What do you make of this?

From the New York Sun (who HATED my first book, btw):

The long-delayed sister channel to Al-Jazeera is set to make its debut this morning, but the new network's ability to build an audience in America is in doubt because major cable and satellite providers here have declined to carry the new television offering.

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A former ABC News correspondent who will be one of the main Washington anchors for the new network, David Marash, expressed some regret yesterday about the limited platform in America. "It's disappointing. Of course, you want to play to your home crowd if you can," he said.

Mr. Marash told The New York Sun that the distribution problems may give the network a slow start here but should become less important over time. "The cable-satellite deficit is a very temporary problem. I think in 10 years broadband through the Internet will be the distribution route of choice," he said.

The fledgling network continues to take flak from critics who fear it will mimic the original Al-Jazeera service, which has been accused repeatedly of being a mouthpiece for terrorist groups and for insurgents in Iraq.

"They've helped create violence, helped kill Americans, and helped create the civil war going on in Iraq," one critic, Clifford Kincaid, said. "Now, in addition to all the damage committed by Al-Jazeera Arabic, it is expanding. The only difference they have is some Western faces as window dressing."

Mr. Kincaid, who is an editor for a conservative press watchdog group, Accuracy in Media, said the new news outlet should receive close scrutiny from the American government."If Congress can review a foreign-owned company taking over American ports, they ought to take a look at the operation of a foreign-government sponsored television channel," he said.

Both the Arabic network, which went on the air in 1996, and the new English channel are funded by the family of the leader of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

Mr. Marash said he expects the concerns about the new channel to diminish once people actually get to see it. "I think there's been a lot of negative anticipation that is not in any way going to be rewarded," the journalist said. He said the new channel will offer "real network quality news but with a focus on the southern regions, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, somewhat at the expense of North America and Western Europe."