A witness for an upcoming congressional hearing on “disinformation and extremism in the media” is a former employee for the Qatari-government’s “Al Jazeera” propaganda outlet, The National Pulse can reveal.
The witness – Soledad O’Brien – is set to testify on February 24th at the “Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media” hearing held by the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Her witness statement openly attacks conservative news anchors such as Tucker Carlson.
O’Brien, however, has previously served as a correspondent for Al-Jazeera, a “propaganda-spreading” outlet funded and controlled by the government of Qatar.
A 2013 press release reveals that the media company “signed an agreement with Emmy Award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien’s production company, Starfish Media Group.”
“O’Brien will contribute short-form segments as Special Correspondent to Al Jazeera America’s primetime current affairs magazine program “America Tonight,” and Starfish will produce hour-long documentary specials,” the announcement adds.
O’Brien also praised the outlet’s “quality programming”:
“I look forward to beginning a relationship with Al Jazeera America, which has made a commitment to producing quality programming and pursuing underreported stories.”
She defended her move, which garnered criticism from fans and media personalities such as Hugh Hewitt, against a tweet noting her “affiliation” with the network “cheapened” her work by adding that the gig was a “great opportunity to do great work.”
“@ChrisGadlage: @Soledad_OBrien affiliation with Al Jazeera? Really? Cheapens your good work.”/great opportunity to do great work. But bye!
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) August 17, 2013
Legitimizing the Qatari propaganda operation, the former CNN anchor covered stories relating to domestic problems in the U.S.
