Quote:
Originally Posted by samurai007
They can both be true, actually. They can try to spin things in an anti-American light, and present their stories with a bias that is subtle enough that they can still appear to be a legitimate news agency, and thus also be unwilling to air some stories that are too sensational and over the top in their bias. It can sometimes be a fine line between subtly spinning the news in the direction you want and going so far that no one takes you seriously as a news source anymore.
Also, not every person within an organization as large as Al Jezeera is going to agree on things. There can be internal conflicts, with some editors killing stories they deem too biased and others promoting such stories.
But Noodle, surely you aren't trying to claim that Al Jezeera tries to show the US and Israel in a favorable light, or even a completely impartial light, are you? Whether it's one story being killed or "half the crap the US does", surely you must agree that Al Jezeera has a pro-Arabic and (at least subtly) anti-American and anti-Israeli agenda, right? I mean, I can easily admit FOX news has a right-wing agenda and bias, even if they still report on Republican scandals and stories that show the right in a negative light.
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I guess i should have been more specific!!! I'm talking about Al Jazeera English!!! not the arabic one... Though they carry the same name, they don't have the same news, nor do they have any arabic speaking editors!! It's actually quiete funny, In the whole office in Qatar, there are only a hand full of people that speak arabic (one being my brother, as he has to do some translations sometimes), MOST are american!
And of course it doesn't try to show US in favorable liight, but it doesn't try to show it negatively either... Like you said, there is a limit and a fine line on what to show and what not to show, and also depending who has the story, editors may choose to air or not!
With that said, according to what my brother has seen, the US has done things far worse than is shown! And that goes the other way as well, "some" US soldiers have done some amazing things that will never be shown either!
EDIT:. I just spoke to my brother... Aparently there's a certain level of independence with aljazeera, but you can never be completely sovreign as a company or a nation.... Also, when it comes to anything outside Africa and the Middle east most of the news is provided by Reuters and APTN which is regarded by MOST to be pro-western. but when it comes to Palestine, Iraq, Africa, Aljazeera is more independent and doesn't need reuters or APTIN. With that said, aparently it is controlled by the west to a certain extent! He also said its to do with the politics. meaning that a lot is controlled by the US and UK leaders!!