Livestation provided a very interesting take on global reporting. In the U.S. our options for good, reliable news is very limited. Media giants always seem to be pointing the finger, blaming each other for being too "liberal" or too "conservative" We barely get the chance to stray from mainstream American media. LiveStation gives viewers a chance to to see news from around the world. The BBC for example, handles news as it is supposed to be handled. The BBC presents the news in a very objective matter, leaving political tissy fits by the wayside. This lack of overt political commentary came as a pleasant surprise. Next I watched Al Jazeera English. The channel seemed very fair and balanced. I admit that I did not start watching Al Jazeera with an open mind. Like many Americans, I believed that Al Jazeera was anti-American in their operations. While many of the stories revolved around Arab interests, it reported those stories fairly. I found that my assumptions were untrue and that Al Jazeera was not anti-American. Next I watched Russia today. This news source seemed closely tied to the Russian government. In one of the promos, the announcer talked about how "we are coming into the future" and how "we are going to get there", I can only assume that "we" referred the government. I decided to go to their website and found that most of the news was related to politics and the great things Russian president Dmitry Medvedev is doing for the country. Next I watched Press TV. At first it seemed very fair and balanced. Then I watched the ticker at the bottom of the screen. Everything on the ticker was about war in Pakistan, war in Palestine, assumptions about the US or crickett. It is obvious that the channel has the benefit of its own country in mind, giving me a clue that it is probably government run or at least heavily influenced by the government.
1. I think that the internet will not play a role in Al Jazeera's success with a U.S. audience. I think that many Americans see Al Jazeera as a negative entity. For example, whenever a prisoner was beheaded on film, news outlets would report that the video was given to Al Jazeera. I think this gave people the wrong idea that Al Jazeera was somehow tied to what happened. People have a negative view of Al Jazeera as though it's "their" media, not ours.
2. I think Al Jazeera should definitely broadcast in the US. It would be going against our own views on free press not to. The media should have the right to report all news and express all opinions regardless of what those may be. It would be wrong for us not to allow them to broadcast in the US. If viewers don't like what they have to say then don't watch their newscast.
3. I really don't see any difference between how Al Jazeera and American news outlets report news. One difference I would note is that Al Jazeera, much like other foreign news sources, has more in-depth international news.
4. I think that Al Jazeera adheres to their code of ethics very well. In the hour I watched, everything seemed fair and balanced. As I have already stated, most of the stories were about the Arab world. During one of the stories about a shooting in Gaza involving an Isreali settler, the news outlet gave people on both sides of the issue a chance to speak. This was the most telling story I watched and it led me to believe that Al Jazeera adhered to their code of ethics well.
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