Today a new global TV news station debuted - Aljazeera (in English). It started at 3:00pm Doha time and most of the office was by a TV to watch the debut. The husband of one of my coworkers (and my neighbour) is an anchorman for Aljazeera so I think the office was caught up in the excitement of the launch.
Up until this point I was watching BBC World but it does get tiresome, 15 minutes of news at the top of the hour and then that's it for news - the same headlines will repeat, at the top of the hour, for the next 10-12 hours. I'm hopeful Aljazeera can do better than that. With four broadcast centers - Doha, London, Washington and Kuala Lumpur they should be able to shake things up. Already I saw a brief clip about life in Harare (Zimbabwe). I don't think BBC can get a story like that because Mugabe banned them from the country. More importantly I'm hoping to see different news than the cut-and-paste job from the American stations. Is it just me, or does ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN all show the exact same news stories?
Anyway if it's available in your area try to tune in and see if Aljazeera is a different kind of news channel.
2 comments:
You said in your profile that you are not a Muslim nor do you play one on TV.
Here's a smartass question/comment for you? ...but are you in fact a TV? Haha.
Wow, you live in Qatar. Yeah, CNN is repetitive and does replicate so many of the other American stations. CNN is better in the Asia Pacific. The CNN that we get in Taiwan (it's the same in Hong Kong) is more representational of varied points of view.
"but are you in fact a TV? Haha."
No, but whenever I try to play a Muslim on TV they complain - so I just stick to piano and guitar. :p
For me the jury is still out on the new Al Jazeera. Lots of Middle East and Israel coverage, and the odd bit about Zimbabwe (where competitors like BBC have been banned) but it'll take a while for me to determine if the station is getting a different angle on the stories.
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