Television

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

After a recent vacation in Virginia Beach (USA) where we had hundreds of channels on the vacation home's TV, my wife decided that we should have such a great selection of channels back home. So, as soon as we got back, she called the cable company and... we now have about 50 channels. At the moment, at any time of the day, I can watch a show about an Australian chef cooking pizza, or the weekly installment of some guy renovating his basement, or an episode about two wacko families who have traded wives.

One channel that we didn't have in the USA (I think it's illegal there) yet is available to us in Canada is al-Jazeera, the arabic (read Muslim) news channel based in Qatar (or Bahrein?) I first tuned in to al-Jazeera during the recent Israeli interception of the 6-ship convoy of ''humanitarian'' aid to Gaza. Surprisingly, the Muslim news service was the most balanced of all the reports I saw on this event ( I watched the BBC, TV5, CNN, CBC for news on this event). There was none of the veiled anti-Israeli- & pro-Palestinian-sentiment on al-Jazeera as on the major Western networks. The even-handedness with which this event was covered was quite a surprise to me. (The caveat here is that we have al-Jazeera/english, not the Real Thing, so to speak.)

I'll continue to report on what I see on this network. Questions are welcome.

FL

[sinnerbybirth]

Hey FL,
I thought you abandoned TV.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

Hey FL,
I thought you abandoned TV.

Yes, I had...but since we now have 50 channels, I'm occasionally tempted

Continuing from my previous post on al-Jazeera, I've found this interesting bit of information from Israel Today*:

«In a 2002 interview with the New Yorker, [Hezbollah legislator and director of Al Manar TV, Hassan] Fadlallah made it clear that he views the news media as a weapon to be wielded with extreme bias. 'Neutrality like that of [the pan-Arab TV station] Al Jazeera is out of the question for us,' Fadlallah said. 'We cover only the victim, not the agressor. CNN is a Zionist network, Al Jazeera is neutral, and Al Manar takes the side of the Palestinians...»

That quote was from 2002. CNN hasn't been «Zionist» for a long time, FOX having taken up that crown after them, only to drop it recently. So while major Western news media are now covertly pro-Palestinian, I just find it amusing that a Muslim news network seems so...balanced, at least in its Engilsh-language service.

Gotta run now! Wife Swap is on!

FL

*Israel Today Magazine, June 2010, p.9

[sinnerbybirth]

FL, I'm not much of a fan of the boob tube but I do watch it myself.

Back to your subject at hand. I wonder if this is a long standing track record for Al-Jeezera?

Fox News no longer Zionist?????? Not sure on that one.

Thanks FL and GOD Bless.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

Back to your subject at hand. I wonder if this is a long standing track record for Al-Jeezera?

Al Jazeera's neutrality must be long standing if we are to believe the quote by Fadlallah that dates from 2002. This may be a good time to add that I have yet to see a veiled woman reporter (or news anchor) on al Jazeera/english. All on-camera people are similar to those of other networks in that they are good-looking.

Fox News no longer Zionist?????? Not sure on that one.

You are right on that one! I'm a former atheist so occasionally I say things which make no sense...yet they sound sensible.

Great moniker, sinnerbybirth!

FL

[sinnerbybirth]

Fox News no longer Zionist?????? Not sure on that one.

You are right on that one! I'm a former atheist so occasionally I say things which make no sense...yet they sound sensible.

Great moniker, sinnerbybirth!

FL

No prob FL. I myself suffer from lisdexia.

I've been reading a little on Al-Jazeera. There still seems to be a little controvery by the US and Israel.

"Israel
On 19 July 2008, Al Jazeera TV broadcast a program from Lebanon that covered the "welcome-home" festivities for Samir Kuntar. In the program, the head of Al Jazeera's Beirut office, Ghassan bin Jiddo, praised Kuntar as a "pan-Arab hero" and organized a birthday party for him. In response, Israel's Government Press Office (GPO) threatened to boycott the satellite channel unless it apologized. A few days later an official letter was issued by Al Jazeera's director general, Wadah Khanfar, in which he admitted that the program violated the station's Code of Ethics and that he had ordered the channel's programming director to take steps to ensure that such an incident does not recur". (Wiki)

Although this in not my only source of info, I found this one interesting. It seems different program directors have differing opinions. I wonder how closely A-J's home office monitors the stories that are being report on. What do you think?

Thanks again FL and may GOD Bless you!

[BavarianWheels]

she called the cable company and... we now have about 50 channels.

Not including the HD and music channels, I believe we carry about 5 times that. My favorites has 43 channels.

To be honest, sometimes I wish we didn't have television in our home...
.
.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

Although this in not my only source of info, I found this one interesting. It seems different program directors have differing opinions. I wonder how closely A-J's home office monitors the stories that are being report on. What do you think?

I think the story you are speaking of must have come out of A-J's Arab-language service. And I think that A-J's English language service must be «pasteurized» for the Western market. There must be a good reason why the U.S. FCC banned A-J. (al-Arabyiah was offered to U.S. Citizens in A-J's stead.) This is just a hunch, though. When I have a bit of time on my hands, I'll search around. If you are interested in this,

http://www.palwatch.org

is a good place to start. They are an Israel-based media watchdog.

Not including the HD and music channels, I believe [we have about 5 times as many cable channels that you have.] My favorites has 43 channels.
.

I love going to the USA! Restaurant food is great and there is plenty of it on my plate. Stores are open 27 hours per day. Even in a two-bit motel on the side of I-95, there is cable with 2,5 million channels!

Things are somewhat simpler in the rest of the world. Here, the most you can get with cable is about 100 stations, including music & HD. Frankly, most of the 50 stations I have at home just show junk. Nothing immoral, just a lot of very stupid stuff. (Regular broadcasters in Canada show immoral stuff - far more than US self-censorship would allow - so we don't need cable for smut.)

To be honest, sometimes I wish we didn't have television in our home...

Same here!

FL

[cslewislover]

I didn't post earlier, but this is interesting. Does Al-Jazeera really have two different news shows? I mean, content that is a great deal different from the Arab and English speaking broadcasts? This wouldn't surprise me, but I'd like to see evidence for it. It would be a lot of extra work for them, for the sake of propaganda. I would hope, too, that if the US banned it that that was the reason why - propaganda, through either language (hateful in the one, deceptive in the other).

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

Does Al-Jazeera really have two different news shows? I mean, content that is a great deal different from the Arab and English speaking broadcasts? This wouldn't surprise me, but I'd like to see evidence for it.

The answer is Yes and the evidence is...circumstantial. You'd have to watch A-J to see their fair-play in English.

http://www.aljazeera.net/english

Palestine Media Watch, http://www.palwatch.org doesn't have nice things to say about A-J's service, accusing it of saying one thing in English and another thing in Arabic. (Yasser Arafat used to do the same; in English he praised peace and in Arabic called for war.)

Muslim Arabs speak with forked tongue.

+ + +

On another note, I discovered that I have VisionTV, a broadcaster of «spiritual» stuff. This includes run-of-the-mill Christianity as well as kooky stuff like dogs being healed in the presence of big-fat Buddha statues, and Swamis speaking of Eternal Energy that can cure foot cancer.

I've also seen Toddlers & Tiaras. Odd, very odd.

FL

[Kristoffer]

I watch tv when i got the time, usually nothing on though.(in that case I play games using this powerful PC I put together, hexacore )

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

I watch tv when i got the time, usually nothing on though.(in that case I play games using this powerful PC I put together, hexacore )

Swedish TV is dull anyway, so I don't blame you.

FL

[Kristoffer]

yes...Some shows are good...very rarely. I can pick up BBC though, i got a satalite and a large aerial.