Did anyone watch Al Jazeera America last night? I did. The reason I even bring it up is because it's a "news" network. I found it interesting and went in with an open mind. I have to admit though, that I really remembered to watch because of something I heard at work. I have a co worker that is now 70. Part time and we're good friends. One big problem though. She believes what sounds good to her with absolutely no backing as does her husband. This is why I told her to no longer send me emails. Too much crap forwarded to me. Anyway she is definitely racist and thinks it's all good as long as you're a "good Christian". OK. Fine. Yesterday there was a small blurb in the paper about Al Jazeera. Apparently she read the first line and linked Al Jazeera with Muslim and Al Gore's name was mentioned. Hearing this my boss chimed in with stupidity. Really no surprise there as he was talking about "death panels" by days end and he's seriously clueless and not afraid to share it. Now my boss, having no clue about Al Jazeera but being a staunch Republican, immediately knew Al Jazeera was bad because it's Muslim of course. I generally keep my mouth shut when surrounded by moronic statements and my checks don't bounce. In addition I actually like my job but finally I had to say something. Short and simple. Al Jazeera is a news agency and seems to have some respect in the world wide community. Of course no one else had any clue. It might require a sliver of an open mind after all and actual thought. This rarely happens where I work. So I watched a few hours of Al Jazeera last night. I saw news. World news. Too early to form an opinion. I thought the weather was interesting as the first story was about a typhoon that should basically miss Japan and strike China. A lot of Americans couldn't care less but beyond our borders these things can affect us. I saw a lot of coverage of Egypt and Syria. I saw different viewpoints being discussed in a civil matter. Yet still, this was the first day and I'll be watching to form more opinions. What I DIDN'T see was a bunch of "Arab" newscasters spouting their views. I can be reasonably sure this is what my co worker and boss would expect. They respond to falsehoods and panic quite readily. I saw newscasters of all color and both sexes reporting news. As a footnote there is something I really find ironic. Those that will immediately dismiss Al Jazeera as "Muslim news" may not realize it replaced a lot of "Liberal news". Replace one hate with another as it were.
Haven't watched the American version yet, but I do occasionally watch al jazeera uk. From what I've read the newscasters are all former us network newscasters...from CNN to fox and everything in between, so the faces should be familiar.
I haven't had the chance to watch it yet. I'm expecting it to be World News along the lines of the BBC, a slightly different perspective than the typical American news broadcasts.
I consider myself more conservative than liberal, but wouldn't mind tuning in, if I had cable. I saw an interesting documentary on the news coverage of the first gulf war. Featured were a US Army press attaché and an Al Jazeera reporter. The Army officer retired and took a job with Al Jazeera after the war, the reporter stated in no uncertain terms that his dream job would be for Fox News, as he put it "I would gladly trade the Arab Nightmare for the American Dream any day." I'll try to find the documentary and post it.
They had your Parliament debating the vote on whether or not to engage in Syria. I see it failed lol Again, interesting way to debate, especially compared to the type I see here in America.
I haven't seen the channel, but would be interested to hear various Arab views on the Syrian situation.
