Al Jazeera English Service is better television than CNN International and BBC World put together. Last year I had occasion to compare all three watching Thai cable TV. 52 channels with 10 in English. The “presenters” on al Jazeera aren’t any more overtly anti-American than on the other two stations, and since I had no expectations of objectivity from them it took less effort on my part to watch them with a sceptical eye. I think on some level many Americans still retain vestiges of the old “it’s on TV it must be true” attitude. I know I do. I can get over it, but it takes a little effort on my part which I am not always up to mustering when I voluntarily plop my ass in front of the boob tube and allow others to inject images into my brain.
Al Jazeera is most definitely a player in global information, and not necessarily always for the dark side. Judge for yourself.
UPDATE: Does Al Jazeera Belong in the USA? In fact, Israel’s top cable company is dropping CNN to add AJE to its lineup. After striking a deal with YouTube, AJE has also strengthened its Web presence. Its website receives about 4 million-5 million visits per week, with an estimated 50%-60% of them originating in the USA.
Does USATODAY read this blog?
Posted in G-2
