Steve
03-28-2003, 11:17 PM
I couldn't get a link to the full article, but I've seen the Al Jazeera network blasted with some regularity and wanted to provide some counterpoint.
In the March 2003 issue of National Geographic is a feature article on Qatar. They're one of our friends in that region, where a lot of our military bases are located. Qatar is also a Muslim, Arabic country and, surprisingly to most of us, quite progressive, almost radically so by the standards of that region.
Qatar is also responsible for establishing Al Jazeera. You really need to get the magazine and read the article to understand the import of this seemingly simple thing. While we find many of the things Al Jazeera reports to be repulsive and have no problem seeing much of the bias in that reporting that is inherent in Al Jazeera's audience, we should also be aware that it is the first (and only) relatively progressive Arabic media outlet, one that allows dissenting viewpoints from the region's various rulers.
I point this out because I think it's necessary for us to understand that no nation in the Middle East has had 200 years, give or take, of living with the 1st Amendment, let alone many of the other Amendments. So, if the first, baby steps toward something approaching a truly independent and free press appear to us to be just so much more propagandizing, we need to step back and judge the situation in a light different from our own.
Al Jazeera has its faults. But it can get better...if we give it time.
In the March 2003 issue of National Geographic is a feature article on Qatar. They're one of our friends in that region, where a lot of our military bases are located. Qatar is also a Muslim, Arabic country and, surprisingly to most of us, quite progressive, almost radically so by the standards of that region.
Qatar is also responsible for establishing Al Jazeera. You really need to get the magazine and read the article to understand the import of this seemingly simple thing. While we find many of the things Al Jazeera reports to be repulsive and have no problem seeing much of the bias in that reporting that is inherent in Al Jazeera's audience, we should also be aware that it is the first (and only) relatively progressive Arabic media outlet, one that allows dissenting viewpoints from the region's various rulers.
I point this out because I think it's necessary for us to understand that no nation in the Middle East has had 200 years, give or take, of living with the 1st Amendment, let alone many of the other Amendments. So, if the first, baby steps toward something approaching a truly independent and free press appear to us to be just so much more propagandizing, we need to step back and judge the situation in a light different from our own.
Al Jazeera has its faults. But it can get better...if we give it time.