Al Jazeera begins AJ+ rollout

Al Jazeera has soft-launched content for its new online and social news service AJ+, ahead of an official launch later this year. 

The Middle Eastern news broadcaster has launched its Twitter and Facebook presence and added a handful of videos to its YouTube channel for AJ+, which it described as a “current affairs experience for mobiles and social streams.”

“Al Jazeera, the journalism is always first. But the way we tell stories adapts to where you’re watching. Al Jazeera has always been at the forefront of fusing the latest technology with good old-fashioned journalism. AJ+ is the latest manifestation,” the firm said.

AJ+ will launch online and as an app to promote “engaging and sharable content.” However, Al Jazeera stressed it will continue to promote global and socially conscious journalism and will not “dumb down as others think you have to in order to succeed online.”

Al Jazeera first unveiled its AJ+ plans at the Cannes TV market MIPCOM in October, saying that it aimed to use the dedicated online channel to engage a “passionate online generation in new forms of storytelling.”