''America Tonight'' was

Al Jazeera America Al Jazeera America was an American pay television news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel was launched on August 20, 2013, to compete with CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, and in certain markets RT America. It was Al Jazeera' ...

's flagship news show, airing at 9:30 p.m. EST. It was a showcase for thought-provoking and insightful in-depth reporting and programming with a focus on investigative reporting. Its mission is to tell urgent, important and underreported stories with the quality, depth and time they deserve. The newsmagazine program was hosted by former

CNN International CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inter ...

anchor and former CBS News correspondent

Joie Chen Joie Chen (born 28 August 1961) is a Chinese American television journalist. She was the anchor of Al Jazeera America's flagship evening news show ''America Tonight'', which was launched in August 2013. In January 2016, the channel announced it ...

, and was produced from Al Jazeera America's

Newseum The Newseum was an American museum dedicated to news and journalism that promoted free expression and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, while tracing the evolution of communication. The purpose of the museum, funded by the ...

studio in Washington, D.C. It featured correspondents Adam May, Lori Jane Gliha,

Sheila MacVicar Sheila MacVicar is a Canadian television journalist most recently with Al Jazeera America as the host of ''Compass With Sheila MacVicar'' and a correspondent for ''America Tonight''. A native of Montreal, she worked for CBS News from June 2004 ...

Christof Putzel Christof Putzel is an American journalist and correspondent for Travel Channel. He is a former correspondent for Al Jazeera America's news magazine ''America Tonight'' and Current TV's investigative documentary series, ''Vanguard''. Career Chris ...

, Michael Okwu, Sarah Hoye, and Lisa Fletcher.

History

hired Kim Bondy, a former executive producer with CNN to produce ''America Tonight'' from the ground up. The program presents in-depth segments each night on the economy, government, education, healthcare and the environment, and include breaking news stories. The program also features work by the Al Jazeera America investigative unit and covers stories in depth from across America, revealing new insights on the news of the day and breaking stories with its own original reporting. ''America Tonight'' also incorporates social media interaction on screen and off to reflect the views of its American audience. On July 1, 2013, longtime CNN anchor

Soledad O'Brien María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien (born September 19, 1966) is an American broadcast journalist and executive producer. Since 2016, O'Brien has been the host for ''Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien,'' a nationally syndicated weekly talk show ...

was hired to be a special correspondent for ''America Tonight'', as well as a deal with her production company Starfish Media Group to produce long-form documentaries for Al Jazeera America. The show, originally an hour long at 9pm eastern was shortened to 30 minutes and moved to 10 eastern on February, 2nd, 2015, it was then moved to 9:30pm on November, 2nd, 2015 timed with the HD launch of the channel on

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

Focus

The show focus was on the average American person and their connection with a particular story. The show also showed investigative work as part of ''Al Jazeera Investigates''. When Al Jazeera America was formed out of the former

Current TV Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a smalle ...

what remained of Current's long time investigative program

Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...

most notably

was integrated into the program and Al Jazeera's investigative team.

Awards

In 2014 Al Jazeera America and producer Reed Lindsay won a

Gracie Award The Gracie Awards are awards presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWM) in the United States, to celebrate and honor programming created for women, by women, and about women, as well as individuals who have made exemplary cont ...

in the “Outstanding Hard News Feature” category from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation for the story “Fists of Fury,” which aired on America Tonight. The award was the first award ever for the channel. In 2015 Al Jazeera and producer Jihan Hafiz won a National Association Of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence award in the "Long Form Feature" category for the story "Fists Up Fight Back" about a group of young female black lives matter activists in Washington, D.C.

References

{{Al Jazeera America programming 2013 American television series debuts 2016 American television series endings 2010s American television news shows Al Jazeera America original programming