Why Are American Cable Viewers Deprived of Al-Jazeera (But Pay for Fox News?)You can't watch Al-Jazeera English on TV, but part of your monthly check to the cable company goes to support the news brought by Rupert Murdoch.
By Peter Hart, Other Words
Posted on February 14, 2011, Printed on February 15, 2011
http://www.alternet.org/story/149906/As street protests toppled dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, many Americans turned to Al-Jazeera English for the most comprehensive, informed coverage of those historic developments.
But they mostly weren't watching the channel on television. That's right--perhaps the best television coverage of the uprising in Egypt wasn't available on your TV set.
Of course, you could still watch live broadcasts of Egyptians standing up against U.S.-supported dictator Hosni Mubarak on standard network channels. Journalists from CNN and CBS have bravely reported from the protests in Tahrir Square. But to many media watchers, Al-Jazeera English (AJE) is setting the standard, offering viewers a chance to hear more from Egyptian activists and experts and less from U.S politicians, pundits, and former government officials. (Not to worry: If you really wanted to know what Henry Kissinger thought, public television's Charlie Rose had you covered.)
Since the Egyptian uprising began, Al-Jazeera English has reported an impressive 2,000 percent increase in web traffic. That's proof, if one needed any, that many Americans are starving for a cable news channel that covers international affairs through a non-U.S. biased lens.
So why can't you watch great TV news on, you know, television?
It's mostly politics. The Arabic-language channel Al-Jazeera has been maligned as an al-Qaeda propaganda outlet and a purveyor of vile anti-Semitism. That's a gross misrepresentation and has nothing to do with what you’ll see on that network. The English version, in any case, maintains editorial independence from its Arabic counterpart. The distinction is akin to the difference between CNN and CNN International or a national network and its local affiliates.
Many Americans' first exposure to Al-Jazeera came during the Iraq War. To discredit its news and commercial value, Bush administration officials repeatedly attacked the channel, making it unlikely a cable company would choose to carry the network. Viewers, of course, should be able to judge AJE’s political slant for themselves. Cable companies claim there's no room on the dial. That's a funny excuse, since most viewers receive a staggering number of channels they have no intention of ever watching.
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