I actually like the content and reporting style; semi Discovery channel?

Is this wrong…to like?

No. You’ll get a better news coverage than the BBC. And some of the anchorwomen are quite nice…

Premiership football, in English, too

Hora – No.

I have to ask but why would it be ‘bad’ to like Aljazeera? Seems to me that it’s probably been bad that you’ve been watching BBC/ITV/CNN et al making you believe that watching something produced from the Middle East might be ‘bad’… The UK is far more brainwashed than we think, this proves it… 🙁

You might also like Russia Today. More obviously crudely biased, but an alternative point of view. And their presenterettes are quite nice to look at as well…

I’m trying to figure out if there is a political leaning or agenda. It seems to be pretty unbiased?

Weird because more and more I get the feeling that certain news stories etc on the BBC seem to be ‘critical’ or released on a certain content in a cluster.

It feels ‘wrong’ to like such a foreign channel though. Will I be renditioned? 😐

There are rumours that it is a mouthpiece for the CIA or the Omani royal family. The best propaganda doesn’t seem to be propaganda, so you need to ask yourself “What am I thinking after watching that? Why? And in who’s interest is it for me to think that way?”.

As for the BBC, the political influences on some of their programming and news values are obvious to anyone with a discerning mind, but by far their greatest agenda is to dumb down.

hnohesback I like watching Aljazeera due to its fact/information and focus on the past/history towards the current news event etc. Going back abit but the Tsunami in Japan- Aljazeera had really good commentary delivered with respect.

Yes, I saw that as well. it was a refreshing change to the ITV/BBC coverage. Different morals and values in play…

They had an excellent half-hour piece on drugs in cycling, and particularly tdf, on at about 11.30pm a few days ago. The frost interviews are good too.
I meant to do a psa on here but the computer was off and i was settled on the sofa, sorry.

edit:
found it
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/general/2012/12/2012121518950980321.html

Is this wrong…to like?

absolutely not. The BBC is great at what does, but its driven by an agenda set by stories that are being pushed through commercial media either by commerical and political PR or by agendas those media channels are pushing themselves.

Thats not to say AJ isn’t similarly driven by PR – but at least its different PR and you get more of a world outlook and less petty local political bickering as a result

I think the tarnish that AJ acquired is that in the early post 9/11 era they were the news channel that extremists posted their handy cam videos to. Because AJ wasn’t broadly available here then we only heard their name in relation to these videos which left us to presume that the news channel itself had an islamist agenda.

Weird because more and more I get the feeling that certain news stories etc on the BBC seem to be ‘critical’ or released on a certain content in a cluster.

Well you’ll notice that all the news channels/papers will all be talking about the same thing on the same day, even if nothing has actually happened.

Going back abit but the Tsunami in Japan- Aljazeera had really good commentary delivered with respect.

Some of it is the work they buy rather than what they commission – they are a good vehicle for existing independently produced documentaries. The have a great series of films called ‘Working Mans Death’ on their website – sublimely good docs.

Anytime there was something about 9/11 that they wanted to make look a bit “terroristy” on BBC, ITV or worst offender Fox, they always seemed to show you something from Aljazeera so it seems to have been tagged in a lot of peoples minds that it’s some sort of Al Qaeda TV channel.

shame really because Al Jazeera and RT are probably the best channels for less biased reporting.

I think you should be asking yourself why your asking if it’s wrong to like.

Boba Fatt – Member

Anytime there was something about 9/11 that they wanted to make look a bit “terroristy” on BBC, ITV or worst offender Fox, they always seemed to show you something from Aljazeera so it seems to have been tagged in a lot of peoples minds that it’s some sort of Al Qaeda TV channel.

Yup- I think the only thing a lot of people know about aljazeera, is that they’re that channel that used to broadcast the osama bin laden tapes.

I think you should be asking yourself why your asking if it’s wrong to like.

The 9/11 link/Fox bias I think covers it. It was there wasn’t in the background.

Funilly enough I switched over to Aljazeera just the other day and watched one of their features on the recovery of Iraq since the war, and I found it genuinely insightful and interesting.

I have to admit to being casually under the impression that it would carry a heavy bias (possibly a seed planted by the bias of the BBC??), but I was pleasantly surprised.

There are subliminal messages in their broadcasts you know? Have you innexplicably felt the urge to go out and buy a van, and an inordinate amount of fertiliser?

yeah its generally quite good, no worse than the bbc but as stated its biased from a different angle,

russia today is pretty bad, their ‘expert’ comentators often seem to be broadcasting via dodgy webcam from their bedroom
and its bizare adverts for russia in their magazine shows are laughable

butcher thats probably how I hit on the channel. If I would have been told to watch it I’d have basically looked for shoddy camerawork, bad presenting etc etc. Paired down/doesn’t have fancy spinning graphics or music/jingles and ‘powerful’ hitting slashing headlines. It focuses on reporting.

I bet a load of BBC softies who didn’t fancy moving to Salford are heading for the personnel department at AJ right now.

ohnohesback – Member
You might also like Russia Today

+1 – Good channel

there was a lot of cycling on the Aljezeera channel last week.

Anything is better than C4 news. Absolute dogshit.

My nephew (4) watches Scooby Doo on Al Jazeera Kids TV.

Doesn’t bother him, He bloody loves it 🙂

all news is biased, it’s up to you as the consumer to figure out the truth in it all for yourself.

Now’t wrong with an open mind.

Al Jazeera is renowned for being unbiased, first Arabic channel to interview an Israeli minister

Al Jazeera is renowned for being unbiased, first Arabic channel to interview an Israeli minister

This is the thing- every news piece that involves Israel is delivered as news/or history from historical clips.

They obviously know part of their credibility standings revolves around the world watching how they tackle Israel in their news.

I like it.

Yep I would agree Hora, its a good ‘un. Good doco’s too, from all round the world, not just Middle East

I’m a big fan also, I really like hearing about how the rest of the world is doing.

It’s very good just down the road and Qatari not Omani, they also show lots of football with English commentary. I’m expecting lots of National Day Coverage later and beaming photos of the Family…

Set up and run largely by what used to be the middle east dept of the BBC’s world service. BBC had to make cut backs, they were sacked, made their own TV news channel. Bear in mind it’s Saudi funded.

Is Naked news still on the telly? That was good.

I like it too. As others have said BBC tv news has dumbed down so much it only seems obsessed with the royal or some regurgitating press releases.

ohnohesback – Member
You might also like Russia Today

I find it to be pretty poor to be honest. Its not so much that it is extremely bias (pro Russian and strangely, with anything US based very pro republican), its that it spend more time advertising its self than screening any actual programs. Its also very much lowest common denominator too with no real good analysis, it can be rather FOX news ish, overly simplistic. Its still hold interest for an alternative look at the news sometime.

Promoting itself-BBC runs faux ads inbetween news content alot dont they?

Yes but nothing like the amount Russia today do.

Russia Today is utterly awful. Its coverage is ludicrously poor. It is a huge scam to shovel government money into the pockets of companies owned by politically-influential people (the circumstances of its launch made that clear) and to flatter the vain by getting their face on the gogglebox occasionally. The “news” is secondary.

Al Jazeera is not without its faults but it seems to have a great correspondent network in SE Asia, SS Africa and even in Lat America, where the BBC and CNN don’t.

Scooby Doo on Al Jazeera Kids TV

YJCMTSU! 😆

Watched feature where Arabs were debating the Prophet. There was no sycophancy. Must admit my viewpoint on Arabs has been skewered by the BBC.