Go watch Al Jazeera. I’ve never seen a burka, and most of the women don’t wear head scarves. Yeesh, you’re all concerned about this anti-American network that you can’t be assed to watch for 10 minutes.
The mistreatment and subjugation of women is the biggest human rights issue in country’s like Qatar and I’m supposed to pretend it isn’t happening?
I suspect we’ll see modest American clothing on the AJ broadcasts because thats the market they are broadcasting in. But lets not kid ourselves. Those same women would be expected to dress quite differently in Qatar.
They are already in the US, though not in many locals. My parents get them on their cable package. They do an outstanding job with international news, covering a lot of areas other stations largely ignore, like Africa and South Asia. They have female anchors who dress the same as female anchors on CNN or ABC. I suppose a Muslim woman might choose to wear a headscarf, but so might one who got hired by CNN or ABC. They do not wear Burkas.
What the hell do you know about Qatar?
Have you even seen some of the hot anchors that AJ has on the air already?
I’m all for it. I’ve read/watched their new on their website quite a bit.
You are right and AJ seems to agree with you! Those horrible people subjugating women AND reporting it at the same time.
I am happy we are getting another perspective in (hopefully) mainstream news. Large parts of the world watche Al Jazeera, we should at least have the option to see what they are watching. I can’t find a cite right now, but IIRC they are under fire a lot from the Middle East for being too friendly to the west. In my book any news organization that is being told that it is too friendly to the other side, by both sides, is doing something right.
In previous discussions about events in Afghanistan and Iraq with other dopers from outside the US, it was quickly clear to me that the version and images of events I was seeing on the national news broadcasts here were greatly edited and toned down compared to what they were provided with, often times from Al Jazeera. I want to see it all and make up my own mind wrt who’s in the right and wrong, etc. I will get the channel and will tune in to get the whole story, even if that just means filtering the bias on both sides.
We get Putin News Network aka RT on the cable here and boy, if you want some news that goes out of its way to make America look bad, look no further than RT, 'cause they got you covered.
None of your fears about AJ seemed to be based on facts, they seem to be based on an undefined fear of the other. In this point in time, when anyone with an internet connection has access to information from all over the world, there really is no excuse to be this ignorant of a subject, and yet so afraid of it. Watch a little AJ, I promise it won’t turn you into a Muslim.
I always try to be an informed consumer. There’s been too many news stories of cheap Walmart clothing made in third world sweatshops or even Chinese work camps. Even some designer labels have been stung by allegations of sweatshop labor.
AJ is just another consumer product produced overseas. It makes sense to at least consider the environment and culture behind the product. What conditions do the families of the on air talent live in back in Qatar? What happens if a news editor runs a story that angers the regime back home?
I’m simply raising questions that will be asked as AJ starts broadcasting in the US. It may turn out that there’s no problems. I’d expect that CNN and other news outlets will report any problems. Hopefully AJ will become a respected media outlet in the US. We could use their perspective on the Arab world.
I read Al-Jazeera’s website sometimes and find it intelligent and fair.
If we’re going to ban a news network for being anti-American, there is no better candidate than FoxNews.
I don’t expect to watch the channel myself (I get my news online), but I imagine they will generate a great deal of secondary entertainment by causing xenophobes to wax hysterical.
Check out Glam: Qatar’s No 1 Fashion Magazine. I’ve had Al Jazeera’s app on my Android for weeks–right next to BBC. It’s not what you expect…
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Inform yourself!**
Will they carry Big Ten football?
And game shows? “Wheel Of Sectarian Violence” is one of my favorites.
I often read English-language al-Jazeera (they have a good iPhone app). As others have said, they seem to be a good, fair news source. I think it’s important to get your news from many different sources. Most news organizations make an honest effort to be impartial, but journalists are human too, and everyone has their own bias and agenda. Now, if you want to see some anti-American propaganda, try English-language Pravda.
We get them here in Israel.
If we can handle them, so can you.
Doesn’t matter to me.
I have a remote and I’m not afraid to use it.
Bore me or irritate me and one little ‘zap’ and you no longer exist in my world.
I just found out about this, and I think it’s great. They have great coverage of world news, and I’d venture that their coverage of Middle East issues is unsurpassed. Our cable provider carries Current TV, so hopefully they’ll continue to carry it as Al Jazeera.
I’ve watched Al Jazeera English online plenty, and I’ve yet to see any real anti-American bias. It appears to me to be what they used to call a “news organization”.
Yeah, I expect we’re going to see a lot of claims about hidden messages and vague claims of bias, with quite a bit of outright lying about what Al Jazeera has supposedly said.
You don’t seem very informed on this subject. One, AJ already broadcasts in some parts of the US (it’s on my cable plan in DC, for example). Two, a lot of the on air talent of AJ English comes from the BBC and other international news channels. Many of them are well known journalists, I suspect that their families live in quite nice conditions, akin to that of the families of other well known TV personalities, why would you think otherwise?