Fox News and CNN Need Unbiased Competition – Let Aljazeera Broadcast in the USA
I travel outside the US considerably. Over the last 20 years it’s been a source of pride when people in other countries tell me how much they enjoyed CNN. No longer, there’s a new kid on the block.
I am serious about this. At least 10 times this year, 2011, people have asked my opinion about a news topic they read about, or heard, or saw on television that was produced by Aljazeera. I know they have been around for awhile but now it seems they have gained some reputation for impartiality.
I realized it has been at least 18 months since any citizen of a country outside the USA has asked me about a news story the got from CNN. As for Fox News, forget it. Outside the USA Fox News can be found in the comedy section, if found at all. Proof, many countries have, and enjoy immensely the Fox television channel. They refuse to show Fox News.
CNN used to be considered a good source, an unbiased source of the latest news. Over time viewers from outside the USA have decided that CNN is no longer unbiased, although they don’t say CNN is unfair. If they have even heard of Fox News their response to a question on how their news is viewed is universally the same; you are kidding right. Surely Fox News is an arm of the U.S. Republican Party. Yep, that’s right. That is what international viewers feel about Fox News. Fox News is decidedly not fair and not impartial. Not my words, just saying.
So what is Aljazeera. I really don’t know, just as it was years after CNN started that I even knew some guy named Ted Turner owned CNN. What I do know, and am told by international viewers is that Alzajeera is tough on the left and tough on the right. They are beholden, so far, to no national interests and get everyone upset at them for telling the truth.
It’s my opinion that news viewers have a right to all sides of every story worth reporting. We have the left from BBC and CNN, plus many others in the USA – like NBC. We have the right – the FAR right from Fox News. It seems only fair that we can get a centrist point of view from Aljazeera.
There is only one problem. Despite many requests Aljazeera has, so far, been denied the right or ability to broadcast on mainstream television in the United States. Never fear news hounds, Aljazeera can be found on that great American invention, the Internet. You can watch Aljazeera Live in English at this link.