Al Jazeera English. First impression – I like it. Easy to watch. Few visual and presentational barriers to contend with. The stings are nice.

Graphics: silver and orange and light blue – traditional blend, cleanly executed.
Anchors: Lauren Taylor looking good. Stephen Cole and Felicity Barr are more polished than some of the packages and reporters they’re linking. Shiulie Ghosh clearly outshines Sami Zeidan her Pinocchio-esque co-anchor (see right).
Reporters: Mark Seddon not really looking happy on UN watch – better a commentator than a reporter. Some old reliables, some yet to be tested.

The reporting is very VT-led. After a while AJE feels very packaged and not very live. Like all good launches there’s shelf material waiting to be dumped on to air. In this case about two year’s worth. The back half-hours are a turn-off – why watch factual produced on news budgets? Whilst CNN International is running World Business Today, AJE is running a very ‘lite’ travelogue – airline-telly. Speaking of which Qatar Airways seem to have come up trumps on the advertising front – what were the chances of that…

The London set looks cheap, not enough distance between the presenters and the background. The wall isn’t great either. Doha set is nicer and warmer, although the wide shots look empty at times.

Oh, and the journalism? Islamic Jihad is labelled “an armed group.” Gaza is always close to the lead – Nour Odeh has a ‘live’ interrupted by an explosion. David Chater and Andrew Simmonds files stories that feel very Sky-TN. Not exactly reporting that will have people rushing to the barricades. As Fox demonstrates, if you want to run an agenda you need discipline! [HP]

There’s some reporting bench strength on display but no real focus. Another day in 24 hour news perhaps? I would have been tempted to launch by sticking everyone on a huge story instead of shot-gunning it, but then I am dispensing advice from the comfort of an armchair.

The Middle East has another voice…but not necessarily a consistent one, and maybe that’s a good thing.

Postscript: Oh and Fox News refugee John Cookson is leaner and reporting from the Congo. No ‘cultural awareness training’ for him. Kinshasa today, tomorrow Cheddar Gorge?