|
Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
007
Joined: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 2684
Location: UK/Veteran of the Magic Kingdom
|
 Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 3:18 pm Post subject: Al-Jazeera English Channel is to be launched today ...... |
 |
|
The Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel in English is to be launched today from Doha (qatar), and will broadcast it news and programs in English, and to act as counterweight to American and European media.
Head of operations: British national Nigel Parsons
Asia Desk: Trish Carter (New Zealand)
European Desk: Sue Philips ( Canadian)
North America Desk: Will Stebbins (USA)
In an interview in today's G2, Guardian Unlimited, Sir David said:
"So I deliberately checked out, with Whitehall and with Washington, that there were no links with al-Qaida, for instance, that sort of thing," he said. "And it was not really a surprise that there were no such links, because Qatar, the proprietor of al-Jazeera, is also our most important ally in the Middle East."
Al-Jazeera English will be accessible in the UK to anyone with a satellite dish and via its broadband internet site. But it will not be available in America via either EchoStar, Comcast or Rupert Murdoch's DirecTV at launch, although US viewers will be able to tune in via the GlobeCast satellite.
Any comments ?
Do you think Al-jazeera English channel will be an Arab voice for the Middle East, as it is for the BBC for the British voice, and CNN for the American voice? Or will it be just an ordinary channel with a political ideology and an agenda?
Any comments?
The question is will you watch? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 3:50 pm Post subject: |
|
|
All channels have an agenda and a political ideology. It is only that some make an attempt to hide it. 
Personally I would watch it here in the US, but I doubt that it will ever be allowed. I have never heard of GlobeCast satellite and as I suspected, there are no installers or service facilites in my area. And... according to their channel listing on their website, they don't even have Al-Jezeera in their Arabic channels. Since almost all of their program listing is in various foreign languages, not in English, it would mean that an American who wished to hear it would have to pay a significant upfront installation and equipment charge, plus monthly fee, in order to get one English channel???
How likely is that to happen? 
VS |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Undercover Brother
Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 6
Location: not here for long
|
| Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 7:35 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| veiledsentiments wrote: |
All channels have an agenda and a political ideology. It is only that some make an attempt to hide it.
Personally I would watch it here in the US, but I doubt that it will ever be allowed. I have never heard of GlobeCast satellite and as I suspected, there are no installers or service facilites in my area. And... according to their channel listing on their website, they don't even have Al-Jezeera in their Arabic channels. Since almost all of their program listing is in various foreign languages, not in English, it would mean that an American who wished to hear it would have to pay a significant upfront installation and equipment charge, plus monthly fee, in order to get one English channel???
How likely is that to happen?
VS |
If you have a dish and know where to point it, you can get free channels, including many Globecast channels, and Al-Jazeera English. I've seen the test running of the channel that's been on for a month or so (maybe longer). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
You have got to be kidding... unless you are a real techie... which I certainly am not... I wouldn't have the vaguest idea how to put up a dish or what size or where to point it... or where to buy the usual decoder box... or how to hook that up... or what to do if it doesn't work, which it probably wouldn't from what I hear.
And like I said there is one possible installation company 500 miles away and the next closest one is over 1500 miles away. I'm sure that they will just pop over to do a little tweaking for me. Let's just say that the average person in the USA will have little or NO chance of getting this channel...
VS |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Undercover Brother
Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 6
Location: not here for long
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 1:25 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I watched it last night and I live in the Midwestern US. All you need is a regular satellite dish (I have a used Primestar dish), a receiver and a friend (or satellite company employee who will do some work on the side ) and you're in there. Since it sounds like you're deep in the boonies, VS, I guess there's no hope of getting a "hook up." Plenty of people are watching where I live, and it's not a big city by any means.
Oh, and if you don't know where to get equipment, there's always one place...ebay! C'mon, VS, you can get everything and anything on ebay!  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Cleopatra
Joined: 28 Jun 2003
Posts: 3657
Location: Tuamago Archipelago
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 2:56 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Haven't sampled some of the new Al J English on its first two days on the air, all I can say is that it could only be the creation of a Gulf state. It displays the usual Gulf inferiority complex regarding all things "Western" and the belief that you can use your massive wealth to buy up ready made products - in this case well-known CNN/BBC/Sky News presenters - and hey presto, you've got something great on your hands. Never mind that they may not be at all appropriate for the context of the Middle East.
While it's still early in the day to offer opinions on Al J English, I personally am not optimistic that it will in any way, shape or form compare with what was - in the Arab context - a wholy innovative and genuinely risky venture. I speak of course of Al J Arabic. What little I have seen of the English channel makes me think it is nothing but is a bland imitation of BBC or CNN (many Arabs still labour under the illusion that both channels are 'professional' and 'balanced') - with none of the local flavour of the original Al J. It seems to be desperately trying to strive for what passes for 'balance' on US networks: for example, its Jerusalem correspondent referred to Israeli air strikes on Gaza as 'retaliation' and its anchor talking about Israel 'hitting back' at Gaza. It also gave a disproportionate amount of attention to the killing of ONE Israeli woman by a Palestinian rocket. Both in its language and sense of proportion, Al J was little different to CNN or SKy News. But then again, its Qatari backers would not want to lose the approval of the US. In other words, VS, I really dont' think the US censors have anything to worry about. In fact, they could even get kudos for being 'balanced' (that word again) by 'allowing' Al J English to operate.
Read this rather lousy article from the Guardian for an idea of the "Western" prejudices Al J English is so keen to pander to:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1948811,00.html
My favourite line is this:
| Quote: |
| Other parts of the coverage seemed to anticipate the most likely criticism of the service: an Arab bias. |
The insolence! An Arab channel with an Arab bias! Doesn't Al J know that only The Guardian, Fox News, BBC and other "Western" outlets are allowed to be biased towards their region of origin? The privilege of bias is not permitted to Arabs. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 3:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Ah, but I would still like to be able to watch it... and watch them hopefully evolve into something professional - as they did with the Arabic channel.
Besides then I could honestly complain about it... 
VS |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Cleopatra
Joined: 28 Jun 2003
Posts: 3657
Location: Tuamago Archipelago
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 3:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| something professional |
If by 'something professional' you mean a slavish imitation of US or British networks - complete with high production values, fast satellite link-ups, female presenters wearing make-up and business suits - then Al J will not disappoint. After all, that sort of stuff requires mainly cash, and the Qataris have plenty of cash. However, if you want a genuine attempt to offer an alternative (by US standards) view on the Middle East, one which does not fear offending corporate interests and lobby groups, then I fear you will not get your wish. Of course, as I say, it's early days yet... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
007
Joined: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 2684
Location: UK/Veteran of the Magic Kingdom
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 4:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Cleopatra wrote: |
| ��I really dont' think the US censors have anything to worry about, . In fact, they could even get kudos for being 'balanced' (that word again) by 'allowing' Al J English to operate. |
Yes, the US wants to shown to the viewers, especially to the west, that they are 'balanced' by 'allowing' Al J English to operate in US. But, in reality and in the corridors of the oval office, they wish how to stop or, at least, to prevent Al-Jazeera to report about things and realities (like what was, and is happening in Afghanistan and Iraq), which the US does not want its people to know.
That's why, I think, Al-Jazeera offices in Afghanistan and Iraq have been bombarded by US, and one journalist from Al-Jazeera was killed in Iraq, and another one is in prison in Guanatamo, because he was a correspondent to Al-Jazeera from Afganistan, and another journalist is in prison in Spain, because he did an interview with Bin Landin in Afghanistan.
But the funny thing, is that Al-jazeera has been, and still being criticised from some of the Arab governments, especially the Gulf states, before it has been criticised by US. And some of its documentary films or reports, about the wrongdoing of some of the Arab government, have been blocked, due to the lobby from some of Arab governments. That's why Al-Jazeera Arabic is very popular among the Arab population, because they compare it with the government channels, which are useless.
Also there are others who argue that the channel, Al Arabiya, which is based in Dubai Media City, belongs to SA, and is thought to be created to counter Al Jazeera Arabic. this is what I call 'war of channels'.
I quote the following:
"Channels that want to be viable are required to rely much more heavily on high-impact 'brands' and product lines. Al Jazeera demonstrated the worth of such assets when it developed a range of programs whose titles and presenters have become household names inside and outside the Arab world," explains Naomi Sakhr, the author of Satellite Realms: Transnational Television, Globalization and the Middle East.(5) The most famous reporters in the Middle East today are probably the Palestine-based Al Jazeera reporters, Shirin Abu 'Aqla and Jivara al-Badri, who are admired for their courage and professionalism. "History will remember that day when there was no one to speak up in the entire Arab nation, from the Atlantic to the Persian Gulf, but women such as Shirin Abu 'Aqla and Jivara al Badri and Leila Aouda," comments Ali Aziz, the columnist of the avant-garde Egyptian magazine 'Critiques' (An-Nuqqad), "while male leaders and gallon-wearing generals have disappeared from our sight and hearing."
Source: http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1301.html
| VS wrote: |
| ..and watch them hopefully evolve into something professional .. |
I quote:
"But the degree to which the policy changes at Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya also represent a new chapter in the evolution of Arab journalism cannot be dismissed. Until Al-Jazeera was launched ten years ago, the term "television journalism" was an oxymoron in the Arab world. All stations were government-owned. Now there is a new spirit of -- or at least aspiration for -- independence and professionalism. "
So, which one is 'professional'? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Sheikh Inal Ovar
Joined: 04 Dec 2005
Posts: 1208
Location: Melo Drama School
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 6:39 am Post subject: |
|
|
| 007 wrote: |
| That's why, I think, ... one journalist from Al-Jazeera was killed in Iraq |
And why do you think the other journalists that have died there were killed? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
007
Joined: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 2684
Location: UK/Veteran of the Magic Kingdom
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 5:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
[quote="Sheikh Inal Ovar"]
| 007 wrote: |
| .....And why do you think the other journalists that have died there were killed? |
Aljazeera reporter Tariq Ayub was also killed in Iraq when a US missile slammed into Aljazeera television
Terry Lloyd, 22 March 2003, ITV News correspondent; disappeared in southern Iraq and was declared dead a day later.
Paul Moran, 22 March 2003, freelance Australian cameraman; killed when an apparent human bomber detonated a car at a military checkpoint in north-eastern Iraq.
Kaveh Golestan, 2 April 2003, Iranian freelance cameraman on an assignment for the BBC; killed after stepping on a landmine in northern Iraq.
Michael Kelly, 3 April 2003, US journalist and Washington Post columnist; killed while travelling with the US army's 3rd infantry division in Iraq.
Julio Anguita Parrado, 7 April 2003, New York correspondent for El Mundo daily Spanish newspaper; killed in a missile attack while accompanying the US army's 3rd infantry division south of Baghdad.
Christian Liebig, 7 April 2003, reporter of German weekly magazine, Focus; killed in a missile attack while accompanying the US army's 3rd infantry division south of Baghdad.
Tariq Ayoub, 8 April 2003, Aljazeera TV channel correspondent; killed in a US air strike at Aljazeera office in Baghdad.
Taras Protsyuk, 8 April 2003, Reuters cameraman; killed when a US tank opened fire on Palestine hotel.
Jose Couso, 8 April 2003, cameraman for Spain's Telecinco TV; killed when a US tank opened fire on Palestine hotel.
For the rest of the list, and for a statistical analysis of journalists killed in Iraq since hostilities began in March 2003, as compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists, see
http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/Iraq/Iraq_danger.html |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Sheikh Inal Ovar
Joined: 04 Dec 2005
Posts: 1208
Location: Melo Drama School
|
| Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 4:22 am Post subject: |
|
|
| That doesn't answer the question ... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
