Al Jazeera English named “Best News Channel” at Annual Freesat Awards

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”.