Personally, I'm really looking forward to the launch of the English version of Al Jazeera. It'll be very interesting to hear more of the points of view of Arabs and Arab Governments - the coverage of these is somewhat scant in UK media most of the time. It'll provide a nice counterbalance - a further source of information with which to discern a personal point of view.
Pres-wise, Al Jazeera in Arabic is shown on Sky in the UK. I don't watch it for very long (my Arabic is a bit rusty!) and its style of presentation, astons, music, etc is superb. I hope that is also the case in the English language version.
I love al-Jazeera's presentation - puts some of ours to shame.
That said, I tuned into a phone-in on the station the other day. I don't speak Arabic, so I had no idea what was being said, but every single caller was shouting over the presenter and guest, sounding very rude and rather uncooperative. I just about understood the end of the conversations, when the presenter said what I took to be ''that was [name] from [place]''. Worrying, most of the shouters and overly-passionate ones appeared to be from London.
I think al-Jazeera have lured a fair few people from major networks. I know someone from Sky has gone.
I can't help but think, though, that they're setting themselves up for a fall. Who's going to watch it?
Americans? I doubt that very much, given the channel's reputation with even the left wing.
British? Again, nope, can't see it. We have Sky, News 24, ITV which are all more relevant.
Arabs around the world? Why would they when the vast majority (about 99%) of them speak Arabic, and al-Jazeera is syndicated around the world in that language.
I can't see where their market is going to be. It has a reputation for being 'the extremists' channel of choice', and whilst I'm sure it'll get a lot of curiosity-viewers, and Guardian-columnists waxing lyrical about how wonderful it is (the same ones who said it'd be a crime to put Abu Hamza in gaol), there doesn't seem to be a mass audience for it. Who knows, maybe I'll be eating my words in a few years time.
It seems to be more of an effort for them to prove themselves than anything else.
Personally, I'm really looking forward to the launch of the English version of Al Jazeera. It'll be very interesting to hear more of the points of view of Arabs and Arab Governments - the coverage of these is somewhat scant in UK media most of the time. It'll provide a nice counterbalance - a further source of information with which to discern a personal point of view..
What?
If your definition of undemocratic, corrupt regimes is a ''nice counterbalance'', then I'm sure you're right, it'll be wonderful.
Personally, I'm really looking forward to the launch of the English version of Al Jazeera. It'll be very interesting to hear more of the points of view of Arabs and Arab Governments - the coverage of these is somewhat scant in UK media most of the time. It'll provide a nice counterbalance - a further source of information with which to discern a personal point of view..
What?
If your definition of undemocratic, corrupt regimes is a ''nice counterbalance'', then I'm sure you're right, it'll be wonderful.
Funny, I always thought it was interesting to hear both sides of a dispute.
Our democratic regimes are hardly temples of the truth, cat. As despotic and arrogant as these regimes are, when it came down to the Iraq war, for example, it was funnily enough the Iraqis who told the truth about WMDs, links to terrorists, etc.
It would be interesting to compare, for example, the coverage of the US news channels and Al Jazeera on the forthcoming conflict with Iran, where the same manipulation of the "facts" is occuring. Sorry you see the issue in such black and white terms.
And as for democratic regimes being non-corrupt, they are staffed and run by ordinary human beings, as capable of taking a pay-off as anyone else.
Like I said, Johnnyboy, if you want to watch undemocratic Arab governments putting out crap, that's fine.
I agree, no government is honest all of the time.
But at least ours lets us kick it out when it gets rumbled. There's not one government in the Arab world that gives its citizens that right. (Turkey is an exception, for obvious reasons).
Like I said, Johnnyboy, if you want to watch undemocratic Arab governments putting out crap, that's fine.
How do you know it's crap if you've never watched it? I've never watched it and understood it (obviously as I don't speak Arabic), but I'm personally not willing to make a value judgement on something before I've seen it. That sounds a bit Fox News to me.
Al Jazeera aims to have the same relationship with its Government pretty much as the BBC has with ours. Of course, neither is truly independent (financially) and I would agree that the power to censor Al Jazeera would probably be quite a bit stronger.
However, Al Jazeera's reporting has caused many ripples in Arabic governments, and led it to being banned in Algeria, Bahrain and temporarily in Iraq. So it can't be that much of a mouthpiece propping up these regimes, can it?
However, on one issue, I have provided an example of where one undemocratic government told the truth and democratic governments told lies, ie Iraq's WMDs, links to terrorism etc. As much as I dislike those regimes, an independent observer would draw the conclusion that undemocratic governments may not lie all the time, and democratic governments may not tell the truth all the time.
As is 'natural', the BBC et al here and the American media tended to place more faith in the evidence of their home governments than of Iraq. Al Jazeera, of course, did not, and their constant reporting on the lack of WMDs, lack of links to 9/11 were
per se
more accurate than our own media, it has been shown in hindsight.
Thus, any reasonable observer would think that it is best to get more than one side of an argument, no matter what the source, as democratic governments are not always truthful and undemocratic governments don't always tell porkie pies.
cat posted:
I agree, no government is honest all of the time.
But at least ours lets us kick it out when it gets rumbled. There's not one government in the Arab world that gives its citizens that right. (Turkey is an exception, for obvious reasons).
And that is connected to the media how? Are we talking about political systems here, or are we talking about accuracy in reporting?
I read a book by Hugh Miles. Al-Jazeera, the inside story of the arab news channel that is challenging the west. Aljazeera appears to supporting freedom of speech and hence causing most middle east countries' accusations of biaseness.