OT: Al Jazeera in English

[Merryprankster]

For the interested, a few weeks ago, Al Jazeera Global/Al Jazeera english launched.

The site is english.aljazeera.net. No "WWW." This should not be confused with aljazeera.com, which is an opinion rag run by the al jazeera network. Totally different. (ie, one is a legitimate news source, the other is...something else....I'm trying to find something to compare it to in my brain and I'm having a hard time. Maybe British tabloids...)

Anyway you could get similar content before, but the website has been cleaned up a bit. Of note, this is coupled with english language broadcasts worldwide, except, of course, in the United States, where no cable company would carry it :rolleyes:

Anybody else have any other good, established news sources out there - ones preferably not all wrapped up in what's going on in U.S. borders, like our major media outlets!

[rogue]

Thanks for the link MP, now I can get skewed news, rumors and lies from the other side. Though it won't replace the skewed news, rumors and lies I get from CBS, BBC, PBS, CNN and somewhat from FOX.

[Merryprankster]

Ah,

Faux news! Great station! ;)

I've noticed people aren't arguing politics much here lately. Must be something in the water...

[rogue]

Must be the holidays or the far lefties are basking in the after glow of the November wins.;)
And I don't consider it a real political discussion until you're called a right wing lackey:D .

It's still good to read AJ just to see what the people in the ME are getting fed, and to compare notes with what we get.

Do you know if the AJ in English is different in content from the Arabic edition?

[FuXnDajenariht]

im on vacation. :p

dont worry. sumthin will **** me off soon enough though. lol

[Merryprankster]

Rogue,

Yup, the english and Arabic sites are different. I don't know by how much or what stories. But it's like how CNN international and CNN have different programs.

[BM2]

http://www.aljazeera.com/ has been up for a quite a while. I have been reading it :rolleyes: off and on for some time. However the English cable version is new.

[BoulderDawg]

Must be the holidays or the far lefties are basking in the after glow of the November wins.;)

The "far lefties" as you call us are really not basking in anything since no one was elected in November that was left of center. In Washington there is only the radical right and the right to center moderate.

[rogue]

You guys would find something to complain about even if Hugo Chavez, Mao and Lenin got elected to the White House, the Senate and the HR. Man are you guys hard to please.:p

[Hishaam]

The content of the al jazeera english channel is pretty much the same as the arabic one since in the latter you mostly have international news including news about the arabic countries, FWIW that channel has made a difference in the arabic world since day one for the simple reason that most channels in our part of the world are run by governments, i don't need to describe what kind of governments they are, this channel came from "nowhere" and gave freedom of speech to all politcical sides. It gained international recognition based on merit, and untill now it's slogan which in arabic means "the view and the other view" is still true, i know that as an arabic my statement can be taken as biased but now westerners can make up their own minds about Al Jazeera instead of getting a made up image which is a good thing, pitty it's not available in the US though.

PS: Not to sound picky but the middle-east doesn't include all the arabic countries, also the use of the word middleastern to define an ethnical background is wrong. Most people in the middle-eastern countries and north african countries are semites or to be specific there are arabs, berbers, jews, arameans(a very small minority that still exists).

[Merryprankster]

BM2 - aljazeera.com is different from english.aljazeera.net.

Hishaam - I concur that Al Jazeera has made quite a difference. I credit it with the creeping reform of many governments in that area. I do think that their slogan though, is somewhat...limited. It's not just "the view, and the other view." It's a false dichotomy. That might seem to be a bit picky, but I don't think it is. It sets up an adversarial relationship where none may exist - as many of Al Jazeera's talk shows often do. I've read the transcripts (translated obviously - I am ashamed to admit I speak only one language), and while the nature of talk shows are to debate, the exclusion of a third way can be very influential on the viewers.

That freedom of speech is still occasionally limited. The UAE has done a good job keeping hands off, but needs to do better.

I also wish they had a couple of better competitors. Al Arabiya and Al Hurra aren't exactly top notch competition. Having such a dominating market share is bad for the consumers of the information, IMO.

That said, kudos to Al Jazeera. They bring forward bolder perspectives and more aggressive newscasting in many places that sorely need that.

[Hishaam]

BM2 - aljazeera.com is different from english.aljazeera.net.

Hishaam - I concur that Al Jazeera has made quite a difference. I credit it with the creeping reform of many governments in that area. I do think that their slogan though, is somewhat...limited. It's not just "the view, and the other view." It's a false dichotomy. That might seem to be a bit picky, but I don't think it is. It sets up an adversarial relationship where none may exist - as many of Al Jazeera's talk shows often do. I've read the transcripts (translated obviously - I am ashamed to admit I speak only one language), and while the nature of talk shows are to debate, the exclusion of a third way can be very influential on the viewers.


Point taken.



That freedom of speech is still occasionally limited. The UAE has done a good job keeping hands off, but needs to do better.

I also wish they had a couple of better competitors. Al Arabiya and Al Hurra aren't exactly top notch competition. Having such a dominating market share is bad for the consumers of the information, IMO.


I agree, hopefully other news channels will folow as far as the level of independance is concerned, what i'm sure of is that the people has gotten used to a good standard of newscasting with Al Jazeera, the competition should either equal or best it. As you said we need more than two views to get a better grasp of a story.



That said, kudos to Al Jazeera. They bring forward bolder perspectives and more aggressive newscasting in many places that sorely need that.

True.

[red5angel]

I think what we're doing in Iraq is a good thing! Bush isnt so bad, he's just doin for him and us or the us.



There MP, you happy?

[golden arhat]

www.bbc.co.uk/news
very objective and doesnt lean to either side its the law here as its goverment run and is purely for public purposes and no commercials if ur watching it on tv :D

[golden arhat]

oh and red5angel i hope to god ur joking

[red5angel]

oh and red5angel i hope to god ur joking


why would I be joking, war does a country some good. Bush isn't the worst leader out there by any means, he's just president during a tough time and catching more flack then usual about it.

[Merryprankster]

I think what we're doing in Iraq is a good thing! Bush isnt so bad, he's just doin for him and us or the us.



There MP, you happy?

LOL! Thank you red! Long time no see - how's the snowy north?

As to the rest of it, I disagree entirely. Tough times test how a person is made. George W. Bush has demonstrated that for him, ideology trumps pragmatism.

Being the decider is hard, I know. And I'm not going to pretend that he was president during easy times. But instead of carving a pragmatic path, he moved forward on theory. You can't do that. Theory isn't reality and you can't force fit reality into theory. Theory is descriptive and predictive, but you need to adjust your theories to reality, not try and make reality conform to theory.

[rogue]

Stalin was pragmatic.

[FuXnDajenariht]

wheres my rolls eye smilie






























.............oh there it is > :rolleyes:

[Merryprankster]

Stalin was pragmatic.

And Hitler was German.

So clearly, being German leads to genocide.

[Sang Feng Fan]

Stalin was by far a more prolithic killer than Hitler and Hitler was by far a better politician.

[red5angel]

Stalin was by far a more prolithic killer than Hitler and Hitler was by far a better politician.


Yeah, thats why hitlers reign lastd so much longer......

[FuXnDajenariht]

hitler was a masterful politician unfortunately. and stalin didn't start WW2. hitler could of probably crowned himself king if he wasn't such an insane megalomanical fairy. as long as you dont start world wars the international community usually leaves you alone to kill as many of your people as you want.