Tony Burman, formerly former editor-in-chief of CBC News and  now managing director of Al Jazeera English, said Israel’s decision to prohibit foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip during the recent war left the field open to Al Jazeera, which had a massive audience spike.

And that, reported the Vancouver Sun’s Doug Ward, “just might have given the Qatari-funded network’s English-language news service the credibility it needs to break into the 600-channel universe found in most Canadian and American homes.”

Burman spoke in Vancouver on a panel marking the 10th anniversary of the University of British Columbia School of Journalism.