International Television Response

Response to watching Al Jareeza and Press TV:

The only two channels that I could successfully view online through LiveStation were Al Jareeza and Press TV. (Even after updating all my media player plug-ins, visiting each channels's own site, it took me two hours just to get this far to be able to talk about just two out of the four stations!) I observed that both channels seemed to be giving a fair and balanced portrayal on the stories they covered. Al Jareeza seemed to give a world view on stories while Press TV seemed to focus on stories that were more regional and occurring in the Eastern half of the world, such as asylum seekers in Calais, France, and human trafficking in Malaysia. On the other hand, they also seemed more interested in getting the facts from their sources and most of the story about human trafficking in Malaysia was told through the eyes of a man being interviewed who had experienced the event firsthand, which I thought interesting. Al Jareeza, like I discuss below, seems to give a more balanced view on world events, looking at all sides of the story and talking to experts about the subjects it airs.

Questions on Al Jareeza:

1. How effective do you think the Internet will be for Al Jazeera as it attempts to reach a U.S. audience?

I don’t think the internet will be a very effective outlet for Al Jazeera to get to the average U.S. citizen who is concerned with world events. I had heard of the station before briefly on television on the nightly news casts (mostly during the controversy about whether they were considered an outlet for terrorists), but I had no idea what the station was focused on or that an English version even existed. If anything I thought it was a right-wing political station that supported Al Qaeda and such groups. If Al Jazeera wants the audience of the U.S. it will have to find its way onto some kind of cable or satellite network because I do not think Americans will go out of their way to get news online at this source. We are all often “stuck in our ways” and in order for Al Jazeera to build a following in the U.S. it will have to create a larger presence that is not only on the internet.

2. Based on your own observations, do you think that Al Jazeera English should be allowed to broadcast in the U.S.?

After watching about twenty minutes of the broadcast (before my internet decided to stop streaming it fast enough for me to be able to watch it without a pause every ten seconds…) I do believe that this channel should be allowed to broadcast in the U.S. It might upset some of the more conservative groups in our country, but hey – we are pretty sheltered in many ways when it comes to world events. Everything is given that happy, optimistic American spin, if it is not already over dramatized. All the major stations with nightly news programs (NBC, CBS, and ABC), and to the extent some cable stations (CNN, MSNBC), definitely give the good ol’ American bias to their stories. And by bias I mean they make us look as good as possible when it comes to international stories, we are always the ones who are trying to help and many stories have a we-are-the-greatest-nation-on-the-face-of-the-earth tone. On the other hand, Al Jazeera seemed to give a very wide approach to the stories that I watched, one including the Climate Change Summit that was recently held this week in NYC. It gave the perspective of not just the U.S. and what Pres. Obama had to say, but other world leaders and experts who are deeply concerned about the issue facing our world as well. Usually when you see a story like this on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, for example, the stories main focus will be on what Pres. Obama said and did, not what other national leaders had to say unless it was a huge disagreement or outburst. I think Al Jazeera gave a much wider perspective on this story as well as a few others I saw.

3. What, if anything, do you notice about Al Jazeera's approach to telling the news? How is it different than the U.S.-based TV news outlets that you have experienced?

As I said above, I thought Al Jazeera gave a wider world view on the stories I saw, rather than a simply American standpoint. I think if a viewer in France, to give an example, wanted to watch this station they would not be disappointed with its coverage as an international news outlet because of this, even if an American viewer was annoyed that all the news wasn’t focused around us. (Mostly I think I answered this above as I rambled on…)

4. While on the Al Jazeera site, be sure to check out the network's published Code of Ethics. Based on your own observations, do you think they are adhering to them?

Continuing off the discussion above about Al Jazeera’s approach to presenting the news, I do believe very strongly that the network most definitely adheres to its code of ethics. The first point, and most important, says “Adhere to the journalistic values of honesty, courage, fairness, balance, independence, credibility and diversity, giving no priority to commercial or political considerations over professional ones.” After watching a story on Pres. Obama’s recent talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders, I can apply this first bullet point to what I saw in the story. The story was extremely balanced and did not just focus around what Obama did at the meeting, as most American news outlets would, and there were interviews with prominent Palestinians and Israeli’s who expressed their opinion of the meeting following the main story. Because the meeting did not really reach an agreement or settlement, the talks will continue, the story said, but instead both leaders will be meeting privately in Wash. D.C. with U.S. Defense Secretary George Mitchell.

The second bullet point in the code states, “Endeavor to get the truth and declare it in our dispatches, programs, and news bulletins unequivocally in a manner which leaves no doubt about its validity and accuracy.” After being accused of being a terrorist network, I can now see how this station was really just trying to give a balanced view on what was going on in the Middle East following the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. While people may have interpreted this as the Al Jazeera network to be showing support for the terrorists (which the terrorists themselves also might have believed and appreciated) it was not the point of the coverage, but instead to give a balanced, honest, and accurate report of what was going on in the world at this tumultuous time.

Follow my other Blog

For Journalism 475 I have created another blog for a group project. The semester long project is to create a blog reporting on a specific topic. Our blog is called WSU Watchdog - www.wsuwatchdog.blogspot.com. You can also follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/WSUWatchdog. My partner, Dominick, and I will be reporting on important events and breaking news updates for the WSU campus this fall. So far you can read about the H1N1 outbreak at WSU and goals to unite the Greek community on College Hill with other residents in the area.

Enjoy!