Elizabeth Jensen has an interesting piece in the New York Times today (6/20/11) about Los Angeles public television station KCET. After deciding to cut its ties to PBS, the channel is experimenting with different programming options, including Al Jazeera English.
And the results so far, according to one station official:
Mr. Marcus said he had been braced for some criticism from viewers about Al Jazeera English‘s point of view, but ‘most people think it’s been very even-handed.’ He praised the scope of coverage, noting that last week the program carried reports from Argentina, China and Sri Lanka. ‘I would guess those are all stories you would not see on a domestic newscast,’ he said.
Perhaps one way to improve public television is to get away from PBS.
Al Jazeera’s done good work – I’ve posted a number of their pieces at my dinky little blog – but always keep in mind that its journalistic decisions are made with an eye toward not offending its Doha sponsors.
In that respect, it shares similarities with PBS, doesn’t it?
Media without any reporters in country are not primary sources. So, to this I must admit Al Jazeer has most American Media beat. Facts must be first seen to be accurately reported.
Channel 20.3 in Chicago has also broken ties with PBS. I now watch international news that not available to my Comcast cable watching friends. Refreshing.
Euronews, Taiwan Outlook, NHK World Programing (from Japan), RT News, Al Jazeera English, France 24, and more. News of this type is what got Hillary steamed a few weeks back. It’s hard to put out a good line of propaganda when inconvenient facts keep getting in the way.
My local PBS station, 45-49 Kent Ohio, broadcasts a mix of the channels Glenn mentions on one of their extra hi-def channels
Yes, Al Jezzera is far and away the best news channel available.
Al Jezzera shows just how worthless the corporate media really is!
We need and deserve both!
Both PBS and Al Jazeera have done amazing work.
Check the pieces by Patrick Cockburn listed here for examples of Al Jazeera for better and worse:
http://www.accuracy.org/release/propaganda-on-libya/
I’m all about hitting people’s start buttons. Enjoy the show, Conrad.