Watching Al Jazeera
This morning's New York Times includes an article by Roger Cohen on the op ed page, which among other things, discussed the Al Jazeera news channel based in Qatar. Al Jazeera has been demonized by a number of American politicians and much of the right press for, most imfamously, showing videotapes of various diatribes by Osama Bin Laden. This particular reporting has been used to condemn the network and its reporting as a whole.
During my travels in the Middle East I found Al Jazeera in the networth lineup in most hotels (so were CNN and BBC.) Being interested in being exposed to different perspectives I tuned into Al Jazeera and braced myself for possible anti-American broadsides. What I experienced, however, was very balanced reporting. I fully expected harsh and critical reports on the American presence in Iraq but instead saw informational updates on the latest events there. Actually, I didn't see anything that was particularly critical of the United States; some of the news reported didn't particularly reflect well on the U.S. but the reports weren't embellished with any discernable anti-American bias. Al Jazeera's reporting staff is from across the world with the English influence being most evident. Al Jazeera really struck me as being very much like CNN, just that it seemed to provide more comprehensive coverage of events across the world. Many days, for example, that network focused considerable attention on the presidential election in Argentina. There was also ongoing and compassionate reporting on the tragic wildfires in southern California. The coverage conveyed genuine concern for the well being of the affected Americans.
Today's NYT article by Roger Cohen indicates that Al Jazeera is only available in a limited number of very small media markets in the United States; what a shame. It's difficult to communicate effectively if you don't engage in dialog and close yourself off from opposing views. Frankly, I don't think Americans have anything to fear from the reporting by Al Jazeera; it comes across as responsible and balanced.