One week ago today Al Jazeera America launched a new news outlet on Al Gore's failing Current TV channel. While they already had an Al-Jazeera English outlet, this will be the first to specifically cater to the the American market. With promises like "six minutes of commercials per hour" to start with and in depth news analysis rather than just glossing over important issues then new contender stands poised to make significant ripples in our current news lineup; if America gives it a chance.
Many Americans view Al-Jazeera as a "terrorist" news organization, or sympathetic to the jihad cause at minimum. Based in Doha, Qatar, AJ has had a long history of covering stories from different angles than those traditionally found in Western media coverage, such as airing Bin-Laden speeches. This conjures up deep seated hatred and fear in the hearts of many Americans, whether it is justified or not. For this reason, the future of AJAM is already in jeopardy before it even begins. Maybe the six minutes of commercials are all they could actually contract with vendors? Multiple advertising firms have already said they would not work with AJAM due to its negative image in many households. Although they have deep pockets to sustain their network for quite some time, it will prove interesting to see if AJAM can operate a successful American branch by offering something that the other competitors seem to have forgotten, namely news.
It is still too early to tell what effects AJAM and their preposed offerings will have on other domestic news agencies, but I am excited to see what happens. Maybe it will be the swift kick in the pants to reset the current state of the media, or maybe it will fall on its face and fail miserably only to retreat back to the Middle East. Whatever the outcome, I look forward to a new contender in the world of news agencies, and hope that they are able to follow through with their promise of delivering in depth, fact based news and wish them good luck. They will probably need it.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/08/2013820104744903852.html
Hi Toby,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I like how you pointed out the parochial mindset of the American public as well as the general Islamophobia that is still present in many places but is unspoken of. It is ironic how the American public complains about not having enough diverse viewpoints and when one shows up, it is immediately castigated and rejected because it does fit into the viewer’s ethnocentric worldview. Even if that network is a un-biased as possible, it is not even given a chance to prove it.
It is difficult to insert critical viewpoints into the American political dialogue because so many people do not want to hear them. Along with Al-Jazeera, I hope Russia Today makes onto the US airwaves. That will certainly shake up the oligopoly of FOX and CNN. The more critical viewpoints, the more multi-faceted the dialogue becomes and stories are not overly simplified to fit into 5 minute bits with 10 minutes commercials in between.
Best,
Plamen
Plamen,
ReplyDelete100% agreed. I have long had hopes that the general population will step outside their comfort zone and seek alternative news outlets to break free from the "oligopoly" that you speak of. Although Al-Jazeera certainly was not what I expected to go to a cable news network here in America first, I am honestly glad it arrived. I never thought that I would say that after spending many years in the military, and many years overseas cursing Al-Jazeera for many issues; but alas, I gave it a chance and now I find it to be a good source of information. Russia Today would also be very entertaining, they seem to have an interesting way of presenting news as well. Der Spiegel as well. Only time will tell how we Americans choose to receive our news, but hopefully we continue to have an increasingly broad approach rather than a narrowing of our scope.