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Kenya: Press Releases: Al Jazeera Selects A24 Media |
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Thursday, 10 September 2009 |
Nairobi, 10 September 2009 --- Al Jazeera Network and A24 Media have revealed a new partnership that widens worldwide access to Al Jazeera’s award winning Africa-focused programming.
A24 Media offers broadcasters across the world a diverse portfolio of programming covering Africa via its online delivery site www.a24media.com. The distribution of this content is part of the organisation’s drive to revolutionize the African media environment and to service strong demand among international audiences for African content.
Al Jazeera has developed a reputation for mould-breaking African coverage, telling stories from across a continent often overlooked by conventional world news broadcasters. The Saving Soweto series centres on Johannesburg’s Chris Hani Baragwaneth Hospital and explores key social issues facing South Africans today – such as AIDS, domestic violence and poverty. Household name Rageh Omaar presents the documentary programme Witness, which won the UWE Children’s Choice Panda Award at the Wildscreen Festival for its ‘Bama’s Journey’ episode, which followed the lives of a wildlife keeper and his gorillas in the Cameroon.
Phil Lawrie, Director of Global Distribution at Al Jazeera Network comments: “This partnership with A24 Media is important for us as it enables us to extend the reach of our African content from both Al Jazeera English and the Al Jazeera Arabic Channel to new audiences throughout and beyond the continent”. Mr Lawrie added: “The strength of this partnership lies in our shared commitment to African media – and to get the continent's stories told to audiences from an African perspective.”
CEO of A24 Media, Asif Sheikh, said: “This partnership with an organisation of the calibre of Al Jazeera represents a powerful endorsement of our vision to make A24 Media the continent’s leading online multimedia news and programmes service and a trusted source for people seeking quality African output produced by local journalists.”
Al Jazeera’s move to partner with A24 Media comes at a time when the online multimedia platform is attracting increasing recognition and praise for its innovative approach. During the recently concluded international media summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, A24 Media Chairman Salim Amin received the African Achievers Award. He thanked the hosts of the ceremony, saying “This is a great honour for me, as it acknowledges the hard work that the team at A24 Media is doing to transform perceptions of Africa in the international arena by enabling Africans to tell their stories their way on an international platform.”
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