Dave Marash Quits Al Jazeera

Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 5:04:44 pm PDT

How bad is the anti-American bias at Al Jazeera English? So bad that even former Nightline reporter Dave Marash finally noticed: Dave Marash quits Al-Jazeera English.

And the worst bias came not from the Arab staff, but the Brits:

NEW YORK - Former “Nightline” reporter Dave Marash has quit Al-Jazeera English, saying Thursday his exit was due in part to an anti-American bias at a network that is little seen in this country.

Marash said he felt that attitude more from British administrators than Arabs at the Qatar-based network.

Marash was the highest-profile American TV personality hired when the English language affiliate to Al-Jazeera was started two years ago in an attempt to compete with CNN and the BBC. He said there was a “reflexive adversarial editorial stance” against Americans at Al-Jazeera English.

“Given the global feelings about the Bush administration, it’s not surprising,” Marash said.

But he found it “became so stereotypical, so reflexive” that he got angry.