Al Jazeera, a Qatari-based news network that previously sought to become a liberal media force in the United States, is launching a platform to target conservatives, it was revealed on Tuesday.
The new effort, called Rightly, will target Republicans who “feel excluded from the mainstream media,” said Politico, and will be led by a former Fox News journalist.
Al Jazeera became a significant presence in the United States in 2013 when it launched the left-wing Al Jazeera America news channel and website. The network, which is headquartered in Doha and is funded by the state of Qatar, closed the US-facing TV channel in 2016, but maintained a significant online presence with its AJPlus video network. Its international channel – Al Jazeera English – is popular in the United States.
The launch of a conservative effort comes at a time of growing extremism in the right-wing news sources in the United States.
Fox News, the preferred news channel on the American right, has taken an even further turn to the right in the face of threats from the new ultraconservative TV channels NewsMax and One America News.
Politico said Scott Norvell, a former Fox News employee, will be the editor-in-chief of Rightly, which will launch its first conservatively-focused program on Thursday.
Norvell left News Corp, the owner of Fox News, in 2012, according to his LinkedIn page, ending 16 years with the company in various roles.
A former employee of Heat Street, a news site launched by News Corp in April 2016 and closed in August 2017, said Norvell was involved in the site’s policy that swung to the right.
“Scott Norvell played a role in the transition from Heat Street from a place aimed at libertarian youth, as originally envisaged, to a pro-Trump alt-right Breitbart clone,” said the former team member, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Norvell did not respond to a request for comment.
In particular, some Al Jazeera employees expressed dismay at the launch of Rightly, wondering how it fit with the network’s previously stated commitments to give voice to marginalized communities.
The Al Jazeera program will be called Right Now with Stephen Kent, according to Politico, and will be hosted by Stephen Kent, a commentator who currently presents Beltway Banthas, a podcast on “Star Wars, Politics & More”.
Kent also has a contract with Center Street, a conservative publisher that has published works by far-right authors, including Donald Trump Jr and Corey Lewandowski.
Al Jazeera and Kent did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Kent retweeted news from the platform on Tuesday morning.