Project Force is a short-form digital series that intends to make news and analysis about war and defence accessible to viewers who might not have much background on such topics. Hosted by Alex Gatopoulos, the Defense Editor for Al Jazeera English television, the goal is to breakthrough and breakdown the jargon for the 'average' viewer. The series is partially graphics-driven to help present information in various formats.
The series grew organically, initially being the accompanying video to a long-form article on evergreen defence subjects like the challenges China would face in invading Taiwan. Over time, shorter, punchy videos were adopted, giving us the opportunity to react to fast-moving news events in a timely way. As the writer and presenter of the show, Alex says: "I personally get a lot out of breaking down the various ideas behind Project Force, cutting through the dense jargon that often surrounds defence and military subjects, the goal being for viewers to have a 'Ah Gotcha" moment. As someone far cleverer than me once said: 'If you cant explain it simply, you dont understand it well enough.'"
Over the course of the last five years, Project Force has been refined from a more traditional television-style news package into one of Al Jazeera's best-performing digital programs, with millions of views on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
