Al Jazeera America has apologized for a story posted to the network’s website that joked about AJAM’s own demise. “We believe (the story) was not appropriate given (AJAM’s) imminent closure,” the network said in a statement.
The satirical story was supposedly a roundup of the “Six Hot Media Startups to Watch in 2016,” and described Al Jazeera America as “the top one to watch.” The story described the network’s strategy as trying “to tempt Fox News’ 60-something-year-old viewers over to the AJAM camp. At the same time, the company has its eye on the long-term: positioning themselves to capture the millennial audience when it hits AARP age.”
This afternoon, AJAM pulled the piece from its website and replaced it with an editor’s note:
Editor’s note: Al Jazeera America has removed the satirical piece originally posted on this link, which included commentary on our company that we believe was not appropriate given its imminent closure. Our goal in the closing stages of AJAM online and on TV is to honor the exceptional journalism and journalists that distinguished our brand, to maintain the respect that we have always shown to those we have covered since our launch, and to uphold our promise to deliver the highest quality journalism to our readers until the very last. We believe the satirical piece originally at this link failed to live up to these goals. We offer our apologies to our readers and to our staff.