Al Jazeera to launch rightwing media platform targeting US conservatives

Rightly will be led by a former Fox News journalist and is aimed at Republicans who ‘feel left out of conservative media’

Adam Gabbatt
@adamgabbatt
Tue 23 Feb 2021 16.04 GMT

Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based news network that has previously sought to become a liberal media force in the US, is launching a platform to target conservatives, it was revealed on Tuesday.

The new effort, called Rightly, will target Republicans who “feel left out of mainstream media”, Politico reported, and will be led by a former Fox News journalist.

Al Jazeera became a significant presence in the US in 2013, when it launched the left-leaning Al Jazeera America news channel and website. The network, which is based in Doha and funded by the state of Qatar, closed down the US-facing TV channel in 2016, but has remained a significant presence online with its AJPlus video network. Its international channel – Al Jazeera English – is popular in the US.

The launch of a conservative effort comes at a time of increasing extremism in existing rightwing US news sources.

Fox News, the go-to news channel for the American right, has lurched even further right as it faces threats from new, ultra-conservative TV channels NewsMax and One America News.

-snip-