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ALJAZEERA english international service is "up"

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Yup, effective, ALJAZEERA international service in english is up, but it isn't on the air.

Aparently, none of the US networks has chosen to pick up the service...... the Religious right has taken credit for the official cold shoulder.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/17B9CA05-C477-4881-AAE7-E0EE9E44985F.htm

 
Great, just what Canada needs - Un-biased news reporting
 
From CTV.CA

Al-Jazeera English-language station hits airwaves
Updated Wed. Nov. 15 2006 11:41 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The Arabic television news channel Al-Jazeera launched its long-delayed English-language service into millions of homes today.

"It's November 15th, a new era in television news," said anchor Sami Zeidan.

In one of the first reports, the correspondent spoke of "the agony of Gaza'' as the pictures showed Palestinians scavenging for food in the rubble of homes destroyed by Israeli bombardment.

The news bulletin gave less time to Wednesday's report from Israel, where a rocket attack by Palestinian militants had killed an Israeli woman.

Al-Jazeera English appeared keen to show its international reach, using live broadcasts from correspondents in Sudan's Darfur, Iran, Zimbabwe and Brazil, and breaking in with news of a tsunami striking Japan.

The controversial all-news network, which is bankrolled by Qatar's royal family, said it will reach 80 million cable and satellite TV viewers, double its initial target audience.

For now, the channel will broadcast for 12 hours a day before becoming a 24-hour news operation at the beginning of next year.

The Doha, Qatar-based broadcaster said the channel will reflect its Middle East "heritage and perspective,'' and taking advantage of the channel's "unique access to some of the world's most troubled and controversial locations.".

It hopes to woo viewers away from CNN and the British Broadcasting Corp. by giving the world's 1 billion English speakers their first chance to watch news from an Arab viewpoint.

In London, BBC Global News Director Richard Sambrook told The Associated Press that Al-Jazeera may take away some of his network's viewers, but the new channel's reach stands far below BBC World's 270 million homes.

"They've made a very confident start, which isn't surprising since they have a large budget and had a long time to prepare," Sambrook said.

But their focus on developing countries could backfire, he said.

"It will take some time to see whether they can do that and still keep broad appeal," Sambrook said.

Al-Jazeera English hasn't applied to broadcast in Canada, however, the network will be streamed live on its Internet site english.aljazeera.net.

Many Arabic-speaking Canadians currently watch Arabic Al-Jazeera by satellite but it appears that no major Canadian cable companies are expected to pick up the network any time soon.

No cable television companies in Canada have applied to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to carry the English-language network.

In 2004, the CRTC ruled that the Arabic network can be broadcast in Canada, but imposed such strict rules that cable companies were reluctant to carry the channel.

For Canadian companies to pick up the network, they would be force to start the application process all over again.

The broadcaster made its name internationally after the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, when it showed exclusive footage from Osama bin Laden.

Al-Jazeera's frank Arabic news channel also rose to international prominence by angering leaders in the West and the Arab world, where it has been banned from operating in 18 countries at one time or another.

The station has broken new ground with its forthright style and coverage of taboo political, religious and social subjects.

The broadcaster has also given a fresh voice to opposition figures and Israeli officials who were previously absent from other Arab networks.

But Bush administration officials and other American conservatives have branded the network as the propaganda arm for al-Qaeda and other Islamic radical groups, and have also criticized its often graphic coverage of bloodshed in Iraq.

The network has responded by saying its messages are newsworthy and that it is the ideal venue for U.S. officials to address the Muslim world.

While the channel will be widely available on major cable providers in Britain, Germany, Italy and even Israel, most Americans will have no chance to see Al-Jazeera to judge for themselves.

Al-Jazeera's list of U.S. carriers included none of the major U.S. cable TV providers: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Charter Communications or Cablevision, nor the two major satellite TV providers, Dish Network and DirecTV.

Al-Jazeera English will be available to American customers of GlobeCast, the subsidiary of a French company that offers satellite TV service.

The channel also has deals in place with Fision, a digital service that will be available shortly in Houston; Jump TV, which describes itself as "the world's leading broadcaster of ethnic TV over the Internet; and VDC, a service that offers TV on the Internet to about 10,000 customers in the United States.

The launch was originally scheduled for early 2006 but a string of delays including technical problems and licensing issues repeatedly postponed the date.

Al-Jazeera executives said they are negotiating with carriers in the United States, Asia and elsewhere to broadcast its signal.

Al-Jazeera, which employs some 800 people, poached some of the world's most renowned journalists to work for the new channel, including former BBC reporter Rageh Omaar, former CNN anchor Riz Khan, the BBC's David Frost and former ABC correspondent Dave Marash.

It will broadcast in high-definition TV with four chief hubs in Doha, London, Washington and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

With files from The Associated Press

 
Nfld Sapper said:
From CTV.CA

Al-Jazeera English-language station hits airwaves
Updated Wed. Nov. 15 2006 11:41 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The Arabic television news channel Al-Jazeera launched its long-delayed English-language service into millions of homes today.

"It's November 15th, a new era in television news," said anchor Sami Zeidan.


Shy of the word television, sounds like a blurb from 1930's Germany. AJ is simply a propaganda tool used by our ememies to push radical views onto the mainstream population of Canada. I reckon if its picked up in Canada, only those that way inclined will subscribe.

Its a waste of time and a joke in my opinion. Lets hope it fizzles out like a fart in a hurricane.

Wes
 
Actually, it has not been approved by the CRTC in Canada. This launch is for the US only. I believe the CRTC awhile back approved the Arabic version in Canada, but not the English version.
 
I think it will be great ;) Only if you watch this way.

Have your CNN or FOX news on the TV and then split screen Aljazeera in the corner with no volume. You get to see the artillery shell depart the allies guns and see the landing on the split screen. Too cool.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijsNmMZt9fc

http://english.aljazeera.net/News/

They say their viewpoint is neutral... What are people's thoughts on that
 
I'll be interested to see how the killing of Iraqii/Afghan civilians by "resistance fighters" is covered?  I'm always amazed how the death of a "coalition soldier" is shouted out and the loss of a dozen or two civilians in the same incident is barely mentionned.

I wonder how much room for rebuttal of questionable stories will be allowed.
 
HDE said:
I'll be interested to see how the killing of Iraqii/Afghan civilians by "resistance fighters" is covered?  I'm always amazed how the death of a "coalition soldier" is shouted out and the loss of a dozen or two civilians in the same incident is barely mentionned.

I wonder how much room for rebuttal of questionable stories will be allowed.

In Baghdad alone, the death toll from roaming death squads, and VBIEDs etc just on civilians alone (not including IP and ISF) is at times well over 600 per week. Again thats not including any AIF which have been killed by ISF and Coalition forces.

Complete and deliberate murder caried out by both sides of this 'peaceful religion'. Muslims killing muslims, with us in the bleachers watching.

It seems that AJ never really points this out, and only gobs off when a stray bomb kills a group of people in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have ZERO faith in AJ, and any story they cover, in reality should be taken with a grain of salt, if that.

Cheers,

Wes
 
I'm think this could be very interesting,

I'll admit that i have a number of reservations about Aljazeera's claims of neutrality, but I'll watch it myself before i start jumping to conclusions about bias. I think it could be a very good thing to have a 'non-western' news source showing a 'non-western' viewpoint available in english.  If it was done well it may be a valuable news source since it's an international network that is based in the developing world.

Personally I'm very interested in Aljazeera's coverage of Africa, Asia, and South America. I'm not as confidant about coverage of the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As far as bias goes if Aljazeera is better than FOX news it'll be 2 steps ahead in my opinion  :)

This is a bit off topic but which news source do you all reckon is the least biased? I'd say the BBC is the best but i would be interested to hear what others think.

 
ALL I mean ALL network news broadcasts have a built in bias.
Sometimes the Bias is bening, other times it is glaring right back at ya.

To get the big picture, to appreceate the whole enchalada, you have to consult all of the resources that are at hand in the time you have to dedicate to the task.

I am not convinced that the arrival of ALJAZEERA as an english news provider is a bad thing.  It will offer a perspective that we did not have before - like it or not.... you should give it a passing glance
 
Watched a so called expert who wrote a book on Al Jazeera....

there were some interesting points made in favour
such as.... Al Jazeera is hated by most Muslim governments
for pointing out major flaws, they put Israeli government officials
on tv and gave them air time to express their side of the story.

Totally unbias.. no.

Interesting to compare.... yes.

Can the propaganda war work both ways???

It's avail on the net btw... if anyone wants to watch.
 
Trinity said:
Watched a so called expert who wrote a book on Al Jazeera....

there were some interesting points made in favour
such as.... Al Jazeera is hated by most Muslim governments
for pointing out major flaws, they put Israeli government officials
on tv and gave them air time to express their side of the story.

I'd agree Trinity. I watched Al Jazeera during tours to the gulf area and during my time in Syria. They do put both sides on the air and are a whole lot less unbiased than the MSM in North America would lead one to believe.

As a matter of fact, I found them to quite good. They actually report the news, both sides, raw and real. Not like over here where they spin only certain items (and ignore the others like say - hmmm - the ongoing construction in Afghanistan) to make those items the news, supporting their own political/personal bias.
 
One of the things that they do make a good point about is to give news in such a way that it will allow people in the U.S. / Canada / UK to connect at least on some level with the people from the middle east. I don't think the general populace knows very much about their culture or how they live.
 
Does anybody know enough Arabic to compare the Arab and English versions?
 
I knew this would come back -

Here's a look at what Al Jazeera is and isn`t  http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3497

As usual - you have to draw your own conclusions.

Many opponents of Globalisation say more info is bad because it allows the locals to compare their situation with information from a different source.






 
I think you would have to be pretty ignorant to discount AJ out of hand. Just by looking at who is against it (US govt) you can tell it is worthwhile having it in Canada. We get Fox News here, why not AJ? I would argue that Fox is much more biased than AJ. It actively beats the war drums for the Bush admin...at least AJ does not have any affiliation with a govt that is that obvious in its reporting. Also the fact that it is critical of most muslim regimes is great...because they are also among the govts who are against it. Bottom line: the more govts against a news network the better. The job of the journalist is to monitor the centres of power.To have more powerful people against it means its doing its job.
 
Funny I thought the job of a journalist was to report the news? 
 
News means something different to each and everyone of us.

CBC French & English will put a slightly different spin to whatever they are reporting and the same can possibly be said for ALJAZEERA.

It's new, it's different but the accuracy and honesty of the NEWS they report will have to be juged by, you, me and everyone else without necessarily taking someone else's word for it.
 
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