Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera's English service will be awarded the highest honour of New York's Columbia School of Journalism for its coverage of unrest in the Middle East, the university said.

The Columbia Journalism Award honours "singular journalism in the public interest." The Columbia School of Journalism is also home to the The Pulitzer Prize Board, which annually honours journalism, books, drama and poetry.

"Al Jazeera English has performed a great service in bringing the English-speaking world in-depth coverage of the turmoil in the Middle East," said Columbia School of Journalism Dean Nicholas Lemann.

"We salute its determination to get to the heart of a complicated story unfolding in countries where news has historically been difficult to cover," he said in a statement.

The full 24-hour channel of Al Jazeera English is only offered in three US TV markets, the largest being in Washington through Comcast, Verizon FiOS and Cox, to a possible audience of 2.4 million, said Al Jazeera. – Reuters