Al Jazeera Gets a US Voice 444
Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times reports that Al Jazeera plans to start an English-language channel available in more than 40 million U.S. homes, with newscasts emanating from both New York and Doha, Qatar. They announced a deal to take over Current TV, the low-rated cable channel that was founded by Al Gore seven years ago. But the challenge will be persuading Americans to watch the award winning network with 71 bureaus around the world — an extremely tough proposition given the crowded television marketplace and the stereotypes about the channel that persist to this day. 'There are still people who will not watch it, who will say that it's a "terrorist network,"' says Philip Seib. 'Al Jazeera has to override that by providing quality news.' With a handful of exceptions, American cable and satellite distributors have mostly refused to carry Al Jazeera English since its inception in 2006. While the television sets of White House officials and lawmakers were tuned to the channel during the Arab Spring in 2011, ordinary Americans who wanted to watch had to find a live stream on the Internet. Al Jazeera's Robert Wheelock said, We offer an alternative. It's a broader coverage of news. It's a broader spectrum into countries that aren't traditionally covered.'"
I expect Fox News to report on this heavily. (Score:2, Funny)
After all, a non American involved in US broadcasting is clearly beyond the pale.
Why next somebody from Rand McNally will make us wear hats on our feet and reverse the direction the water flows in our toilets.
Competition is a good thing. (Score:4, Funny)
I'm sure Nickelodeon and The Comedy Channel are already feeling the heat.
Re:I expect Fox News to report on this heavily. (Score:4, Funny)
I use a diversity of sources, funny how all the big American networks are (un-)weighted on the slant/credibility scale.
Al Jazeera is very easy to read as the CPU doesn't have to compensate for a lot of bias overhead .
Re:Rupert Murdoch is Australian (Score:5, Funny)
So, Honolulu is in Kenya now? It's good to know.
Yeah, that is what Apple Maps tells me ;)