Sheila MacVicar: Meet Al Jazeera America’s Latest Hire [Video]
Sheila MacVicar is Al Jazeera America’s latest hire, and just in case the name doesn’t ring a bell, we’ll fill you in on the network’s newest reporter below.
Al Jazeera America is planning to launch next month, and has been plucking personnel for their offices in New York and Washington, according to The Associated Press. On Monday, they announced that MacVicar will be joining the team along with other recent additions Soledad O’Brien and Ali Velshi.
MacVicar has long been a London-based correspondent for various American television networks. She started her career in Canada, and has worked for ABC, CNN and CBS News.
She left CBS in 2010 to follow her husband to a job in Paris, and ended up doing consultancy work. Her husband transferred to Washington a year ago, putting Sheila MacVicar in the right place for a spot at Al Jazeera America.
For the new network, MacVicar will appear on “America Tonight,” a five-day program modeled on a Ted Koppel-era “Nightline.”
She seems to be up for the task, too.
“The one thing we will not be reporting very much on is what the Kardashians are doing and that, I think, is very refreshing,” MacVicar said. “I think there is a real market for this.”
She also poured cold water on early criticisms that Al Jazeera America will come with an editorial bias.
“I wouldn’t have signed my contract if I did not believe I would have editorial independence,” she said. “If at any point somebody suggests that I should be reporting a certain story in a particular way because it would serve someone’s interests, then I would be out the door. And not quietly.”
Another veteran media industry figure potentially joining Al Jazeera America is producer David Doss, who created “Anderson Cooper 360” for CNN and produced “Primetime with Diane Sawyer” for ABC News.
Al Jazeera America did not comment on whether Doss was coming to the fold, not what role he may play, though rumor has it he’s in the running for a senior editorial role.
Here’s a 2009 report from Sheila MacVicar for CBS to help you re-familiarize yourself with her. Will you be tuning in when Al Jazeera America goes live?
[Image via: Eric Bridiers]
