Al Jazeera has become the de facto voice and herald of the Arab world to the rest of the globe. Headquartered in Doha, Qatar, Al Jazeera has been broadcasting current news and events for almost 15 years. Lately, it has expanded into offering its news and broadcasts in more languages than just Arabic, being available not just via satellite but from the Internet as well.
A multilingual international news network that has actively covered some of the most history-making events of our times, from the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the subsequent War on Terror, to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the constant Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, and any other important news item originating in or involving the Middle East and its people.
Often expressing views and insights that many have characterized as controversial, it is now a well-established fact that Al Jazeera is now recognized as a mainstream news outlet, agency and network that works closely with the globally active and renowned BBC and CNN, providing news reports and on-site video. Moreover, it has managed to establish a more independent view and opinion on global and Middle Eastern events than most Arab nations' state-run television networks, offering a more objective and realistic perspective to the Arab people, whether they are citizens of a Middle Eastern country, or Arabs somewhere else in the globe.
Similarly, Al Jazeera manages to open a window into the Arab world for the rest of the world, and especially the Western world, to see more clearly into the workings of Arab society and the everyday life Arabs in general. In these troubling times of global insecurity, the focus is on the petroleum-rich and trouble-laden Middle East, and it is up to the challenge of making every voice count, in the spirit of journalism and world cooperation.
In order to fulfill that mission, Al Jazeera has embraced the openness of the Internet, and apart from the free-to-view satellite broadcasts through many satellites, it regularly uploads its English shows and news on YouTube. Al Jazeera, both the English and Arabic editions, can be watched in a live stream from their respective websites. Condensed versions of these streams as well as selected clips are available for mobile Internet users, so you can watch this on-the-go, a more bandwidth and mobile friendly version of the network's news and shows, which of course includes Sports.
And while there is an abundance of news outlets and agencies vying for control of information and ad revenue, there are always free TV channels like Al Jazeera that focus on doing what they are meant to do: tell the news, in an objective way, and let you, the viewer, make up his own mind and opinion. So, the next time you are going to watch TV online, make sure to at least check out Al Jazeera.
Dermound Becker
bdermound@gmail.com
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