Ehab Al Shihabi

Ehab Al Shihabi
Born 1970
Amman, Jordan
Residence New York City
Citizenship United States, Jordan
Alma mater University of Jordan (BA)
University of Jordan (MBA)
Georgetown University (MSc)

Ehab Al Shihabi (born 1970) was the Executive Director of international operations for Al Jazeera Media Network and the former Chief Executive Officer of Al Jazeera America.[1][2][3][4][5] As of November 2015, he serves as Advisor to the Director General, Al Jazeera Media Network.[6]

Shihabi was hired by Al Jazeera Media Network in 2006 to be the Deputy Managing director at Al Jazeera English. In 2011 he was named the Executive director of international operations Al Jazeera Media Network. Before Al Jazeera he was a media consultant at a variety of firms. He was one of the principal people involved in the process of buying Current TV and setting up Al Jazeera America (reaching 60 million homes), as well as Al Jazeera Türk and Al Jazeera Balkans.[7][8]

Shihabi stated in regards to the launch of Al Jazeera America, "It’s going to be run by American talent and staff for the American audience",[9] adding there would be "less opinion, less yelling and fewer celebrity sightings".[1][9] He defined the channel as providing "accurate, in-depth, unbiased news stories".[10] Bob Meyers, president of the National Press Foundation, titled Jazeera's launch as "transformative".[1]

Shihabi had been largely involved in the business aspects of Al Jazeera America such as the budget for the channel and helping in securing carriage agreements with television carriers and making the channel available on different platforms such as carrier TV Everywhere platforms, in other words continuing its branding and awareness campaigns, while expanding its cable distribution and online presence.[10] Since January 2013, 900 people were hired for the new venture, a great part from other networks such as CNN and ABC, including John Seigenthaler and Kate O'Brian.[11][12][3]

Shihabi served as CEO of Al Jazeera America until May 2015, when Mostefa Souag, the Acting Director General of Al Jazeera Media Network, announced he was to be replaced by Al Anstey, following revelations of a lawsuit against the network by a former employee.[13][14] According to CNN, he was relocated to Doha and according to Politico was to serve as the company's COO.[12][15][16] During his tenure, Al Jazeera America's ratings grew for three continuous quarters, and topped at three million unique viewers in the first two weeks of July 2014.[17] This, however, hasn't been enough according to some, describing its 30 thousand daily viewers as too low, or even "minuscule", and stating its online presence as deficient, even though some praised its content's quality.[10][18][19][20][21]

Personal

Shihabi was born in Amman, Jordan in 1970. He is both an American and Jordanian citizen. He earned his BSc in Management from the University of Jordan in 1993. He then went on to earn his MBA from the University of Jordan in 1996 before earning his MSc in Leadership and Strategy from Georgetown University in 2006.[8][7] He has a wife and two children.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stelter, Brian. "Al Jazeera America Promises a More Sober Look at the News". NYT. NYT. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  2. ↑ Hayden, Eryk. "Al Jazeera America Launch Plan: Fewer Commercials, Less Celebrity News". The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Al Jazeera America Taps Ehab Al Shihabi To Be Interim CEO". Deadline. Deadline. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "Kate O'Brian and Ehab Al Shihabi". LAT. LAT. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Stelter, Brian. "Al Jazeera America Shifts Focus to U.S. News". NYT. NYT. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "Speakers - HAW". Harvard Arab Weekend. Harvard Arab Weekend. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Ehab Al Shihabi - CEO". AlJazeera America. AlJazeera. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  8. 1 2 Steel, Emily. "Ehab Al Shihabi, Al Jazeera’s quiet American". Financial Times. Financial Times.
  9. 1 2 Rackl, Lori. "Al Jazeera adding Chicago reporters in push to expand U.S. audience". Chicago Sunday Times. Chicago Sunday Times. Archived from the original on August 2, 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 Weprin, Alex. "Al Jazeera America C.E.O. previews ‘year two’ in staff memo". Capitalnewyork. Capitalnewyork. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Al Jazeera America announces launch date". YahooNews. AlJazeera. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  12. 1 2 Gloria Ryan, Erin. "How Al Jazeera America Went from a Home for Idealists to a Sexist Mess". Jezebel. Jezebel. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  13. ↑ Wemple, Erik. "Former Al Jazeera employee sues network, alleging anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism". Washington Post. Washington Post. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  14. ↑ Kasperkevic, Jana. "Al Jazeera America CEO fired amid reports of turmoil in the newsroom". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  15. ↑ Kludt, Tom. "News executive who refused to leave is gone". CNN Money. CNN Money. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  16. ↑ Gold, Hadas. "Al Jazeera America appoints new CEO". Politico. Politico. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  17. ↑ Knox, Merrill. "Al Jazeera America CEO on Channel’s First Anniversary: ‘We Have Accomplished A Lot’". TVNewser. TVNewser. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  18. ↑ Chariton, Jordan. "Al Jazeera America Mess: Low Ratings, Distribution Woes Still Dog Embattled Network". The Wrap. The Wrap. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  19. ↑ FOLKENFLIK, DAVID. "Al Jazeera America Replaces CEO Amid Lawsuit". NPR. NPR. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  20. ↑ Grove, Lloyd. "Is Al Jazeera Sexist, Anti-Semitic, and Anti-American?". Daily Beast. Daily Beast. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  21. ↑ Steinberg, Brian. "Ehab Al Shihabi Out as Leader of Al Jazeera America". Variety. Variety. Retrieved 9 October 2015.

External links


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