ITV

Tag: Mostefa Souag

  • Al Jazeera English ups Giles Trendle as acting managing director

    Al Jazeera English ups Giles Trendle as acting managing director

    MUMBAI: Al Jazeera Media Network has assigned the role of acting managing director at Al Jazeera English (AJE) to Giles Trendle.

     

    The role was vacated by Al Anstey’s departure to lead Al Jazeera America. Giles will also continue in his current role as AJE’s director of programmes.

     

    Trendle joined Al Jazeera in 2004 to work on Al Jazeera Arabic’s flagship investigative documentary show Top Secret.

     

    He moved across to Al Jazeera English in 2006 where he commissioned and acquired films for the Witness documentary strand. He also oversaw numerous documentary series and helped develop content-sharing between the network’s channels.

     

    Prior to joining Al Jazeera, Trendle was an independent documentary-maker and journalist specialising in the Middle East. He began his career in journalism in 1985 spending many years in Lebanon as a freelance journalist. He reported for, among others, The Economist and The Sunday Times. He covered the Lebanese civil war, the Western hostage saga, and the guerrilla war in south Lebanon.

     

    He moved into television and over the years made numerous documentaries – including films in Iraq both during and after Saddam Hussein’s fall, as well as a film following former British hostage John McCarthy’s return to Beirut.

     

    Trendle said, “I am honoured to be asked to step up to the role of acting managing director.  I am committed to ensuring Al Jazeera English continues to be a news and current affairs channel that offers great journalism, original story telling, and uncovers human stories that need to be told. We have established ourselves as one of the most reputable and most watched news and current affairs outlets in the world. I’m determined that we do everything necessary to continue to be recognised as the very best at what we do, catering for our audiences no matter if they are using television, mobile, or social platforms.”

     

    Al Jazeera Media Network acting director general Mostefa Souag added, “Giles is an experienced journalist and has a strong track record of managing, directing and producing documentaries. He has multicultural understanding, versatility, and in his many years at Al Jazeera, he has placed emphasis on a relationship-building approach. Al Jazeera English will continue the upward trajectory it has been on in recent years and Giles’s leadership and experience will be essential for the continuing future success of the channel.”

  • Al Jazeera elevates Al Anstey as CEO of Al Jazeera America

    Al Jazeera elevates Al Anstey as CEO of Al Jazeera America

    MUMBAI: Al Jazeera Media Network has appointed Al Anstey as CEO of Al Jazeera America with immediate effect.

    Anstey replaces interim CEO Ehab Alshihabi, who was responsible for launching Al Jazeera America in 2013. He joined Al Jazeera in 2005 and has held a range of leadership positions with the organization, most recently serving as managing director of Al Jazeera English (AJE) since 2010.

    Previously Anstey was director of news for AJE, in charge of the news division and the editorial content. He was a key member of the start-up team of AJE that designed the editorial vision, recruited editorial staff, and set up its worldwide bureau network.

    Under Anstey’s leadership the channel is now accessible to over 250 million households across the globe in over 130 countries.

    Anstey said, “I’m delighted to be leading Al Jazeera America into the next stage of its development. The United States is a remarkable country, with amazing people across the nation who are looking for in-depth, trusted, and inspiring stories. I’m also very proud to be able to lead a fantastic team at Al Jazeera America who are dedicated to the highest quality storytelling. I am committed to engaging the team and uplifting our collective ambitions, as a much needed channel for American audiences.”

     Al Jazeera America Board of Directors chairman Mostefa Souag added, “As Al Jazeera America moves forward into this new stage of its development, I am confident Al’s leadership will transform the channel’s ability to lead in the US marketplace. His demonstrated success leading Al Jazeera English and his passion for the Al Jazeera brand positions him with the unique ability to undertake the strategic changes needed for the success of the channel. I am extremely pleased at Al’s appointment.”

    Anstey has lived and worked in Asia, America, Europe and the Middle East. He started his career as a producer at CBS News, later joining the start-up of Reuters GMTV in the UK, before moving to the start-up of Associated Press Television News, based in New Delhi and Sydney, later taking on the position of Asia Editor for APTN with responsibility for bureaus and coverage across Asia.

    Prior to joining Al Jazeera in 2005 he was the head of foreign news at ITN in the UK after many years as their senior foreign editor and spent two years in Washington DC as bureau chief of ITN’s operations in the US.