Al Jazeera- School Me

It came up in another topic (about CNN's awful news coverage) and I realize I know exactly bupkiss about them, so I figured, why not start a topic here to discuss?

In the past few weeks there was some news about Al Jazeera buying Al Gore's old "Current" station to broadcast news in the US. Now, I'm naturally suspicious of most news broadcasting- I've found it all to have political motivations- so of course, a new (to me) news org, especially one foreign- based, is going to throw up red flags.

I try to be open minded- I listen to the radio a lot, and I'll surf around from NPR to Michael Savage to Christian radio to BBC to, well, whatever happens to waft into range as I motor on down the highway. Regardless of what's on, I generally find myself to be critical of it- either due to presentation, or content, or some other reason. News is like History- written by the winners.

So, what of Al Jazeera? Muslim mouth piece? Viable media alternative?

I was wondering the same thing. We're all probably on the FBI watch list for even looking at this thread lol.... but I am genuinely curious just because I like the news.

I think its another source, with another group of reporters. I'd probably give it pretty good credence with regards to world news, along with BBC.

No doubt it will have its political leanings. That can't be avoided anymore.

An interesting piece:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/10/why-i-love-al-jazeera/307665/

Note, the author is not totally pro A/J.

It's interesting. Definitely a different perspective on stories - I'm thinking it's like RT (russian television) which also has a different perspective/agenda. If nothing else, you can get a sense of how media shapes the view of the rest of the world about the US.

I watched a few times and it seemed ok yet I wonder how the it will change once they get viewers.

They seem to be very chummy with many terrorist organizations.

I quite like A/J for international news. They are obviously Muslim biased, but overall I find them a lot less biased than any American news agency. And they seem to be one of the last real news agency that goes out to get the news instead of just re-reporting what others have reported and then bringing in some analyst to tell me how I should interpret the news. If you take time to notice, the international images that they show on most western news channel often comes from them.

Honestly, I just came back from a three week trip to the US, and the state of the news agencies over there is scary. I wanted to close the TV with a brick, whenever I had the misfortune to see CNN, Fox News, or whatever other trash was on. I don't know how you guys can accept this kind of garbage.

pinchvalve wrote: They seem to be very chummy with many terrorist organizations.

Based on what?

Streetwiseguy wrote: No doubt it will have its political leanings. That can't be avoided anymore.

Just like Fox news.

pinchvalve wrote: They seem to be very chummy with many terrorist organizations.

I think the reason you have that perception, is that A/J seems to be the only news organisation that the terrorist organisation trust to report news. If I was a terrorist organisation, I sure wouldn't want to send my latest communique to Fox News.

fanfoy wrote: Honestly, I just came back from a three week trip to the US, and the state of the news agencies over there is scary. I wanted to close the TV with a brick, whenever I had the misfortune to see CNN, Fox News, or whatever other trash was on. I don't know how you guys can accept this kind of garbage.

I for one don't even watch TV anymore, its gotten that bad. I rely on the internet (google news and others) to stay informed (kind-of). Much of it comes from the same crap still and you have to struggle to read in between the lines.

There is no journalism here anymore, its all opinion/editorial. Especially when you realize just how dumb the people at many of these news agencies are, you get scared and leery. (for evidence, see other thread where CNN talked about F1 and steam-powered turbos)

In short, Idiocracy is coming true. We are simply outnumbered by idiot sheeple who go in for this crap and don't care to draw any conclusions for themselves. Add to that the extremely vocal minoritys in extreme ends of society (politics to media to social thinking in general) and you have a E36-storm of frightening purportions.

The only comfort I take is that it seems in history that every generation seems to think that the world is falling to pieces and we have stuck it out this long...

As far as Al-jazerra, I welcome a fresh voice that seems like it might be somewhat seperate from the existing lines. It will provide another good counterpoint wether or not I agree with what they have to say. Yeah, as with all media I am going to read it with a grain of salt for the bias and try to distill what facts can be gleaned so I can draw my own conclusions.

fanfoy wrote: I quite like A/J for international news. They are obviously Muslim biased, but overall I find them a lot less biased than any American news agency. And they seem to be one of the last real news agency that goes out to get the news instead of just re-reporting what others have reported and then bringing in some analyst to tell me how I should interpret the news. If you take time to notice, the international images that they show on most western news channel often comes from them. Honestly, I just came back from a three week trip to the US, and the state of the news agencies over there is scary. I wanted to close the TV with a brick, whenever I had the misfortune to see CNN, Fox News, or whatever other trash was on. I don't know how you guys can accept this kind of garbage.

Its true. They are horrible (all of them). I've seen some of Al Jazeera's news reports along with the BBC's and they are both pretty good compared to the US networks. There's a reason why people watch The Daily Show and the Colbert report, they do provide some counterbalance to the US news networks by calling them on their BS and they don't hide their opinions as news.

The News agencies could help reduce the cultural divide that is growing in this country, they could focus on following the basic tenants of Journalism by sticking to reporting the facts without adding opinion or spin, they could spend less money on flashy news readers and more on real journalists that work in the field getting news from the sources. They could do this and still make money since advertisers only care about eyes on the screen. Instead they are relying on the AP to provide a skeleton of a story and then filling in the gaps with BS to keep people watching and to provoke an emotional response.

Use a large grain of salt if you follow them.

DoctorBlade wrote: Use a large grain of salt if you follow them.

Are there any large enough left after watching CNN and Fox?

In reply to Apexcarver:

Nope, thats why they're having problems out at Bonneville with their salt.

They seem to be very pro-Palestinian, which is an interesting point of counter to the obviously pro-Israeli stance of most other news sources. Of course, they are state-owned- by Qatar (why do I always want to put a 'u' after the 'q'?) so there's likely bias there. I think the roots of A/J go back to essentially being a terrorist organization, so there's reason for suspicion there. But my own personal belief is that the U.S. has butted its head in far too many places around the globe, mostly where it isn't really wanted, and frankly that seems to be the opinion of most of the rest of the world, too- including the terrorists.

News is like capitalism. Monopolies are bad.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: They seem to be very pro-Palestinian, which is an interesting point of counter to the obviously pro-Israeli stance of most other news sources. Of course, they are state-owned- by Qatar (why do I always want to put a 'u' after the 'q'?) so there's likely bias there. I think the roots of A/J go back to essentially being a terrorist organization, so there's reason for suspicion there. But my own personal belief is that the U.S. has butted its head in far too many places around the globe, mostly where it isn't really wanted, and frankly that seems to be the opinion of most of the rest of the world, too- including the terrorists. News is like capitalism. Monopolies are bad.

I like your point of view with it. It will be interesting to hear another view. Not just jump in line with what your favorite slanted news is.

It's so annoying and old hearing people bitch about Fox News and CNN. Yes, we get it, they both have a slant. Get the berk over it.

Anti-stance wrote: It's so annoying and old hearing people bitch about Fox News and CNN. Yes, we get it, they both have a slant. Get the berk over it.

But that is a very important point in the A-J station. People are complaining that they will have a slant... is it not hypocritical to allow 2 stations to have that same slant, and have an issue with another joining the fray?

In reply to SCARR:

The 'slants' of Fox, CNN, and A/J are likely all three very different. So, it's likely that in the middle of all three somewhere lies the truth.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: In reply to SCARR: The 'slants' of Fox, CNN, and A/J are likely all three very different. So, it's likely that in the middle of all three somewhere lies the truth.

That's what your corporate overlords would have you believe!

Streetwiseguy wrote: No doubt it will have its political leanings. That can't be avoided anymore.

What do you mean "anymore"?

I watched an interesting documentary on Al Jazeera some time ago called either "Control Room" or "The Control Room". It's worth a look.

over on sailnet, some of the more hyperconservative people were taking about cancelling their cable over Al Jazeera being in the lineup.

Those same people are also -very- angry people.

I get most of my news from the BBC. I gave up on the US sources years ago when I finally got my quota of BS

I have actually been a frequent A/J reader since I started using them as a source in my academic work. Here's why.

http://www.kabobfest.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/cnn-vs-aljazeera.jpg

Or, to spell it out:

And some general perspective: