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Seven years after it arrived in the U.S., Al Jazeera is putting up its sign.
As it launches a major expansion to become a full-fledged cable news channel in the U.S., the Qatar-owned network believes animosity toward its sister Arabic-language news operation has waned. Or at least it has dissipated enough to allow Al Jazeera to splash its name across its new Washington broadcast center, which is currently housed in a dingy, unmarked office building.
"Imagine six or seven years ago, trying to find real estate for Al Jazeera in Washington. I'm sure it wasn't easy," says Bob Wheelock, a former ABC executive in charge of setting up Al Jazeera America, as the network will be called. But now "we're going to have signage, you know, just like CBS, ABC, CNN, CBN, just like everybody else," he says. "We're psyched."
With the $500 million purchase of Current TV from former vice president Al Gore and other investors last year, Al Jazeera bought a place on cable boxes in 41 million homes. Now the network plans to grow from a news operation of 13 people to 200 people in cities across the country.
Because the network is owned by the Qatari government, it has deep pockets. It also has a name with painful baggage for U.S. viewers, thanks to its Arabic-language corporate sibling. And its forte, international news, has historically been a tough sell to American viewers.
"We hope to bring international news and more in-depth storytelling for the viewers," Wheelock says. "There's an appetite for news from elsewhere and for the documentaries we do and the type of coverage we do."
Wheelock says the channel will continue to have a strong international focus: 60% of its coverage will come from its U.S. and Latin American bureaus and the rest from Al Jazeera's networks overseas. "It's what we've become known for, and we have the assets to do it."
Al Jazeera English launched in 2006, and until now, viewers could find the network on just a few cable systems or online.
Shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when the Al Jazeera Arabic-language network aired videos from Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials accused it of promoting terrorism.
Time has mellowed the hostility somewhat. Al Jazeera English's coverage of Arab Spring political upheavals brought it an appreciative audience in Washington -- including then-secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Confusion with Al Jazeera Arabic remains -- as do suggestions that the network goes easy on Saudi Arabia and hard on Israel.
"They're straight shooters as much as any major news outlet today. There is no unbiased news today," says Isobel Coleman of the Council on Foreign Relations. "The bias is in the selection of what stories you cover and how you cover them. Al Jazeera will bring its own bias, but it's no more or no less than what we're used to already in this country."
Coleman says she watches Al Jazeera for its international news. "If you want to know what's going on in Mali, it's going to be Al Jazeera that's covering it. We just don't have any more foreign correspondents on the ground in (U.S.) television the way Al Jazeera does."
"The stigma that a previous administration painted the channel with is dissipating greatly. If you watch us, you'll like us," Wheelock says. Al Jazeera English and the Arabic-language network are "two very distinct editorial channels. One caters to an audience in the Middle East, and one caters to an audience that is global," he says. "Most of the detractors, the people who have negative ideas or thoughts, have never seen the programming."
The network is building a broadcast center in Washington, enlarging its space at the United Nations in New York -- "We cover the U.N. like most people cover local weather," Wheelock says -- and planning for bureaus in Detroit, New Orleans, San Francisco and five other cities.
Launching any new cable network is difficult: It requires getting cable systems such as Time Warner or Comcast to carry the network, then attracting both audiences and advertisers.
"You can fail at any one of those, and you have to succeed at all three," says Larry Gerbrandt of the consulting firm Media Valuation Partners. Time Warner, a large cable system, carried Current but has said it might drop Al Jazeera America.
"We will never be the most-watched news channel in America, but we think there's an audience that's interested, is not afraid of information, is seeking more," Wheelock says.
Contributing: Sabrina Treitz, Paul Singer
(c) Copyright 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
February 20, 2013 @ 2:03 pm
Way to go Al Gore. “Sell out to our enemy”. Good for you Time Warner….
Stick to your guns
February 20, 2013 @ 2:56 pm
It will most likely be a propaganda showcase for learn to love muslims and radical islam.We dont need it, most of us dont want it the left can have it.Why would they want to be here except to give us false news slanted the mideast direction.
February 20, 2013 @ 3:20 pm
They should play Paul Simon’s ‘Call me Al’ for the intro.
February 20, 2013 @ 3:24 pm
Does anyone realize the the ‘mideast’ is actually DC??? ;0)
February 20, 2013 @ 5:23 pm
Correction; it will be ANOTHER “propaganda showcase for learn to love muslims and radical islams.” Maybe they will pass on force-feeding us homosexuality, though. Or maybe they will show it as they see it?
Keep your friends close…and your enemy closer.
February 20, 2013 @ 2:18 pm
As a libertarian with strong conservative leanings, I have to chime in here and say that Al Jezeera is actually a pretty good news service.
There international reporting is good and they don’t have the bias in their regular news casting that many of us with conservative leanings think they have.
The Islamic world version of Al Jezeera is biased against the west, but the English speaking version can be quite refreshing in it’s reporting.
February 20, 2013 @ 2:59 pm
Somehow I doubt it will stay the way you say. Only until they are firmly entrenched. Then watch out. How can you say how good they are if your watching them instead of others so it might not be truthful at all.
February 20, 2013 @ 3:23 pm
Libretarian or not….how can you justify a difference between the Islamic world version and the English speaking world…don’t you recognize that these people speak out of both sides of their mouths in order to convince people such as yourself that they are worthy of broadcasting here in America. Freedom of speach or no…they are our basic enemy. And how Al Gore can justify his actions is beyond me…Oh Yes, greed. Be careful…be VERY careful of who you share a bed with!
February 20, 2013 @ 5:06 pm
What part of “The bias is in the selection of what stories you cover and how you cover them. Al Jazeera will bring its own bias, but it’s no more or no less than what we’re used to already in this country.” Don’t you get?
I heard from one Libertarian mouth piece. He was outraged that people would want to stand in the way of LGBT’s assessments children. Much liberty equals selective tolerance to a libertarian with conservative leanings too. It’s just the Nazi party wanting to test school children. It’s disgusting that people won’t let the Nazi’s help those children that have Nazi tendencies.
Obama; “There is a (Muslim) Mosque in every State of the Union” and Muslim legal immigration has risen to 700,000 annually in 2011. Numbers matter tremendously legal or not!
Please sign the petition and explore Numbers USA.
http://www.saynotoamnesty.com
http://www.goooh.com
February 20, 2013 @ 5:31 pm
Oh, come now missnelle; Libertarians speak from both sides of their mouths in order to convince people such as yourself that they are worthy of running things here in America. Libertarians claim to be true Americans but if libertarians are to be judged by their statements and actions, they are our basic enemy.
For in the end, they are liberals. The biggest danger to America today is from liberals. Tomorrow it will be Islams, but the only way they can defeat us is if we accept the “leadership” of liberals, and let them disarm us. Because it will come down to shooting, in the end. With muslims, it always does. They insist.
February 20, 2013 @ 6:30 pm
Hey bowhunter to put it simply – your a complete idiot. Your also a liar. You have no conservative leanings and I highly doubt you are are Libertarian. You are in fact, a Democrat writing here with only one purpose to instill your Communist beliefs. You gave yourself away with the no bias news reporting. There is not a Muslim alive who is not bias against the United States of America even if they claim they have no bias. You probably are a Muslim. Anyone out there who thinks Muslim’s have no bias come to Dearborn Michgan. The only thing Muslims in Michigan want is your money for their restrants, party stores, gas stations, jewlry stores other than that they would be happy if they could take your head!
February 20, 2013 @ 10:02 pm
@bowhunter what country are you from? You still don’t have a grasp on the English language. There: example “over there” as opposed to here and their: signifies possession as in Their international blah blah, blah blah. So go back to Saudi “over there” and stay the frick away from here and take your Jazeera (and Gore) with you, thank you very much.
February 21, 2013 @ 7:08 am
I don’t think attacking Libertarians as a political party is helpful here. If you read the doctrines of all the political parties and realize how much the individual candidates veer from the party platform in their own words and deeds, you will realize that Libertarian does not equate to Liberal but, just as some Republicans are people you refer to as RINOs some Libertarians are LINOs. Read the Constitutionalist platform. Same way. I don’t think anyone agrees 100% with any political party platform and I think that the very right wing Conservatives in the Republican party sometimes are blinded by their own light the same way the very far left leaners are blinded by their “idealism.” 70% of the people in this country stand somewhere in the middle. Thus, more and more people are veering away from claiming to be a Democrat OR a Republican. Unfortunately, our country has been biased toward a 2-party system for many years and, if we don’t do something to stop it now, it will soon become a one party system and that party will be democrat. THAT scares me enough to beg people to be less critical of the people who stand somewhere in the middle. I am one of those people so I know how offensive it is when one side or the other gets up on a soapbox over one issue and keeps pounding away. It may be the circles where I tend to mingle or it may be nationwide but from my vantage point the democrats seem to be hung up on racism and the republicans seem to be hung up on religion. I, personally, and hung up on our country’s penchant for borrowing money to throw down various rabbit holes.
February 20, 2013 @ 2:57 pm
Its Time, Its Time to do what is necessary to secure our country…
Doesn’t appear to you that we out here are the only ones who can see the beginning of the end for the United Sates, and our republic?
Our politicians over the decade have become Manchurian Candidates…and McCain is the most pitiful…a veteran who has turned a jaundice eye to America…probably because he was allowed to stay in Vietnam’s “Hilton” for so long…or Manchuria
February 22, 2013 @ 6:46 am
That is a pretty nasty personal attack against someone who spent a number of years suspended from a ceiling with his elbows tied behind his back while being beaten for defending your country.
February 20, 2013 @ 3:06 pm
Al Gore is a traitor to this country’s principles for his own personal profit and therefore one of the biggest hypocrites ever and Al Jazeera America is no more good for America than is the Communist Party USA. One doesn’t make everything all right just by adding “America” or “USA” after its name.
And, no, it won’t be coming to a TV near me, because I have a remote control.
February 20, 2013 @ 3:14 pm
I remember well al Jazeera reporting in the early Iraq war. Their reporter was standing in front of a TV camera saying the US was using atomic weapons. His proof was a mini mushroom cloud in the background formed by a conventional weapon. What a dufous. They remind me of Baghdad Bob. When it comes to the US, all you can expect from them is negative spin and fabrications.
February 20, 2013 @ 3:37 pm
Oh joy! we have as many stations in Spanish as we have in English. Let’s add Arabic now.
February 20, 2013 @ 3:43 pm
LOL funny, but you’re also right.
February 20, 2013 @ 3:52 pm
” the Qatar-owned network believes animosity toward its sister Arabic-language news operation has waned. Or at least it has dissipated enough to allow Al Jazeera to splash its name across its new Washington broadcast center”
Yes, I imagine with all the Muslim Brotherhood plants Obama has let into our government and our own Muslim-In-Chief in the White House, they might think “animosity has waned”.
But the REST of us are not really thrilled at having yet ANOTHER propganda organ disseminating lies and biased reporting into the airwaves–particularly not one that stems directly from our enemies!
February 20, 2013 @ 4:06 pm
I think that the practitioners of Islam have a different concept of ‘truth’ than most of us in this counrty. We (or at least most of us) think that ‘truth’ has a requirement of factual support. What I have perceived is that if a statement supports Islam, it is ‘true’. That does not allow me to even consider any Arab news service, or it’s western co-conspiritors. Islam has had a fairly long relationship with the United States, and it has generally been that of an antagonist. I had to chuckle just thinking about this and remembering that old adage about the camel’s nose in the tent.
February 20, 2013 @ 4:08 pm
Here it is an Organization our Present Governement can learn from…
While ALIAZEERA expand prospers, 24/7, with the help of local Radical Socialists/Progressives, etc., our once Great Nation, continue to srink, with the help of locally bread Democrats/Liberals and their well trained minions…
MAY GOD GONTINUE TO PROTECT AMERICA, 24/7!
February 20, 2013 @ 4:24 pm
Stop playing
THE PROBLEM ISNT THAT THERE IS AN “AL (gore) Jazeerai”
the problem is what it indicates
that the people who destroy and then build on top of the “enemies” former abodes ( or twin towers ,as it were)
ARE IN SUFFICIENT NUMBERS TO WARRANT THE STATIONS
and while there are many muslims who are good people its NOT THEM THAT DRAWS CONCERNS
Al Gore did good by Al Gore
his credibility at best is garbage
Sharia law is already in affect in America
dont fool yourself
( not that you are)
THE LEFTISTS RUN THIS COUNTRY
THEY LOVE WELFARE
WELFARE DESTROYS
Al Jazeeri is but a distraction
yes WE ARE IN TROUBLE
BUT DONT LOSE FOCUS
ITS THE LEFTISTS THAT MUST BE ROUTED
ELECT FISCAL CONSERVATIVES ONLY
challenge all RINOS
NO COMPROMISE
NONE
February 20, 2013 @ 4:24 pm
Liberal progressives always support Americas enemies.
February 20, 2013 @ 5:11 pm
Hopefully Direct TV will drop them also…….
February 20, 2013 @ 5:41 pm
“We cover the U.N. like most people cover local weather,”
Wow, won’t that be interesting.
February 21, 2013 @ 6:56 am
In my opinion, the UN has long been a questionable entity in terms of American stability and prosperity. That is kind of the wrong thing for them to say to attract my interest in their station’s news content.
Pingback: Al Jazeera: Coming to a TV near you | Reclaim Our Republic
February 20, 2013 @ 6:41 pm
Al Gore is, no doubt, an enemy of the United States, and he makes deals with known enemies of the United States. I’ve added Al Gore and Al Jazeera to my deportation list, along with Barack Obama and Pelosi. But we always have to worry about things like this, because our government has always allowed our enemies to come into this country and set up house top plot our destiny.
February 20, 2013 @ 7:52 pm
Just cut the power to their transmitter.
February 21, 2013 @ 7:45 am
I honestly don’t know how to cut the power to their transmitter. What I do know is we have only one cable company in our area. Al Jazeera will be on our cable TV unless it is promoted as an add on with cost. If it is not a special channel (like Home Box, etc.,) AND if it goes cable or dish….the only thing one can do is TURN IT OFF. I shall call my cable company any way in order to know where will will stand in this situation. This is all despicable and Al Gore should hang his head in shame but then again…this “global warmig expert” will kick himsel to the curb in order to make a buch.
February 20, 2013 @ 10:21 pm
Based on the comments of readers above, a very high percentage of the people posting their comments here most likely have never watched any Al-Jazeera programs being shown here in the USA. If they have, they will won’t be making comments like they have above. I have been watching Al-Jazeera news in the Los Angeles area for more than a year now (KCET. If I want coverage on the Middle East, they do a better job than our network. As long as you stay well informed, you can catch any Arabic slant…. just like you will with our own network liberal biases.
February 21, 2013 @ 6:22 am
makesense, while I understand what you are saying, and while I actually HAVE watched AlJazeera because it was one of few stations in the Mid East where there is news broadcast in English, I have to say that it has a decidedly Islamic slant. The Sister(Brother?) station in the US is ALIzeera, not AlJazeera. The name alone give it an even more decidedly Islamic slant, in my opinion. Furthermore, your references to how uneducated us American bumpkins are compared to the Islamic people, are offensive. If you have been in the Islamic world at all, instead of the privileged few who have spent half their life in the USA or Europe, you know that in the poorer Islamic nations, people don’t even send their kids to school and, when they do, they send them to schools that are DEFINITELY Islamic slant until they stick them on a plane and send them to the USA (or Europe) to attend real universities. Many are unable to keep up with the cirriculum because they don’t speak or understand English well enough to grasp what is going on. Next thing you know, we have doctors and “engineers” out there in the work force who are a danger to themselves and everyone around them. So I don’t want to hear about uneducated Americans who don’t watch AlJazeera and who believe that it is anything more than a spy network or a propaganda factory aimed at the Islamic community.
Remember when the Saudis believed that CNN was a spy network? And, indeed, CNN did become a propaganda network for the liberals.
I can see where everyone is coming from on this issue whether they watch it or they don’t.
February 23, 2013 @ 8:17 am
Grouchyone and makessense: while you have every right to watch AlJazeera…it does not mean you are not watching a biased, slanted news broadcast. I HAVE BEEN IN THE MUSLIM WORLD and my experiences there have prompted me to mistrust them and be most cautious. I find it offensive to ridicule the “uneducated” American public. There have been times when it is most wise NOT to go into these countries due to the war like atmosphere. These countries are constantly at unrest…and I would find it difficult to suggest to someone to visit any of them at this time. So you have been there…so what! This does not prove that either of you know more or are qualified to give advise to another American. Watch if you wish…but in this household and will our experiences in the Muslim world – we will NOT watch a broadcast that IS slanted and is propaganda. And as for all those “uneducated” Americans – all of you are just fine as long as you read and study..ignore the insulting comments about you because you have not had the opportunity to visit a Muslim country. The broadcasting in America is just another means – to me – to spread the word of Islam. I have watched in while in the Muslim world and Israel. I PERSONALLY know what is broadcast and trust me it is totally misinterpreted on purpose. I also watch BBC…so does that make me an expert on what comes from England. This is all Tom Foolery. Al Gore sold us out and now we must make a choose….watch it or don’t watch it.
February 23, 2013 @ 11:55 am
missnellie, having lived in two different countries in the mid east myself for a total of 8 non-consecutive years, and having been exposed to Al Jazeera at it’s source as well as CNN during Desert Storm in the Mid east and in the usa, I think I am probably “qualified” to say that pretty much ALL news is biased. BBC was a little better about stating only facts but they were very bad about taking the worst case scenario and touting it as country wide. Example, there was an earthquake in 1992 in Cairo Egypt. They took one building in Heliopolous and filmed it from several different angles until people called us from all over the world under the impression that the entire city was a pile of rubble when, in fact MOST buildings were still standing, including every single building that anyone I knew lived in.
I was calling out people who claimed we are all so uneducated that we don’t know enough to think Al Jazeera is most certainly slanted news broadcast by propagandists from the opposite end of the spectrum.
February 20, 2013 @ 11:24 pm
Maybe if Americans told every satellite TV and cable TV carrier out there that they would cancel their service if they carried this network, the big carriers might have a chance of heart. I will be among the first to cancel my service if my carrier has the network on it’s programming.
February 21, 2013 @ 6:25 am
Call your cable carrier and let them know that you do not want Al Jazeera on their network.
February 21, 2013 @ 7:19 am
Unfortunately, whether we want to believe it or not, OUR news networks, our entertainment networks and our educational networks on TV are controlled by OUR government and they are going to have to play along to stay on the air at all. If Uncle Sam wants Al Jazeera, then that is what we have.
Does anyone have any idea how many people no longer watch TV at all now that we have to pay to watch it because many TV’s won’t work if we don’t subscribe to a cable or satellite network? I resent that the government forced us to choose whether to add one more very expensive monthly bill to our list of things that have become necessary to our lives or else get cut out of the “loop” so to speak. And you know that it won’t be long before obama and friends start paying for cable TV for the poor people because otherwise they won’t be able to continue to brainwash them!
February 20, 2013 @ 11:38 pm
When this network is carried by my carrier, I will disconnect. Not because I’m worried about misunderstanding their propoganda slant or their tacit support of radical islamists but because I don’t want any part of my service fees going to support radical islamists or eanble this trojan horse network to further delude the gullible fools who can’t even discern MSNBC’s idiocy and contribution to the downfall of a once great USA.
February 21, 2013 @ 5:46 am
The comments on I have read in reply to this comment shows how uneducated Americans have become. Al Jazeera is not about broadcasting Islam. It’s about broadcasting news of what’s going on in Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East, South America and Mexico. Basicallly, it tells about issues that goes on internationally. I watch Al Jazeera all the time and I’m a Christian. The United States is dummying down and after reading these comments this is a pure example of it. The problem is that there’s one group of people who believe they own America and is paranoid about other groups of people especially Spanish people dominating the land. Christopher Columbus didn’t discover this land. He came on one of three ships with 200 Spaniards and the land was great before they got here. There’s opportunities to prosper and the freedom of religion in this country. That’s one of the things that makes this country great. But we also have the highest in homocide in the world because of lack of gun control thanks to our Amendment and 85% of Serial Killings are done in America. That makes this country no different than others.
February 21, 2013 @ 6:47 am
Your reference to us uneducated us American bumpkins are offensive. If you have been in the Islamic world at all, you know that Al Jazeerah definitely has an Islamic slant to all this international news they are reporting, just like CNN international has an American slant to their news.
I can certainly understand why Americans who don’t watch AlJazeera would believe that it is a propaganda factory aimed at the trying to boost the image of the Islamic community.
Remember when the Saudis believed that CNN was a spy network? When the reporters were arrested, detained and reported? I do.
TV was censored and restricted to certain Islamic countries lest some of that pesky Israeli news should creep across the airwaves and contaminate the Saudi people? I was sitting there like a sitting duck watching day old CNN news through AFRTS that was taped and sent thru closed circuit TV onto our American compound.
I can see where everyone is coming from on this issue whether they watch Al Jazeerah or they don’t. People don’t like what they have been taught to mistrust and, in this case, I think that mistrust is in order even though I do not dispute the “freedom of religion” reference.
My comment about the Spanish stations was really meant as more of a joke. I am upset because I was just sent a letter by Dish Network that I have to pay $5 extra to restrict my TV lineup to strictly English speaking stations.
Since there were no television stations when Columbus sailed, reference to Spaniards is kind of irrelevant. Furthermore, Columbus, who was Italian from what I have read, didn’t give a hoot about religion. He was an adventurer who needed someone to finance his escapades. Period.
And what has the number of homocides or serial killings in America, that you contradict yourself to claim makes us no different from other countries, got to do with Al Jazeera?
February 21, 2013 @ 8:36 am
So…I was sort of ok with that you were writing until Columbus, I thought he was from California, Nebraska, Poughkeepsie or South Dakota ;0) and then the bs arose at the end regarding guns. Since it appears you know little to nothing about history and/or actual statistics it negates anything you wrote before. The ends are definitely loose.
February 21, 2013 @ 6:53 am
Spiritof76, I understand you standing by your principals. I recently decided not to purchase a Chevrolet because I feel obama’s “hand” on it.
February 21, 2013 @ 12:27 pm
All I want to say is that I will not be watching this station. I think Al Gore as lost his marbles. He’s gone off the deep end into insanity.
As we can tell from this deal, if you have enough money you can buy anything, even someone supposed morals – i.e. against oil but sells to oil producing nation.
February 23, 2013 @ 7:29 am
AlJazeera English reminds me of CNN during its early days. Perhaps they can restore news reporting to the US instead of silly commentary.
Saudi Arabia is one of the most oppressive regimes and enemy of our way of life in the Middle East. They and Murdoch, citizen of the world, own and yes influence FOX News. The more news sources, the better to offset the end of the fairness doctrine
February 23, 2013 @ 7:48 am
You know what haldonahue, Saudi Arabia never attacked any other country and they quake in their boots every time there is unrest around them. Which is how the USA got involved in that mess in the first place when Saddam Hussein took Kuwait. While you and I may think some other country’s gov’t is oppressive, it isn’t up to us to judge them and those who govern strive to keep their sovereingty any way they can.
As for Al jazeera being like CNN, I don’t follow. CNN was ALWAYS about entertainment and sensationalism more than news.
February 23, 2013 @ 8:49 am
Must I remind you grouchy one how many of the 911 terrorists were Saudis? How about all the ‘missionary work’ they fund and support to sell they most extreme version of Islam? I do not think Saudi Government is oppressive – I know Saudi oppresses half their population – fact.
CNN was a great news station before corporate media ate it. What 4 corporations control over 80% of US media? I welcome ANY new voices
February 23, 2013 @ 9:55 am
haldonahue, I am well aware that most of the 9-11 terrorists were Saudi. I am also well aware that Osama bin Laden, declared the ring leader, was not even in Saudi at the time nor could he have gone home without being immediately arrested and executed. FACT!
Since “oppressing” their people is largely noted because they cordon off areas where terrorists and likely terrorists are living when there is unrest (and I know for a fact they do!) I don’t have any problem with it. And I understand why.
Foreigners are not allowed to just wander around at will and they definitely do keep tabs on foreign workers. Here, we let anyone and everyone in as students, visitors, etc, then whine when they lose themselves in the woodwork and fly planes into buildings. I’m sorry, I blame the US gov’t more than the Saudis for 9-11 because it was the US State Dept that passed out the student visas then never bothered to notice the students weren’t even in school!
As a former dependent of a contract worker living in SA, I wasn’t thrilled about that aspect of life in the “Magic Kingdom” but it was just a fact of life that people deal with. And I don’t know if you are aware but more than half of the working population in Saudi Arabia are “guest workers” or “contract workers” of some description. FACT!
There was censorship during the times when we lived there and there still is. We paid a buck a minute for internet the 2nd time was there and were often denied access to my local stateside newspaper for ridiculous reasons that I won’t even bother to get into– but it was censorship/oppression. The first time we were there, we watched day old AFRTS (Armed forces TV) and that was during the Gulf War and it was only allowed on American compounds as far as I know. Certain things were blipped out because they considered it “national security” issues. The 2nd tour, we watched Al Jazeera and I can assure you that it was not unbiased and it was almost as if the last line of every single news article was “and if these were good little moslems this wouldn’t be happening.” Likewise in Egypt on the Arabic TV news they more or less came right out and said that it was because the Egyptian gov’t let westerners into the country that allah was punishing them all.
Here, our stations are all over what a great guy obama is and what a great job he’s doing. It is nothing but propaganda. So if you want to compare apples to apples, it is what it is.
February 23, 2013 @ 10:11 am
I was speaking of their near total subjugation of women and their export and funding of extremist Islam and associated groups. You addressed neither
February 23, 2013 @ 11:10 am
Well, Haldonahue, individuals funding extremist and even terrorist actions happens all over the world, not just in SA. I have seen what looks like some damning evidence that OUR gov’t has funded terrorists in foreign countries. Take for example, obama supported the Moslem Brotherhood, an internationally known terrorist organization that was responsible for murdering Nasser before Hosni Mubarak was supported as the new “democratly elected” president. This in a very recent, onging and real takeover of the Egyptian gov’t. I feel that is a way bigger issue than some saudi giving away his own money. So, I guess I didn’t address that issue because I personally find it as irrelevant as Martha Stewart selling 40K of her own stock and being imprisoned as an example after Enron executives who illegally fleeced thousands of people and walked away scott free! It’s all a matter of reletivity.
As for Saudi women, I will start feeling sorry for them when they unite to help themselves. From what I saw, they feel that they are being protected and pampered because most don’t even realize that they live in what amounts to a beautiful prison. It wasn’t so long ago that women in this country rose up and united to get some rights. Today, they have the upper hand in many respects but they still complain.
BTW, I don’t really think ANY one religion, race, or gender should have the upper hand in this country but it is definitely a fact of life here as it is in many other nations. That upper hand changes with the tides of society’s preference and whoever can spread the most convincing propaganda.
Saudi laws are based on Islam and Islam is, from my viewpoint, an ignorant religion. What can I tell you? All religions and sects of the same seem to have some peculiarities that others can potentially ridicule. It is what it is.
The issue here was Al Jazeera and whether or not they are a propaganda factory or a worthy news source.