Sydney-based Channel Ten reporter Dan Nolan is leaving the network to
join controversial Qatar-based Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera, which is
undergoing an international expansion.

Nolan’s departure from Ten comes as the network is boosting its news
coverage with the introduction of a new early morning news bulletin.
Nolan is taking up a Sydney-based reporting role with Al Jazeera
International, a new English-language offering that will incorporate 30
international bureaux and which is being seen by many as an attempt to
counter the increasingly influential voice of US-centric international
news broadcaster, CNN.

Nolan has confirmed he’s taking up the Al Jazeera gig but his new
employer wouldn’t allow him to elaborate. Last night, Nolan was getting
in some pretty good preparation, in the thick of the action covering
the racial tensions that have erupted on Sydney’s southern beaches
between locals and visiting youth “of middle eastern appearance.”

The new 24-hour station will be based in Doha, where it will
begin broadcasting in “the spring of 2006.” Crikey understands Al
Jazeera International’s Sydney bureau will simply comprise Nolan and a
cameraman.