3 ms·

If this is not true about other news bureaus, this says a lot about Al Jazeera.

by dpatru 16y ago

iuguy 16y ago
Part of the reason for actions against Al Jazeera are because of where it is and where it focuses on. The BBC and CNN are Western-based media, and they toe the line when it comes to western media principles so dictators know what to expect. For Al Jazeera, it's based in an Arab state, focuses on the Arab and North African world and many of these countries are either in a state of dictatorship or are relatively unstable. It also adopts what can be described as a mostly pan-arabian world view, much to the chagrin of the west. Therefore it's not surprising that a) given it's location and orientation and b) it's relative youth compared to the BBC, CNN et al and c) it's willingness to go against the grain in various countries, including against the will of the west, that it's attacked. It's also important to note that while it's based in Qatar, it doesn't tend to provide the same level of criticism in Qatar as it does elsewhere.
- iuguy 16y ago
  Actually just to be clear and to make sure I don't sound like an ignorant European with some sort of MSM superiority complex, the British media is also pretty bad. The BBC is not exactly completely impartial - compare coverage of the BP oil spill on the BBC to CNN and you'll see some obvious differences. In the UK we get BBC News, Sky News (owned by the same guy that owns Fox, and just as fair and balanced), Russia Today (which is hilarious to watch sometimes because of the blatant pro-russian bias) and Al-Jazeera, as well as some minor news programmes on other channels. All of them have their own bias to at least some extent, some greater, some worse. The trick is spotting where the bias lies and compensating for it. It's even worse with newspapers here in the UK - have a look at http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.com/ http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.com/ Of course, the most transparent newspaper in the UK appears to be the Daily Sport. They don't really care about news, just sport and topless women. (http://www.sundaysport.com/ http://www.sundaysport.com/ - warning, NSFW)

If this is not true about other news bureaus, this says a lot about Al Jazeera.

by dpatru 16y ago

If this is not true about other news bureaus, this says a lot about Al Jazeera.

iuguy 16y ago

Part of the reason for actions against Al Jazeera are because of where it is and where it focuses on. The BBC and CNN are Western-based media, and they toe the line when it comes to western media principles so dictators know what to expect. For Al Jazeera, it's based in an Arab state, focuses on the Arab and North African world and many of these countries are either in a state of dictatorship or are relatively unstable. It also adopts what can be described as a mostly pan-arabian world view, much to the chagrin of the west. Therefore it's not surprising that a) given it's location and orientation and b) it's relative youth compared to the BBC, CNN et al and c) it's willingness to go against the grain in various countries, including against the will of the west, that it's attacked. It's also important to note that while it's based in Qatar, it doesn't tend to provide the same level of criticism in Qatar as it does elsewhere.

iuguy 16y ago
Actually just to be clear and to make sure I don't sound like an ignorant European with some sort of MSM superiority complex, the British media is also pretty bad. The BBC is not exactly completely impartial - compare coverage of the BP oil spill on the BBC to CNN and you'll see some obvious differences. In the UK we get BBC News, Sky News (owned by the same guy that owns Fox, and just as fair and balanced), Russia Today (which is hilarious to watch sometimes because of the blatant pro-russian bias) and Al-Jazeera, as well as some minor news programmes on other channels. All of them have their own bias to at least some extent, some greater, some worse. The trick is spotting where the bias lies and compensating for it. It's even worse with newspapers here in the UK - have a look at http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.com/ http://tabloid-watch.blogspot.com/ Of course, the most transparent newspaper in the UK appears to be the Daily Sport. They don't really care about news, just sport and topless women. (http://www.sundaysport.com/ http://www.sundaysport.com/ - warning, NSFW)