Al Jazeera digital magazine debuts.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Hamlet53

Sorry Harry. I did not intend for this to be a discussion of politics or religion. Just an announcement of a new digital news resource that was available. For the record I find Al Jazeera a good source of news items that are not at times even covered in other sources I regularly look at. If there is any bias there it is no worse than that in most US sources. If Al Jazeera's Arabic/Islamic origins make even talking about it political or religious I have no objection to this thread being closed. The announcement is out there for any who are interested.

Your announcement was absolutely fine, and very welcome.

[morriss003]

I check the Al Jazeera website daily. It is what CNN used to be. Some of the commentators are obviously biased, but that is true of any outlet with passionate people.

[Apache]

They can not be as biased as Fox News.
Apache

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Istvan diVega

Calling the BBC a "comic strip" is more than a bit silly, as far as I'm concerned. It is easily the best and most trusted global news source available. Al Jazeera is certainly very good too, in no small part because they poached a number of personnel from...the BBC.

Like all news channels they are biased, that's a given and unavoidable, but it is extremely useful to have a very decent news source with a different bias than the usual Western ones. And at least it doesn't exhibit the blatant, in-your-face bias of most US news channels.

True. Bias is unavoidable whether as a group or an individual. It's just part of human nature to have a viewpoint based on personal beliefs and ideas. Of course that isn't limited to the news either. Bias plays a part in if someone thinks a given author is good or not too I think.

[Istvan diVega]

It plays a part in just about every little choice we make, whether we think it does or not.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Apache

They can not be as biased as Fox News.
Apache

Fix news has such a slant, that even a slug cannot avoid sliding.

[Apache]

All I want is for the news channels to give me the facts. I can form my own opinions.
Apache

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by Istvan diVega

Calling the BBC a "comic strip" is more than a bit silly, as far as I'm concerned. It is easily the best and most trusted global news source available.

The BBC is a pale shadow of what it once was. Perhaps that's all it ever was. It still contains good people, I'm sure. It's better than the canned and controlled channels in the USA, but that's not saying much. I can't watch it. It presents an untrue and comforting facade. It's soma. AJ has it's bias, but it does at least provide a fresh angle.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If people can't be bothered to follow the "no politics or religion" rule which they are perfectly well aware of, then we can't be bothered to do anything more than close the thread.

I never knew it existed until someone brought it up in a thread. It's heavily under-publicized.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by Apache

All I want is for the news channels to give me the facts. I can form my own opinions.
Apache

In the strict sense, bias is unavoidable, but an emphasis on opinion is not. News organizations that purport to decode spin (beyond tracking down evidence for or against public claims) are engaging in it. They're also doing the job of the audience and doing it badly.

Audiences should be allowed time to absorb the information on which they opine and not be handed rote responses by the people who report the information. Explanations for the sake of clarity are not the same as wildly subjective interpretations.

Al Jazeera, the BBC and NPR are not objective, of course, but at least their emphasis tends to be on the story itself and not the reporters' and writers' reaction to it. At least the headlines tend not to exhibit built-in sarcasm, which is, again, the reader or viewer's domain.

I don't know that I've ever met a reader or listener who was too incompetent to make sarcastic or impassioned comments about a news story.

[Lynx-lynx]

Al Jazeera news is a part of the Australian tv landscape ... and is generally well accepted.

SBS tv regularly broadcasts Al Jazeera news snippets in the prime evening news slots, and also airs full Al Jazeera produced documentaries, as well as dedicated daily Al Jazeera news program slots.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation also uses Al Jazeera as a news source, and accords it it's own Newshour slot.

I regard it as important to hear different views of world events.

[faithbw]

Originally Posted by frahse

What no "jihad?"

Al Jazeera isn't a religious organization. In fact, a good number of the staff for the English and American sections aren't even Muslim.

ETA: I see there are already plenty of replies about this.