4 ms·

Around a month ago a good journalist friend of mine was taken prisoner in Algiers because of his reporting. After a few days of heavy pressure from the embassy

by mixmax 16y ago

Around a month ago a good journalist friend of mine was taken prisoner in Algiers because of his reporting. After a few days of heavy pressure from the embassy he was released unharmed. A lot of friends were worried and continually asked if he was OK and whether his profession was really worth it. I congratulated him on his new status as a real grown-up journalist, whose reporting was so good that he scared regimes enough that they would want to imprison him. This is the same - Al jazeera is doing such a good job that they're a threat to the Egyptian regime. They do what journalists are supposed to be doing but often aren't. They should be congratulated for that.

phlux 16y ago
Wouldn't it be interesting if someone like Keith Olberman went to Al Jazeera.
- pmorici 16y ago
  Why? Keith Olberman isn't a journalist by most objective measures, he's a partisan talking head.
  - phlux 16y ago
    My point was more; "Wouldn't it be interesting if [big, well recognized american media personality] went to Al Jazeera"
    - dantheman 16y ago
      It'd be bad because I want the news, I don't care who is giving it to me as long as its accurate and up to date. In fact I think media personalities are bad for the news.
    - rajbot 16y ago
      David Frost, while not American, has had a show on Al Jazeera English since 2006: http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/frostovertheworld/ http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/frostovertheworld/
      - borism 16y ago
        David Frost, while not American Every american should know David Frost, if they don't they're not american.
        hugh3 16y ago
        Do true Scotsmen know about David Frost as well?
    - livejake 16y ago
      Like Anderson Cooper: http://twitter.com/andersoncooper/status/31518264634900480 http://twitter.com/andersoncooper/status/31518264634900480
- stevenbedrick 16y ago
  Let's see... he doesn't speak Arabic, so any "regular" journalistic skills he might have would be useless, and AFAIK he's not an expert on Egyptian culture and politics, so he doesn't have any special domain expertise that might be useful even without Arabic language skills. I'd personally rather hear more on CNN, MSNBC, etc. from actual Egyptian journalists.
  - InclinedPlane 16y ago
    There's an English version of al jazeera, where the anchors and reporters speak English and broadcast to the English speaking world. I doubt speaking Arabic is a necessity to work there.
    - stevenbedrick 16y ago
      Point taken, but a) they've already got plenty of good anchors, and b) many of the anchors (and all of the reporters that I've seen thus far) seem to speak Arabic as well as English, and can therefore do things like talk to people on the street, understand government broadcasts, etc.
- electra526 16y ago
  I think that's a fascinating idea - logistical problems (not speaking the language etc) aside. I'm NOT a Keith Olbermann fan. I think in America we have an incredibly luxurious journalistic class. They can whine and berate the powers that be all day every day without risking anything. Put someone like KO in an oppressive country with real stakes and it just might make him more responsible, thoughtful, thorough.
Dbug 16y ago
Yesterday they had a brief mention claiming that there was information posted to Wikileaks showing that the U.S. was behind the protesters, but none of their earlier reporting had made any suggestion of a connection. Most reporting is solid. Once in a while they'll say something that's a bit out there, and some might have issue with their use of "reconstruction" (shown in tiny font on screen) for video simulating the negotiations. There were cases were actors spoke dialog, yet the reporter later said the actual text of that particular conversation wasn't known. Their release of information from the Palestine Papers initially was accurate but unbalanced by omission. They showed concessions without showing what the Palestinians would get. They later had an interview with Martin Indyk, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel during the Clinton administration, who protested that they didn't show the information in perspective by failing to mention that Palestine was to get the sought after separate state status, along with some territory from the Israel side to compensate for loss of some developed areas. When added to access corridor area, the amount gained equaled what was lost. It was pretty clear they'd had him on just to validate the papers, and hurried / talked over him some when he raised these issues, but they deserve credit for still airing it. They do a lot of good reporting, but as always it's wise to compare reports from a number of sources. I'm curious how that interview came across when translated for their Arab-language coverage or if it was included. In addition to Aljazeera English, MHz Worldview carries broadcasts from Japan, Israel, France, Germany, Russia, Taiwan and some others. The Russian one comes across as the most propaganda oriented with them going out of their way to emphasize things, often misleadingly, that cast the U.S. in a negative light. They say things like NBC won't report stories because G.E. is a defense contractor and G.E. leaked massive amounts of PCBs into the Hudson river (Which they did, but in 1977 and earlier, long before they bought RCA/NBC) They find plenty of quotes from people that give the wrong impression (They used one of John McCain in 2008 to make it look like the U.S. supported those that make have attacked their airport. That tone was gone later, but they quick to throw out negative comments) The combination of most of the international sources on MHz WorldView, the BBC, and PBS Newshour seems to cover most things pretty well. The two that seem to work to twist things fairly often are Fox and RT (the Russian service), with the remainder of the U.S. networks just not giving much time/depth to a great many issues that matter. If one gets past the negative tone, the Russian service does point out things other media skips, like the lock down due to the missing nerve agent at the Dugway miltary testing grounds in Utah a few days ago. (the place that released an airborne toxin years ago killing thousands of animals 30 miles away) They also immediately covered the release of the U.S. Financial Crisis Investigative Report a few days ago. They make quite a fuss over U.S. human rights issues, pointing out the the U.S. and Sudan are the only U.N. members failing to sign on with never giving children life sentences or execution for serious crimes. The eerie part is that facts generally check out. It's too bad they make so many poorly founded negative conclusions and report few positive developments. http://www.mhznetworks.org/mhzworldview/ http://www.mhznetworks.org/mhzworldview/

by mixmax 16y ago

phlux 16y ago

Wouldn't it be interesting if someone like Keith Olberman went to Al Jazeera.

pmorici 16y ago
Why? Keith Olberman isn't a journalist by most objective measures, he's a partisan talking head.
- phlux 16y ago
  My point was more; "Wouldn't it be interesting if [big, well recognized american media personality] went to Al Jazeera"
  - dantheman 16y ago
    It'd be bad because I want the news, I don't care who is giving it to me as long as its accurate and up to date. In fact I think media personalities are bad for the news.
  - rajbot 16y ago
    David Frost, while not American, has had a show on Al Jazeera English since 2006: http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/frostovertheworld/ http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/frostovertheworld/
    - borism 16y ago
      David Frost, while not American Every american should know David Frost, if they don't they're not american.
      - hugh3 16y ago
        Do true Scotsmen know about David Frost as well?
  - livejake 16y ago
    Like Anderson Cooper: http://twitter.com/andersoncooper/status/31518264634900480 http://twitter.com/andersoncooper/status/31518264634900480
stevenbedrick 16y ago
Let's see... he doesn't speak Arabic, so any "regular" journalistic skills he might have would be useless, and AFAIK he's not an expert on Egyptian culture and politics, so he doesn't have any special domain expertise that might be useful even without Arabic language skills. I'd personally rather hear more on CNN, MSNBC, etc. from actual Egyptian journalists.
- InclinedPlane 16y ago
  There's an English version of al jazeera, where the anchors and reporters speak English and broadcast to the English speaking world. I doubt speaking Arabic is a necessity to work there.
  - stevenbedrick 16y ago
    Point taken, but a) they've already got plenty of good anchors, and b) many of the anchors (and all of the reporters that I've seen thus far) seem to speak Arabic as well as English, and can therefore do things like talk to people on the street, understand government broadcasts, etc.
electra526 16y ago
I think that's a fascinating idea - logistical problems (not speaking the language etc) aside. I'm NOT a Keith Olbermann fan. I think in America we have an incredibly luxurious journalistic class. They can whine and berate the powers that be all day every day without risking anything. Put someone like KO in an oppressive country with real stakes and it just might make him more responsible, thoughtful, thorough.

Dbug 16y ago

Yesterday they had a brief mention claiming that there was information posted to Wikileaks showing that the U.S. was behind the protesters, but none of their earlier reporting had made any suggestion of a connection. Most reporting is solid. Once in a while they'll say something that's a bit out there, and some might have issue with their use of "reconstruction" (shown in tiny font on screen) for video simulating the negotiations. There were cases were actors spoke dialog, yet the reporter later said the actual text of that particular conversation wasn't known. Their release of information from the Palestine Papers initially was accurate but unbalanced by omission. They showed concessions without showing what the Palestinians would get. They later had an interview with Martin Indyk, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel during the Clinton administration, who protested that they didn't show the information in perspective by failing to mention that Palestine was to get the sought after separate state status, along with some territory from the Israel side to compensate for loss of some developed areas. When added to access corridor area, the amount gained equaled what was lost. It was pretty clear they'd had him on just to validate the papers, and hurried / talked over him some when he raised these issues, but they deserve credit for still airing it. They do a lot of good reporting, but as always it's wise to compare reports from a number of sources. I'm curious how that interview came across when translated for their Arab-language coverage or if it was included. In addition to Aljazeera English, MHz Worldview carries broadcasts from Japan, Israel, France, Germany, Russia, Taiwan and some others. The Russian one comes across as the most propaganda oriented with them going out of their way to emphasize things, often misleadingly, that cast the U.S. in a negative light. They say things like NBC won't report stories because G.E. is a defense contractor and G.E. leaked massive amounts of PCBs into the Hudson river (Which they did, but in 1977 and earlier, long before they bought RCA/NBC) They find plenty of quotes from people that give the wrong impression (They used one of John McCain in 2008 to make it look like the U.S. supported those that make have attacked their airport. That tone was gone later, but they quick to throw out negative comments) The combination of most of the international sources on MHz WorldView, the BBC, and PBS Newshour seems to cover most things pretty well. The two that seem to work to twist things fairly often are Fox and RT (the Russian service), with the remainder of the U.S. networks just not giving much time/depth to a great many issues that matter. If one gets past the negative tone, the Russian service does point out things other media skips, like the lock down due to the missing nerve agent at the Dugway miltary testing grounds in Utah a few days ago. (the place that released an airborne toxin years ago killing thousands of animals 30 miles away) They also immediately covered the release of the U.S. Financial Crisis Investigative Report a few days ago. They make quite a fuss over U.S. human rights issues, pointing out the the U.S. and Sudan are the only U.N. members failing to sign on with never giving children life sentences or execution for serious crimes. The eerie part is that facts generally check out. It's too bad they make so many poorly founded negative conclusions and report few positive developments. http://www.mhznetworks.org/mhzworldview/ http://www.mhznetworks.org/mhzworldview/