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Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

nytimes.com

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Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#91

Post by gotchange »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #40
hackuser wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Al-Jazeera just means "The Island" in Arabic. What's off putting about something called "The Island"?

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#92

Post by seanp2k2 »

Avshalom wrote: post #59
xlm1717 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're trading one filter bubble for another. Unless you want to see how the population of another country experience propaganda, I don't see how it could be useful. You could do critical thinking on any source, not just alternates.

Well I mean I can't say anything to Russia Today but Al Jazeera for instance is often the only english language network with reporters on the ground in a lot of middle east situations.

This. It can be hard to get a non-US spin on middle eastern events, which is I regularly look to AJ and BBC. The value is in getting a different perspective, not completely unbiased reporting. Associated Press feeds can also be somewhat helpful: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/APNewsFeeds

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#93

Post by Someone1234 »

learc83 wrote: post #82
Someone1234 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to be clear I never said RT wasn't a government mouthpiece. I said that some US news is "as bad as" them. I have no idea how exactly it works with CBS/NBC/60 minutes. Does the US government literally write the words? Do they just dictate what they should report on? Do they send them pre-produced bottled reports? It is unclear, but what is clear is the ultimate result: pure dripping pro-US government propaganda o…

I don't think we are watching the same news at all. CBS and NBC regularly have reports that the government would stop if they could. >I said that some US news is "as bad as" them. I've seen plenty of reports on NBC or CBS criticizing Obama (or Bush before him), have you ever seen a report that was critical of Putin on RT? How would this even work. Do they switch stories depending on who is in power?

> have you ever seen a report that was critical of Putin on RT?

Yes.

Additionally I didn't say Obama was running anything, I was more thinking the DoD. They likely fund, produce, or have produced specific bottled segments.

Which isn't to say they have direct editorial control, just that propaganda is a common sight on US TVs.

Plus I can back up what I am saying, here's a program from 2002:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagon_military_analyst_prog...

So from 2002 to 2008 I can prove that this occurred. But since then it has definitely continued, I'm sure they renamed it, and retooled it, and involved more private entities to act as legal buffs, but it definitely still goes on to this day.

> How would this even work. Do they switch stories depending on who is in power?

I don't understand the question.

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#94

Post by rm_-rf_slash »

gotchange wrote: post #87
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…

> the female anchors are veiled Were all those anchors veiled women? Some? Few? Because drawing from my experience with AJE, they usually hire non conservative dressed women to present the news and they only featured veiled women for their Arabic-speaking channels but to be honest not all of them wear the veil. They still pretend not to discriminate against non-Muslims or non conservative Muslims.

Read my post again. I was talking about the impression the name gave, not the reality.

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#95

Post by strictnein »

Someone1234 wrote: post #67
hackuser wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

> RT is propaganda run by a government that has propaganda as its modus operendi; I wouldn't trust their weather reports. So like NBC nightly news? The US is full of what can only be described as US government propaganda, 60 minutes is a prime example. CBS and NBC are no better than RT unfortunately, they just often tell Americans what they want to hear so nobody bats an eyelid. AJ and BBC have their biases but at le…

No, not like NBC or anything else you mention.

One is backed by the government and runs propaganda. The other is more pro-US than you like, but can and will be very critical of government officials and practices.

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#96

Post by jonathankoren »

jackreichert wrote: post #18
myth_buster wrote: post #8

I think it would have been a real challenge to get to the mainstream with their logo and their finances [0] with financing from the deep pockets of the Qatar government when the sentiments being purported by Fox, CNN et al were in stark contrast. [0]: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/06/business/media/al-jazeera-...

Even without that financing, and without the logo, the financing itself is a good reason to not trust them as a source. I'm sure there are other news sources that should be de-legitimized due to their funding, and it would be nice if they too go away. Due to the current nature of how people consume their news it creates echo-chamber bubbles that only reenforce misinformation or misleading perspectives.

It's not the funding. It's the editorial independence that matters. Should we have believed NBC prior to 2013 on national security issues, because they were owned by General Electric, a defense contractor that would make handsome profits in the case of war?

Good luck in finding any media outlet that doesn't have financial ties to the subjects of their coverage.

You shouldn't dismiss Al Jazeera out of hand. The (sad) fact is, that Al Jazeera is pretty much the least biased on most straight forward of all the media outlets in the Middle East. They actually report dissenting views. No, they're not perfect, but are in a completely different league compared to their regional rivals.

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#97

Post by wnevets »

surge wrote: post #45
wnevets wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It seemed far more accurate and reported on issues glossed over or ignored by other major networks.

It sounds like you're just more tolerate to their brand of bias.

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#98

Post by rm_-rf_slash »

gotchange wrote: post #91
rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Al-Jazeera just means "The Island" in Arabic. What's off putting about something called "The Island"?

I never knew that. Most Americans won't even get that close. You're trying to use logic to argue a problem of emotion and personal bias. That never works.

Re: Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April

#100

Post by ConceptJunkie »

curun1r wrote: post #9

It's a sad commentary on the state of America's appetite for intelligent analysis when serious journalism can't compete with attractive talking heads ignorantly spouting talking points. Obama may have said that the increased political rancor was one of the greatest regrets of his presidency, but I think this points to how little of that was attributable to him. Though I'd be willing to bet that their name was half th…

It's a sad commentary on the state of America's appetite for intelligent analysis when millions of people watch "The Daily Show" or "The Colbert Report" and think they are watching intelligent analysis. While both shows might have some intelligent content, both are primarily entertainment shows.

I don't watch any cable news channels myself. I have little appetite for them, and especially for the commercials.

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