International news - Exploring news beyond the U,S,

I downloaded the Livestation player and began surfing through international news channels this afternoon. I spent significant time watching Russia Today, Press TV, BBC Worldwide, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today and Press TV seemed to be the most biased, government-run stations. On Press TV, I noticed a lot of "fluff"news (a cooking lesson?) mixed in with news reports that never criticized the Iranian government (which owns the station). All of the women anchors and reporters were wearing the veil. Russia Today also included a lot of fluff pieces, and often seemed like the station was trying too hard to portray Russia positively. BBC Worldwide and Al Jazeera seemed to have the best unbiased reporting of all the channels I viewed.

Al Jazeera Questions:

1. How effective do you think the Internet will be for Al Jazeera as it attempts to reach a U.S. audience?

Because only two small U.S. cable markets carry the Al Jazeera network, the internet will likely be the only way most U.S. residents will see the news from AJ. I don't think Al Jazeera has been adequately publicized as an online news source and many people in the U.S. think of Al Jazeera as a terrorist new source still. Al Jazeera may need to market themselves more as a world news source for U.S. citizens to see it and watch the news to see it is very similar to other international news sources like the BBC.

2. Based on your own observations, do you think that Al Jazeera English should be allowed to broadcast in the U.S.?

I do think the Al Jazeera English should be allowed to broadcast in the United States. I have not yet seen anything that concerns me greatly about their news content. I enjoyed watching this news station because it had news that I wouldn't normally see on other news networks. Al Jazeera reports on Middle East news but does not appear to be biased toward any country or terrorist group. Al Jazeera reports on news all over the world, unlike a lot of supposedly international channels, which focus on only one or two continents. In about a half hour of viewing, I saw news from Germany, Iran, Colombia, the U.S., and the Philippines. I don't feel like Al Jazeera is pushing any sort of agenda or ideology on me.

3. What, if anything, do you notice about Al Jazeera's approach to telling the news? How is it different than the U.S.-based TV news outlets that you have experienced?

Al Jazeera's anchors are very serious about reporting the news. Often, anchors will joke with each other on news channels in the U.S. and this was not the case on Al Jazeera. The variety of guests brought onto the news shows vary greatly and come from all over the world from all sorts of backgrounds on Al Jazeera. The stories were longer than I am used to from networks like CNN and they go into more background information.

4. While on the Al Jazeera site, be sure to check out the network's published Code of Ethics. Based on your own observations, do you think they are adhering to them?

Based on my time viewing the Al Jazeera news network, they appear to be adhering to their code of ethics. Al Jazeera is owned by the government of Qatar but does not report just propaganda like the other government-owned networks. I especially thought that they were doing a good job of adhering to point five - 5. Present diverse points of view and opinions without bias or partiality. Al Jazeera had a very wide variety of viewpoints and were willing to show that there were more than two sides to many arguments and presented them.