During the "Arab spring" I watch AJ several times via the net. The were doing the best coverage of all news orgs.
Al Jazeera America
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I thought "Arab Spring" was the name of a soap, with the refreshing aroma of a taxi cab.
My co-worker is Belgian and still keeps up with news from Belgium, France, etc through their websites. After the bombing in Boston, he showed me pictures and videos that they were showing. One was the pretty well-known one of the guy in the cowboy hat pushing an injured person in a wheelchair. The guy's legs were severely injured and they showed this. Later that day or in the following days, I saw the same picture on a US news channel and they said "these images are very graphic and we've had to blur them out for viewing....".
You said it. Different strokes for different folks. It is likely going to stay a la carte as Current does (or Top 200) so you don't have to buy it or you can block it all the same. Granted I haven't seen much of it but the bits and pieces I have seen deliver far better coverage than most of the other networks I have saw.
I have not had a chance to see Al Jazeera yet, but I have been educated by several friends and told by them that Al Jazeera has one of the most unbiased news channels around. I was told it is not just an Arab news broadcasting channel. I will look forward to giving it a try of Dish carries it if that is the case.
Really sick but funny. Have you sought help for that sense of humor. I'm sure w/ many sessions at a psych they could help. But OTOH maybe not.
It is very difficult - in fact, impossible - to define un-American or anti-American when assessing news coverage. The United States is a democracy that permits free speech that is often critical of government policies and there is no American consensus on any policies our government undertakes, other than our unwavering support of Israel. About half of our electorate opposes just about any policy that our government undertakes, and so when Aljazerra emphasizes one side of any of those other issues, they are politically aligned with a lot of voting Americans.
I live in a market where Aljazerra and Russia Today are both available for free on broadcast television and this morning, I watched each for an hour. Aljazerra's news hour actually looks and sounds like the BBC, not just because they hire nearly all British-accent announcers, but because they present the material similarly, whereas Russia Today is more like a Communist version of Fox News. Here is a comparison of their stories this morning:
Regarding Israel, Russia Today reported that Israel has announced more settlements that are in violation of international law, whereas Aljazerra's story was about Israeli internal division on the issue of some Palestinian prisoner releases.
Regarding Syria, Russia Today had some Syrian official criticizing the UN for not condemning terrorism by the insurgents that are funded and supported by the west. They also ran a story reporting that any Saudi who speaks out about the ruling Saudi family looting the country goes to jail for years, and one was recently flogged 600 times, whereas Aljazerra's Syria story was more of a human interest story, of the Lebanese government threatening to close down restaurants opened by Syrian refugees by taking advantage of licensing laws. The Syrians can't get licenses for their restaurants because they are ineligible for licenses, and the awarding of licenses, even among Lebanese citizens, is political.
Regarding Egypt, both channels similarly reported that the Egyptian government has not yet interceded in the protest encampment of those who are demanding that Morsi be reinstalled. That story had to be inviting to the writers of both channels to be critical of the ruling Army, but neither did criticize it. Now, as I type this, Aljazerra reports that the crackdown on the demonstrators continues to seem imminent, but they are detecting no preparation to invade the camps. They believe the tactic will be to cut off sustenance supplies to the protestors and not letting any who leave re-enter.
Both channels reported a natural storm disaster somewhere and both reported the skirmish between India and Pakistan. Aljazerra also had a sports report.
Now Aljazerra is running a "debate" of sorts between supporters of each side of the Syrian war and frankly, it looks like a Fox News debate where the pro-rebel advocate sounds like he was brought in to be the human punching bag, a la Alan Colmes or Juan Williams.
Tonight, I'll watch and compare their evening news, but I can already tell you that in the evening, Russia Today doesn't really run news shows. They instead run non-stop, bash-the-capitalist shows hosted by foxy babes and male comedians who sneer at our Darwinian social policies and our bankster-operated financial system, whereas in those prime-time slots, Aljazerra usually features world disasters unless there is a current military revolt to be covered.
I really feel sorry for anyone who doesn't occasionally watch either of these channels because they have presumed them to be "un-American". Russia Today is a hoot, and Aljazerra does give its viewers another side of the Arab-Isreali dispute, which is not often presented on American network television.
I live in a market where Aljazerra and Russia Today are both available for free on broadcast television and this morning, I watched each for an hour. Aljazerra's news hour actually looks and sounds like the BBC, not just because they hire nearly all British-accent announcers, but because they present the material similarly, whereas Russia Today is more like a Communist version of Fox News. Here is a comparison of their stories this morning:
Regarding Israel, Russia Today reported that Israel has announced more settlements that are in violation of international law, whereas Aljazerra's story was about Israeli internal division on the issue of some Palestinian prisoner releases.
Regarding Syria, Russia Today had some Syrian official criticizing the UN for not condemning terrorism by the insurgents that are funded and supported by the west. They also ran a story reporting that any Saudi who speaks out about the ruling Saudi family looting the country goes to jail for years, and one was recently flogged 600 times, whereas Aljazerra's Syria story was more of a human interest story, of the Lebanese government threatening to close down restaurants opened by Syrian refugees by taking advantage of licensing laws. The Syrians can't get licenses for their restaurants because they are ineligible for licenses, and the awarding of licenses, even among Lebanese citizens, is political.
Regarding Egypt, both channels similarly reported that the Egyptian government has not yet interceded in the protest encampment of those who are demanding that Morsi be reinstalled. That story had to be inviting to the writers of both channels to be critical of the ruling Army, but neither did criticize it. Now, as I type this, Aljazerra reports that the crackdown on the demonstrators continues to seem imminent, but they are detecting no preparation to invade the camps. They believe the tactic will be to cut off sustenance supplies to the protestors and not letting any who leave re-enter.
Both channels reported a natural storm disaster somewhere and both reported the skirmish between India and Pakistan. Aljazerra also had a sports report.
Now Aljazerra is running a "debate" of sorts between supporters of each side of the Syrian war and frankly, it looks like a Fox News debate where the pro-rebel advocate sounds like he was brought in to be the human punching bag, a la Alan Colmes or Juan Williams.
Tonight, I'll watch and compare their evening news, but I can already tell you that in the evening, Russia Today doesn't really run news shows. They instead run non-stop, bash-the-capitalist shows hosted by foxy babes and male comedians who sneer at our Darwinian social policies and our bankster-operated financial system, whereas in those prime-time slots, Aljazerra usually features world disasters unless there is a current military revolt to be covered.
I really feel sorry for anyone who doesn't occasionally watch either of these channels because they have presumed them to be "un-American". Russia Today is a hoot, and Aljazerra does give its viewers another side of the Arab-Isreali dispute, which is not often presented on American network television.
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Without going into any detail, I might be one who would be very leery of Al Jazeera. But as they say it's not your Father's Al Jazeera anymore. At this point I honestly get more out of EuroNews or Al Jazeera than some of our news networks.
Russia may still have a government than rules with an iron fist. (Well, perhaps an aluminum fist) And, they often are antagonists to the West and US, more often taking positions diametrically opposed to our government's. But, it is certainly no longer communist.
Still run by a dictator like Putin( EX-KGB) , who stays the real power behind the Government ,no matter who is president.
Maybe Socialist cleptocracy is the best fit for what Russia has become. I don't know if they ever developed any uniform, reliable policy for determining private ownership of the property that the "state" took from the citizenry nearly a century ago. I remember back in the early 1990s, the lack of defensible deeds and titles really discouraged real estate development.
This morning, Aljazerra is covering the turmoil in Egypt as a continuous live story from dozens of camera vantages. The three American television broadcast networks haven't yet begun their overnight coverage, but only CBS is making this story its lead on its news web page, NBCnews.com has just a postage stamp sized photo link with a five word caption, and all ABCNews.com has is the link "Egypt news" in ordinary, ten point type, in a line naming half a dozen countries. Aljazerra is covering it like it did the Arab Spring uprising two years ago.
This morning, Aljazerra is covering the turmoil in Egypt as a continuous live story from dozens of camera vantages. The three American television broadcast networks haven't yet begun their overnight coverage, but only CBS is making this story its lead on its news web page, NBCnews.com has just a postage stamp sized photo link with a five word caption, and all ABCNews.com has is the link "Egypt news" in ordinary, ten point type, in a line naming half a dozen countries. Aljazerra is covering it like it did the Arab Spring uprising two years ago.
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I may have said it before, but the average American is generally clueless when it comes to international events and news. They couldn't name the PM of Great Britain but they know the name of William and Kate baby...
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Aljazerra has its own body counter, and they most recently reported that they have tallied 42 deaths. That was as of about 7:00 AM.
I just was listening to WTOP radio in Washington, DC, and an interviewee said that Aljazerra had someone saying that over 2,000 had been killed, and he added, "that's how Aljazerra is trying to present it, but where are the pictures of the bodies?"
No, that isn't how Aljazerra is trying to present it. They will also interview people in the military who will say that no one has been killed or that only a handful have been killed, and they will confront them with their reports to the contrary, just as they surely must have confronted the person who said that there were 2,000 killed, if there really was such a person. Meanwhile, their body count stays on the screen in the crawl line, repeating more than twice a minute.
My signature in another forum is, "How can I know what I think 'till my radio tells me?". I'm afraid that a lot more people are going to hear radio reports saying that Aljazerra is reporting 2,000 dead and believe that is what Aljazerra is reporting than are going to watch Aljazerra and learn for themselves what they are reporting.
Here is their web home page headline as of 7:48 AM:
http://america.aljazeera.com/
Scores dead as Egyptian security
forces clear out pro-Morsi sit-ins
2013 AFP
At least 40 people killed in
operation to remove supporters
of former president, reports say
*****************
Update: at 9:53 AM, the Aljazerra caption has been changed to read "94 dead".
Updated at 10:47: "95 dead"
How do those developing estimates compare to American media's?
I just was listening to WTOP radio in Washington, DC, and an interviewee said that Aljazerra had someone saying that over 2,000 had been killed, and he added, "that's how Aljazerra is trying to present it, but where are the pictures of the bodies?"
No, that isn't how Aljazerra is trying to present it. They will also interview people in the military who will say that no one has been killed or that only a handful have been killed, and they will confront them with their reports to the contrary, just as they surely must have confronted the person who said that there were 2,000 killed, if there really was such a person. Meanwhile, their body count stays on the screen in the crawl line, repeating more than twice a minute.
My signature in another forum is, "How can I know what I think 'till my radio tells me?". I'm afraid that a lot more people are going to hear radio reports saying that Aljazerra is reporting 2,000 dead and believe that is what Aljazerra is reporting than are going to watch Aljazerra and learn for themselves what they are reporting.
Here is their web home page headline as of 7:48 AM:
http://america.aljazeera.com/
Scores dead as Egyptian security
forces clear out pro-Morsi sit-ins
2013 AFP
At least 40 people killed in
operation to remove supporters
of former president, reports say
*****************
Update: at 9:53 AM, the Aljazerra caption has been changed to read "94 dead".
Updated at 10:47: "95 dead"
How do those developing estimates compare to American media's?
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Reading just the headlines at CNN's website, in the same order they list them:
On Fox News' website, it's the 'top' story....
- Camps in Egypt turned to war zone
- NEW CNN crew ducks gunfire on air*
- Sky News cameraman killed*
On Fox News' website, it's the 'top' story....
Whenever I see Geraldo getting blown around by a hurricane, I'm always rooting for the hurricane.
FYI, Juan Williams is a conservative. He just seems like a liberal because he is a reasoned and educated conservative and doesn't live in a black and white landscape (black and white as in binary, not racial).
A news network would be nice, instead of the commentary channels that saturate the "news" market on cable/sat.
Try CCTV
CCTV (China) Channel 279 has excellent worldwide coverage in their "news update". You can take their position in China-specific issues like the islands in dispute with Japan or navigation on the South China Sea with a grain of salt, but otherwise the coverage is objective and very broad. In any case, I often watch Al-Kazeera English via my ROKU box.
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