Al Jazeera English

[Dr. Shane]

Those that have the "Hope" or "3ABN" dish can get an upgrade which allows them to get a lot more channels. Al Jazeera English is one of the non-Christian channels that is available with the upgrade. There are other world news channels too like Russia Today, MHz Worldview and Press TV (Iranian). These really allow a person to get a well-rounded perspective of world affairs.

I like Al Jazeera English almost as much as I like FOXNews. I don't trust any single news source but I appreciate what they do and how they do it.

Best of all - It is free. No monthly fees!

Just buy the equipment and set it up.

[Planey]

I like Al Jazeera English almost as much as I like FOXNews.

Now tell me again, why would I want to watch AJE?

Graeme

[carolaa]

Why not?

[Bravus]

I think Planey's point was that being mentioned in the same breath as Fox News isn't much of a recommendation.

Knowing Shane, though, it's intended as a contrast rather than a grouping - Al Jazeera provides a perspective that Fox doesn't.

[carolaa]

OK, that makes sense. I kind of like Al Jazeera, so was just wondering. Thanks.

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

Al Jazeera provides a perspective that Fox doesn't.

And visa versa, FoxNews provides a perspective that Al Jazeera doesn't. Yet, it appears to me, they both approach it in the same way. Both try to give both sides of a debate a voice. However Al Jazeera has a world perspective while FOXNews has a national US perspective. As a result, FOXNews may have a Democrat discuss an issue with a Republican and an anchor between the two. Al Jazeera will have some hate-America voice discussing an issue with a Pentagon or US State Department official with an anchor between the two. So it isn't that FOXNews presents one side and Al Jazeera the other. Both networks appear to be trying to give a voice to both sides but approaching them differently. They compliment rather than contrast each other.

[Woody]

When I watch Al Jazeera ... I am always skeptical and take what I hear with a grain of salt. But when I watch Fox ... I can rest assured that what I am hearing is truth most of the time.

[carolaa]

When I watch Al Jazeera ... I am always skeptical and take what I hear with a grain of salt. But when I watch Fox ... I can rest assured that what I am hearing is truth most of the time.

chuckle

[Dr. Shane]

I think they both do a good job. But I don't trust any single source of news.

Of the American news networks I think FOXNews is the best but they cater to their viewers as would be expected by any business trying to make a profit. CNN is getting a little better and isn't too bad. MSNBC is perhaps the worst of the American news networks.

[Bravus]

I understand the 'showing both sides of the issue' approach - but what I mainly want in news is the facts, not the opinions. There are no 'sides' in relation to what is actually happening in a flood or fire or whatever, there are just the facts.

I would far rather know both how many people are dying each week in Iraq and how that compares to that figure for the past 6 or 7 years, and also to what degree services like electricity and water are being restored, than to know whether some pundit thinks it is 'going well' or not. I can make up my own opinions, if I'm given some facts.

[Dr. Shane]

The problem with most if not all news organizations is selective reporting. One news source may tell us about all the schools, power plants and hospitals being built in Iraq and gloss over the deaths. Another news source will dwell on the deaths and anti-war protests and not even mention all the positive things taking place there. So in order to get all the facts, one has to get the news from various sources.

Political news is most subject to bias. News about natural disasters, crime or scientific advancement is much less prone to selective reporting. Where FOXNews tries to be balanced is in political reporting. If a specific issue is being debated in Congress they give as much air time to the Republican congressmen as they do the Democrat congressmen. There is no way they can make everyone happy so obviously they are going to cater to their viewers rather than their critics.

[carolaa]

The problem with most if not all news organizations is selective reporting. ...in order to get all the facts, one has to get the news from various sources.

I agree facts can be manipulated and it's good to get a balance. I do find it very interesting that if you are interested in hearing about protests and anti-war events, you will hardly find them in the mainstream media.

[carolaa]

what I mainly want in news is the facts, not the opinions.

I enjoy opinions, but facts are the main thing with me too. I think it's funny how some people will not listen to Al Jazeera or Democracy Now because of this or that bias. But facts are facts, no matter who is saying them.

[Dr. Shane]

Facts are facts but we have no way of verifying facts simply by watching, reading or listening to the news. When we get our news from various sources and the same facts are being reported by multiple sources it is more likely that the facts are accurate. However that is not always true because news sources often times get their information from other news sources so some bad information can corrupt many news outlets so that several sources end up reporting something that is not correct. Some sources put more effort into verifying facts than do others and are thus less apt to become corrupted by ill-informed sources.

I have not watched Al Jazeera English long enough to know how often their stories get corrupted by bad sources. My comments about them are basically comments on their format. I like the way they present the news.

[Bravus]

I definitely agree about multiple sources of information. My comments were more about an approach that tends to reduce the news to *only* issues, and to pretend that issues have *only* two possible sides, always in opposition. Real issues are complex, and dumbing them down to opposing soundbites doesn't serve our democracies well.

[carolaa]

Quote:

Of the American news networks I think FOXNews is the best .......

I really hope that was a joke!

I'm just curious how it is that you were able to reply to me with a quote that was never in any of my posts. Did I miss something?

[Bravus]

Some people see the forum 'inline' (as one long page) and just reply to the post above them. Others see it 'threaded', so that replies to posts higher up create new branches, and reply to a particular post, and that reply comes out further down the inline version. (These are settings you can change in your profile.) This often causes confusion.

[carolaa]

Just so long as you understand that I wasn't the one who said what you quoted.