Welcoming Al-Jazeera to Canada
TORONTO (CUP) -- We are living in dark times, with shady figures preaching attractive philosophies, pushing their ideologies on unsuspecting citizens with ruthless disregard for the truth. But enough about the mainstream American media -- it's time to talk about the new kid in town, English Al-Jazeera TV.
The illuminating 15 minutes of free Al-Jazeera television I was able to view through their website (http://english.aljazeera.net/news) may not have been enough to come to a fully informed opinion on the station, but it was enough to give me an idea of the channel's aim.
Its slogan, "All the news, all the time," says a lot about the scope of what the broadcast is attempting to accomplish. The idea that a single news organization can cover the entire world is something that's arguably unattainable, at least in terms of the other stations that market themselves as "global" news networks.
CNN's coverage limits itself to stories that affect Western residents only, while the BBC's established news coverage has a decidedly Euro-centric viewpoint. The English Al-Jazeera does seem to take its cues more from their British counterparts than anywhere else, even using one of their old anchors, Rageh Omaar, for a show called "Witness".
This was the first show that I saw when I logged onto the website: a report on the debate circling the world, but more specifically in Eastern Europe, about wearing hijabs in public places like school or in a courtroom. A young Muslim woman was discussing the misconceptions that people have about Muslims in relation to the radicalism that has marred the religion for years. It is this misconception that appears to be at the root of the resistance to the news network.
Most of the attention Al-Jazeera has gained has not been positive. Donald Rumsfeld has criticized the station for its "vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable" coverage of the Iraq war when showing pictures of captured American soldiers.
But how is that any different from pictures of Saddam Hussein gracing the cover of the New York Post in his underwear or the prisoners at Abu Ghraib abused by American and British soldiers? People get so caught up in defining the differences between Westerners and Middle Easterners that they forget the similarities.
As for Al-Jazeera's airing of the infamous communiqués from Taliban leader Osama Bin Laden, the station's justification for them -- that they're exclusives any news channel would run -- may sound harsh, but that's journalism. I do remember seeing the broadcasts replayed on many American and Canadian channels while talking about how offensive and shocking it is to see them played after 9-11. If it sounds hypocritical, that's because it is.
This brings us to what's perhaps the most important aspect the new Al-Jazeera, and that's their perspective. While American and Canadian journalists lament about the vast suffering that refugees in Darfur and ordinary citizens in Iraq have to go through, it simply doesn't carry the same weight if we know the journalist has only spent a few months or even days there, with the promise of a warm and expensive home to return to.
The presence of media in the Middle East will inevitably lead to accountability -- that's what it's there for. Why then should we discourage this area, which is so desperately in need of stability, from fostering and supporting a resource that will only aid its fight for a strong independence?
The channel is available in English for $5.95 per month, but its website is browsable for free. It isn't exactly the global news station that it purports itself to be, but it provides a point of view from a much disputed region of the world, one we desperately need to begin understanding.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
The illuminating 15 minutes of free Al-Jazeera television I was able to view through their website (http://english.aljazeera.net/news) may not have been enough to come to a fully informed opinion on the station, but it was enough to give me an idea of the channel's aim.
Its slogan, "All the news, all the time," says a lot about the scope of what the broadcast is attempting to accomplish. The idea that a single news organization can cover the entire world is something that's arguably unattainable, at least in terms of the other stations that market themselves as "global" news networks.
CNN's coverage limits itself to stories that affect Western residents only, while the BBC's established news coverage has a decidedly Euro-centric viewpoint. The English Al-Jazeera does seem to take its cues more from their British counterparts than anywhere else, even using one of their old anchors, Rageh Omaar, for a show called "Witness".
This was the first show that I saw when I logged onto the website: a report on the debate circling the world, but more specifically in Eastern Europe, about wearing hijabs in public places like school or in a courtroom. A young Muslim woman was discussing the misconceptions that people have about Muslims in relation to the radicalism that has marred the religion for years. It is this misconception that appears to be at the root of the resistance to the news network.
Most of the attention Al-Jazeera has gained has not been positive. Donald Rumsfeld has criticized the station for its "vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable" coverage of the Iraq war when showing pictures of captured American soldiers.
But how is that any different from pictures of Saddam Hussein gracing the cover of the New York Post in his underwear or the prisoners at Abu Ghraib abused by American and British soldiers? People get so caught up in defining the differences between Westerners and Middle Easterners that they forget the similarities.
As for Al-Jazeera's airing of the infamous communiqués from Taliban leader Osama Bin Laden, the station's justification for them -- that they're exclusives any news channel would run -- may sound harsh, but that's journalism. I do remember seeing the broadcasts replayed on many American and Canadian channels while talking about how offensive and shocking it is to see them played after 9-11. If it sounds hypocritical, that's because it is.
This brings us to what's perhaps the most important aspect the new Al-Jazeera, and that's their perspective. While American and Canadian journalists lament about the vast suffering that refugees in Darfur and ordinary citizens in Iraq have to go through, it simply doesn't carry the same weight if we know the journalist has only spent a few months or even days there, with the promise of a warm and expensive home to return to.
The presence of media in the Middle East will inevitably lead to accountability -- that's what it's there for. Why then should we discourage this area, which is so desperately in need of stability, from fostering and supporting a resource that will only aid its fight for a strong independence?
The channel is available in English for $5.95 per month, but its website is browsable for free. It isn't exactly the global news station that it purports itself to be, but it provides a point of view from a much disputed region of the world, one we desperately need to begin understanding.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
