What Al Jazeera Has Not Yet Learned
Al Jazeera, for some who have never heard of it, is a satellite news channel broadcasting from the country of Qatar. For most of the Middle East, news comes from a state-run TV or radio station promoting the state's point of view. A few years back, the country of Qatar created the satellite channel Al Jazeera. This station is free to broadcast whatever it wants without interference from the Qatar government or any other Middle East agencies.
This newfound freedom of information has become a magnet for Middle Easterners looking for news and with access to a satellite dish. Al Jazerra is the CNN of the Middle East and stands ready to broadcast news about any event.
There is just one problem with this. The employees of Al Jazerra have all the freedom they could want, but do not seem to have realized that with this freedom comes the need to show responsibility. They may have access to pictures of dead US, British or Iraqi soldiers, but that doesn't mean they should broadcast those pictures. After all, those soldiers have families and no one wants to see their family members on TV after they've been killed! Most world media also look to have at least two reliable sources of information or first hand knowledge of an event before reporting it. Al Jazeera does none of this and is more of a news channel run amok than a serious news channel in and for the Middle East.
It is unclear how and when Al Jazeera will learn the sense of responsibility incumbent upon a news channel with its widespread signal. Let's hope that it's soon before more families have to learn their loved ones have died while watching this irresponsible so-called news organization.
03/28/03 ( 467 )
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