The Al Jazeera News Channel

[Ladymuck]

Does anyone watch it?

I watched it properly yesterday for the first time. To my mind it appeared to have it priorities right in terms of what should be considered important. For example, the main news item was that of those killed in land-slides across Guatemala, whereas items such as match-fixing in cricket were much further down the news agenda. The channel also broadcast some interesting (though heartbreaking) stories - the type we would rarely get to see properly covered on BBC News (let alone Sky) - e.g. the plight of some 150,000 refugees from Myanmar basically living in rubbish dumps across the border in Thailand.

For me, it made a refreshing change.

[dita-on-tees]

I used to watch this in Africa as there was no BBC World where I was and you may as well watch Ceebeeies above CNN for facts and educational commentary.

Whilst not laugh a minute... I always thought it had articles that you wouldnt see elsewhere and the coverage of the storming of the boat by Israeli troops in Gaza was excellent.

[DJKillaQueen]

Yes but it's not the most impartial of channels though is it.

[dita-on-tees]

I dont think any news channel is (Fox is my favorite for opinions on TV which havent been heard since the 1950s... I am still convinced they will announce that it is actually all a big joke and the right wing nutters interviewed are actually actors) but AJ shows a different viewpoint and highlights global issues that arent considered reportable say in the UK or US.

[Ladymuck]

Lord Muck is a regular viewer of AJ...he says he finds the reporting more "balanced".

[DJKillaQueen]

More balanced doesn't equal impartial and I have seen some very biased reporting from AJ especially on Isreal/ Arab issues.....

I agree no major news channels are impartial, CNN, Fox, even the BBC.......but please let's not kid ourselves that AJ is somehow different. The BBC do also cover very serious issues in an excellent way.

[louisiana]

DJKillaQueen Wrote:

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> Yes but it's not the most impartial of channels

> though is it.

Perhaps you haven't watched Glenn Beck, strapline "the fusion of entertainment and enlightenment". If so, you will not comprehend exactly what partiality is. By comparison AJ is very grounded, very serious, and employs some incredibly professional journalists. It is a different perspective, but a perspective to be taken seriously. Unlike Fox etc.

[DJKillaQueen]

I've watched plenty of AJ.....and would never take Fox seriously anyway.......but I think the BBC (24 news channel) is comparable and is just as serious and grounded in it's reporting.

[louisiana]

The trouble is, while you would never take Fox seriously, many millions do. And they tend to determine your future (the right in the US).

[dita-on-tees]

I certainly wouldnt knock BBC news- its just different perspective - like I read the Guardian, Independent and when it was free used to read Times online. I think it healthy to get a range of views and I suppose we are lucky we have that available to us through a variety of media. I wouldnt like to think I could only rely on one source of news, especially if it was emanating from the Murdoch empire

[DJKillaQueen]

Yup I know all about the ignorant right in America.......I consider them as much a threat to global stability as anything else.

*Sigh* - what a world eh? We know so much yet so many of us prefer to know nothing whilst thinking we know best.....

[The Minkey]

I thought Al Jazeera largely comprised ex-BBC people, or was at the time Bush decided to drop a bomb on them - no guarantee the dead were replaced by the same.

In this day and age, I don't think any of the news outfits are impartial so if Al Jazeera falls over at that hurdle, it simply joins the rest of its running mates - no better, no worse - though I've also thought of them as being more rounded in their coverage of the news. And one doesn't get the sense that American / UK news is somehow more newsworthy than similar news from other parts of the globe.

Gets my vote.

[KidKruger]

Will have to try Al-Jazeera, sounds mature.

Any news channel focussing on people being naughty while playing bat and ball in preference to broadcasting useful and meaningful news (some of which has been outlined above) means I need to look elsewhere.

If that also means there's no cheating footballers or 'who slept with who' stories I'm alomost sold !

[DJKillaQueen]

I agree on the cricket thing......it's not like cheating in sport is a new thing.......

Having said that.....news coverage tends to reflect local interest and perhaps there is a case for saying that the BBC, Fox, CNN and so on reflect what their viewers will watch. Would any of those channels get the same ratings if they only covered more serious political and global news, in more in depth ways? And where channels rely on advertising or sponsorship, ratings are everything...even in news coverage.

A case in point would be looking at the coverage of the recent extremely serious flooding in Pakistan. It didn't get anything like the amount of coverage of many less intrusive disasters.

Whether we like it or not the UK has become a culture that prefers on the whole, titilating scandel over anything that requires serious thought around complex issues. Most people have the attention span of a flea for such things. The demise of documentary and the ratings for documentary in the UK is absolute proof of that. We are lazy and apathetic in comparison to other parts of the world.

[louisiana]

Last week I berated Dulwich Library/Southwark Libraries for not having any way at all of identifying documentaries within their DVD holdings, whether via the online catalogue or in person. Sigh.

And on Pakistan, some lessons here for how not to manage land, anywhere in the world. Some coverage thankfully in the (Glasgow) Herald: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/a-land-left-to-drown-by-the-timber-mafia-1.1051230

[Ladymuck]

I'm also thinking of giving the Russian Channel a go. Does anyone watch that one?

As dita above has suggested, we are fortunate to have so many channels at our disposal. To be able to obtain different viewpoints and to watch broadcasts from alternative standpoints is exciting and enlightening (for me, anyway). Don't misunderstand, I like the BBC. However, I sometimes feel that the order in which they broadcast news items is a little skewed and it was very interesting to note how differently they prioritised their agenda to Al Jazeera. From now on I am definitely going to give channels other than the BBC a look-in in addition to viewing the BBC.

[Ladymuck]

Have just learnt (from another thread) that there is a tube strike on?

Al Jazeera never reported that! :))

[DJKillaQueen]

But BBC news 24 is different to the daily news programmes. I particularly like 'Hard Talk' for example. And the BBC reported the tube strike ;-)

[Ladymuck]

Ah yes - Hard Talk is..."well 'ard - innit".

Again, Lord Muck is a fan.