Al Jazeera English?

Question

How many people have watched Al Jazeera English?

I always thought Al Jazeera was some fundamentalist muslim channel, but have been watching it for the last week and it is really top quality.

I should learn not to judge something based on the opinion of a person who likely has never watched it either.

Answer 1

I completely agree! AlJazeera covers issues that other channels don't even cover or slightly touch on.

The propaganda against Aljazeera is so successful that still many cable companies in US are unwilling to carry Aljazeera. People of US must look beyond the propaganda usually fed --- it's about time to get a reality check, to know what really is going around the world.

http://english.aljazeera.net/

Answer 2

Edit: You should learn not to judge Al Jazeera English based on the opinion of a person who has likely never watched it or who can't get over his prejudice against Arabs and sees and hears what he wants to see and hear.

Edit Part II: I tell you, I remember when Al Jazeera English was launched a couple of years ago and the reason for that is because of how hysterical some publications in the US got about it.

And I'm not talking about fringe magazines but the so-called mainstream media.

As an Arab myself I'm very upset about all of this. Very pissed. For the longest time, for decades on end, the American media kept pounding on the fact that we Arabs are restrictive, that we don't have freedom of speech, that Islam and democracy cannot go together.

In essence, we have no pulse. We're are just as good as a dead body.

And then Al Jazeera appeared roaring like a lion criticizing the heads of Arab states, showing on TV what goes on in war zones and how people are suffering there, telling our side of the story and, like the asker said, showing some great debates.

But instead of closing the gap between our intellectuals and liberal thinkers with their American counterparts, the American media became disdainful of Al Jazeera.

It's amazing but now it's us Arabs that have to explain to the Americans that sowing a terrorist on TV, or interviewing him, or letting them make a statement does NOT mean Al Jazeera is pro-terrorists.

I remember how Americans kept telling us how it was more than OK to have an interview with an Israeli official regardless of what horrible deeds Israel committed, and that it's not big deal if these officials were interviewed by themselves without any input from the other side whatsoever.

Al Jazeera shows all sides and many Americans are being childish by saying that Al Jazeera sides with any of them just because they were given air time.

Answer 3

I have watched the English service of AlJazeera on satellite channel 514 and agree with you totally. I consider it excellent and better than either the BBC or Sky News or CNN or any other satellite news channel available in the UK for finding out the truth about world current affairs.

Its coverage is excellent and it does not seem biased in any way towards the pro extremist Muslim view but totally fair and impartial. It also has some of the world's most highly regarded British TV investigative journalists working for it including David Frost.

Moreover Al Jazeera seems able to get where other organisations like the BBC can not e.g. live coverage of the current situation in Zimbabwe which BBC, ITV and Sky are all banned from doing by the Mugabe regime. Al Jazeera's coverage of that is definitely not pro  Mugabe.