As part of the deal, News24 will publish daily video news bulletins from broadcast centres in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington uploaded onto www.news24.com throughout the day.
According to News24 editor Jannie Momberg, “We see the addition of international breaking news from one of the largest English-language news channels as an opportunity for South Africans to gain further perspective on the world. Offering an alternative worldview, we hope that content from Al Jazeera informs and stimulates debate around current issues and events relevant to South Africans as citizens of the world.”
Presented as short, punchy news round-ups of two to three minutes, the stories from Al Jazeera will be visible online at www.news24.com/News24/World/Home/, as well as on certain mobile devices. More than two million unique users visited News24 in March, according to Nielsen's NetRatings Market Intelligence (MI).
“South Africa is a country of numerous cultures, languages and religions, something that Al Jazeera tries to bridge as part of its news agenda,” says Phil Lawrie, director of global distribution. “Recognising the growing online population in South Africa, including mobile users, we see this partnership as an opportunity to contribute news from around the world to the benefit of the country's digital citizenry.”
Al Jazeera English reports seeing a 600% increase in worldwide viewership of its website's streaming footage during the war in Gaza earlier this year.
