBC and ITV.
Visit www.freesat.co.uk for more details.
For further information please contact:
Orla O'Neill, Freesat press office
orlao@consolidatedpr.com
020 7781 340
Patrick Reed, Freesat press office
patrickr@consolidatedpr.com
020 7781 379
Molly Conroy
Molly.conroy@aljazeera.net
Tel: +1 202 492 4724
© Press Release 2010
