Dave Marash Quits Al-Jazeera English
Former "Nightline" reporter Dave Marash has quit Al-Jazeera English, saying Thursday his exit was due in part to an anti-American bias at a network.
Marash said he felt that attitude more from British administrators than Arabs at the Qatar-based network.
Marash was the highest-profile American TV personality hired when the English language affiliate to Al-Jazeera.Marash is being replaced by former CNN International host Shihab Rattansi.
The alternative take on this story (covered in articles elsewhere) is that the powers that be at AJE in Washington moved him away from the anchor role and told him to go back to reporting, which was where they reportedly felt his strengths lay.
Some might see that as a sideways move, some might see it as a demotion.
He was apparently happy enough to work for Al Jazeera English until that reorganisation.
If he really felt AJE was anti-American, then surely he would have resigned beforehand?
As it is, it just smacks of him being moved internally to a job he didn't want to do and him resigning because he refused to accept the role change. And then getting his revenge by pretending it was because of anti-Americanism.
Pram. Toys. Thrown.
I wonder if he would have been happy to continue working as a presenter if that option had been open to him? It wasn't too anti-American for him to work for AJE as a presenter in Washington DC, but it was apparently too anti-American for him to work there as a reporter. Huh?!
A interesting view on this here;
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/90704
"Steve Clark, a former senior executive at ITN and Sky News and a
driving force behind the launch of al-Jazeera English, resigned at the
end of last week...........
Insiders say more than 15 staff have quit or resigned in recent months
amid complaints of a lack of clarity over its direction, contractual
disputes and speculation over a relaunch later this year.
Insiders say Clark's departure was expected after his wife, Jo
Burgin, the former head of planning at al-Jazeera English, launched a
claim for sex, race and religious discrimination.* It is expected to be
heard in the next two to three months.
But they said it was a
further example of the disharmony that has gripped the broadcaster,
particularly in Doha, since its launch. Even before it launched, there
was a split between the management of the original channels, launched
in 1996 and funded by the emir of Qatar, and the new international
version."
* WOW!!! I'm going to follow this story. The rival media companies should have a field day with this.
The Guardian,
Wednesday March 26 2008
I don't go to mythical places with strange men.
-- Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul.