That's Aljazeera English, thank you

So its official. I am in Doha-yes I made it, amdist the swarms of Asian Games particpants and fans, and by some miracle of God (that involved a bit of networking and lots of unaccounted for help), but not without a lot of hubub, especially in Doha Airport and uninteligible hushed whispers, from which I managed to decipher "Palestinian Authority???).

That, and the fact that the name of the new Channel is Aljazeera English (AKA-AJE) NOT Aljazeera International. I always thought this sounded to similar to CNN International-could this be why? I'll have to do some digging and get back to you on that one.



My time at the channel-both Arabic and English-today has been fabulous. Got the grand tour and-all very opulent and sort of surreal to be at the center of it all. Most of the empoloyees are very down to earth, and many have joined because they honestly feel they can do something different with Aljazeera. And in the end, even they think its cool to pose in front of the Aljazeera logo outside ;). I also learned the hard way that being the world's fifth most influential brand does not translate into great cafeteria food.

Its late so I'll try to upload more photos-and provide more detail about the channel, tommorow.







Ground Zero.











The brilliant website staff (you know, the ones missing out on the glitz and glamour) hard at work on the second floor
















Russell Merryman, the website Editor-in-Chief, and my boss, smiling after a sleepless week in the runup to launch