Should al Jazeera broadcasts be made available in Western countries?

I think that they should be available worldwide. If we want to bar them due to bias then why does Fox News still exist? There are those that will take them with a grain of salt, and those that will believe what they want regardless of who/what is in the air.

Why not? Al Jezeera has an agenda, to be sure. Hopefully, the Western countries will not be so stupid as to not recognize that fact. And if they are, indeed, that stupid, then they deserve the consequences

Yes, although they are available online.

@josie I agree, but I must say that I feel that you are more optimistic than I am about people not being stupid. I reserve hope for those things I believe actually have a chance of happening, like winning the lottery.

If it’s popular enough, it stands to reason that someone should run it. As @jerv said, there are other biased news networks being aired (you know, all of them), so why not another with a slightly different bias?

I also have little hope that people will exercise good judgement in regards to the media. However, Al Jezeera would be something different and likely more subject to scrutiny. Fox, CNN, and MSNBC get away with their flagrant bias because they largely tell people things they already agree with.

Yes – for sure.

LinkTV has been giving more airtime to AJE as of late because of the whole Egypt situation, but I think a major reason why American cable/sattelite carriers are not carrying AJE especially when they have offered to distribute for nearly free is that the carriers don’t want the fallout from conservatives cancelling service because of it.

A lot of them drank and are still drinking the kool-aid assumption that because AJ is Qatari that they are sympathetic of terrorism, especially since AJA/AJE do true objective journalism and actually communicate with hostile organizations. Obviously they’re doing something right if the Egyptian goverment revoked their broadcasting rights and started
arresting em.

But Comcast et. al are not going to risk losing viewership.

That would be great. I already watch them on YouTube, so having them on the air over here would be a nice touch. I think it would also make our own media be more on their toes!

If you think that Fox News is biased, then you probably haven’t watched FNC.

@cletrans2col Huh? They’re the same thing.

I’m not aware of anything that would keep them off the air. Except of course sponsorship. If you want to get on the air, someone has to pay advertising bucks. I’m not sure what products would feel secure advertising and having their products associated, with them.

already available:
http://english.aljazeera.net/
http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

i watched the coverage in Egypt in my Hotel, Al Jazeera really stole the show, some sensational and sensationalist coverage, that eclipsed BBC world and CNN who were still pretty good. But this uprising is totally Al Jazeera they own it. It is clear Al Jazeera have an agenda, it is obvious where their sympathies lie, which irritates me, i’m not a fan of propagandised media, despite leaning their way politically. Propaganda is demagoguery, it is the attempt to manipulate public opinion and it is the assumption that humans are mildly contemptible and incapable of trusting in their own opinions. Al Jazeera is whipping this revolutionary mood up, which isn’t their job, it’s all well and good having a revolution, but it is rudderless. But in comparison to the State run Nile TV Al Jazeera is a necessary antidote. Nile TV proved itself an international laughing stock, and may as well have been covering events on another planet. In fact they are now referred to as Denial TV lol.

Having said that, i just realised i can re-tune the freeview digital box in the Uk to recieve Al Jazerra English apparently.

As @phaedryx says, it’s already available (at least here in the UK), both the English and Arabic versions.

Fox is also available here, and is jaw-droppingly bad.

Yes, they are available on the Net but should be broadcast on television as well.

@janbb Sorry, I should have been clearer. I can already watch Al Jazeera on my television at home through the Sky satellite system, no internet connection required.

(Sky is owned by the same company that owns Fox, btw)

@meiosis , Is Al-Jazeera commercially sponsored?

@meiosis So that’s in England, not the US, right?

@janbb Yes

@LostInParadise I rarely watch it to be honest, so I’m not sure.

@papayalily -you missed the point.

@cletrans2col Or maybe I’m just not familiar with you or your specific dialect and was looking for clarification and elaboration

Try this

http://english.aljazeera.net/aboutus/2006/11/200852518552950317.html