Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April • Hacker News Board

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#31

Post by wnevets » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 7:37 PM UTC

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #16

This comes as absolutely no surprise at all. It doesn't matter if you are the most accurate, informed, respectable news source in the world, because almost no Americans know what Al Jazeera is, and the name evokes the image backdrop of a middle eastern city most Americans can't find on a map, discussing topics of primary interest to American Muslims and few else, while the female anchors are veiled. Not to mention it…

Al Jazeera US was anything but a respectable news source the past several years.

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#32

Post by hackuser » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 7:37 PM UTC

andrewclunn wrote: post #14

rogerbinns wrote: post #7

The article did not mention Al Jazeera deciding to remove their Internet streaming, and requiring that you can only view via your local cable provider. See this page with the big note to US people: http://www.aljazeera.com/watch_now/201146152255537258.html I used to check in on their coverage on the Roku channel, but they made a business decision to prevent that. I can understand their decision to make their success…

This. Moving away from service chord cutters at this point was just odd. Embracing alternative media has done wonders for outlets like Russia Today (Though that's state sponsored so it might not be the best comparison).

> Russia Today (Though that's state sponsored so it might not be the best comparison)

Al Jazeera is owned by the government of Qatar. However, I agree with you that it's not a good comparision. BBC also is state sponsored, but generally considered to be trustworthy.

RT is propaganda run by a government that has propaganda as its modus operendi; I wouldn't trust their weather reports.

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#33

Post by molecule » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 7:37 PM UTC

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #16

This comes as absolutely no surprise at all. It doesn't matter if you are the most accurate, informed, respectable news source in the world, because almost no Americans know what Al Jazeera is, and the name evokes the image backdrop of a middle eastern city most Americans can't find on a map, discussing topics of primary interest to American Muslims and few else, while the female anchors are veiled. Not to mention it…

> This is almost as bad as the Latin American failure of the Chevy Nova (Spanish: no go)

http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#34

Post by chris_wot » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 7:37 PM UTC

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #16

This comes as absolutely no surprise at all. It doesn't matter if you are the most accurate, informed, respectable news source in the world, because almost no Americans know what Al Jazeera is, and the name evokes the image backdrop of a middle eastern city most Americans can't find on a map, discussing topics of primary interest to American Muslims and few else, while the female anchors are veiled. Not to mention it…

...if you fail to appeal to people's simple desires, fears, and impulses, you will fail entirely.

I would argue that in that case the failure is not with the ones trying to make change, but the ones who won't accept it.

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#35

Post by sp332 » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 7:37 PM UTC

I thought the coverage was pretty crummy, back when it had just launched which was the last time I looked at it. Hopefully we'll get access to Al Jazeera English videos back when AJA goes away!

Edit: Why is this off the front page already?

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#36

Post by kobayashi » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 7:38 PM UTC

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #16

This comes as absolutely no surprise at all. It doesn't matter if you are the most accurate, informed, respectable news source in the world, because almost no Americans know what Al Jazeera is, and the name evokes the image backdrop of a middle eastern city most Americans can't find on a map, discussing topics of primary interest to American Muslims and few else, while the female anchors are veiled. Not to mention it…

Are you asserting that AJA was accurate and informed?

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#37

Post by hackuser » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 7:39 PM UTC

sremani wrote: post #25

andrewclunn wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the most accurate, informed, respectable news source in the world... Let's not oversell it here. They have biases, just different biases. And last I checked, network news providers ratings are on the decline and more and more Americans are getting their news from online outlets (and as many people here have already commented, the cable offerings of Al Jazeera came at the expense of their online offerings).

Al Jazeera was nothing but a Salafist network in Liberal Suite. As much critical they were about imperfections of liberal democracies they were not even half that about Islamic Republics, blasphemy laws in ME or Gender/ LGBT rights in muslim majority nations.

Having watched it with some regularity, I disagree. Did you watch it? Or do you have some data to back it up? (I have no evidence other than my experience.)

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#38

Post by chris_wot » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 7:39 PM UTC

hackuser wrote: post #32

andrewclunn wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Moving away from service chord cutters at this point was just odd. Embracing alternative media has done wonders for outlets like Russia Today (Though that's state sponsored so it might not be the best comparison).

> Russia Today (Though that's state sponsored so it might not be the best comparison) Al Jazeera is owned by the government of Qatar. However, I agree with you that it's not a good comparision. BBC also is state sponsored, but generally considered to be trustworthy. RT is propaganda run by a government that has propaganda as its modus operendi; I wouldn't trust their weather reports.

Same with the Australian ABC. Pretty much only rusted on supporters of the Liberal and National parties are the only ones who don't support it, and even they watch it over the commerical networks.

That said, I really want to see what Netflix can do with the news cycle.

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#39

Post by icebraining » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 7:39 PM UTC

Huggernaut wrote: post #28

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #16

This comes as absolutely no surprise at all. It doesn't matter if you are the most accurate, informed, respectable news source in the world, because almost no Americans know what Al Jazeera is, and the name evokes the image backdrop of a middle eastern city most Americans can't find on a map, discussing topics of primary interest to American Muslims and few else, while the female anchors are veiled. Not to mention it…

Nova failing in Latin America is a bit of a myth, though a good apocryphal story to get the point across. http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.asp

That story always sounded off. I have to admit I mostly listen to European Spanish, but "Nova" doesn't really read like "no va", the intonation is very different.

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#40

Post by rm_-rf_slash » Wed, Jan 13, 2016, 7:40 PM UTC

hackuser wrote: post #24

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #16

This comes as absolutely no surprise at all. It doesn't matter if you are the most accurate, informed, respectable news source in the world, because almost no Americans know what Al Jazeera is, and the name evokes the image backdrop of a middle eastern city most Americans can't find on a map, discussing topics of primary interest to American Muslims and few else, while the female anchors are veiled. Not to mention it…

> They could and should have named it anything, but they really seemed to think their brand would carry any weight at all. I also wondered at the branding, but if they tried to hide their origins they would rightfully be accused of deception in a business, journalism, where credibility is paramount.

I never said they had to hide their origins, just change their name. "X - an affiliate/subsidiary of Al-Jazeera." You only see it when you actually go to the channel. Then once you hear the reporting and commentary you can balance it with your predispositions, but at least they have a chance to sell themselves, if only for a minute.

If I tell you there's a new channel called "X" and you go to check it out and notice the affiliation, then your judgement will be your own. But if I recommend a network with an off-putting name, you likely won't check it out, even for a second.