Al Jazeera is launching a new right-wing media company aimed at “center-right folks,” according to Politico.
The media company is called Rightly and its editor-in-chief is Scott Norvell, a former Fox News writer who last worked at the network in 2009. Rightly is going to be a digital platform and its focus will be on gathering Republican viewers “who feel left out of mainstream media,” Politico reported.
The website’s first show is launching on Thursday and will be called “Right Now with Stephen Kent.”
Kent is a commentator and podcaster who currently hosts “Star Wars, Politic & More,” The Guardian reported. His Rightly show will be opinion and interview-based, and the new media company plans to launch more programs soon.
OH HEY https://t.co/LFRf8SfvDd
See you soon @Stephen_Kent89 🙂 pic.twitter.com/OisnCeDA95
— Shoshana Weissmann, Sloth Committee Chair ???? (@senatorshoshana) February 23, 2021
Al Jazeera’s move into conservative media is a stark contrast from its liberal founding, and some employees within the company are reportedly disturbed by the upcoming new website, according to The Guardian. The state-run network of Qatar has run into trouble in the past, with some U.S. legislators urging former President Donald Trump’s administration to investigate it as a potential foreign agent in 2018.
The call came after the network’s undercover piece on Israeli lobbyists. (RELATED: Al Jazeera Spied On American Jews For A Documentary And It’s About To Premier)
Al Jazeera America, which launched in 2013, announced in 2016 that it was shutting its doors after just a few years on air. The cable news channel shut down because its “business model is simply not sustainable in light of the economic challenges in the U.S. media marketplace,” Al Jazeera America’s chief executive Al Anstey said in a memo at the time, according to The New York Times.
Al Jazeera did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller.