[clue-talk] How do CLUEbies vote?

[Sean LeBlanc]

On 09-28 09:34, David Rudder wrote:
> Errr...go to www.aljazeera.com. You'll see articles like
> Israel's "peace" efforts: Foam on the water
> Everything happening now is part of Israeli efforts to take over the W. 
> Bank. All else is but foam on the water.
> 
> Ahmadinejad steals the show in New York
> "By courageously walking into the 'Lion's Den'... Ahmadinejad will 
> become a hero in the Arab-Muslim street."

Heh. Don't know about stealing the show, but I wish Bush would face his
critics in such a way for once.
 
> U.S. air raid in Baghdad kills 10: Iraqi offi ...
> A U.S. air raid killed at least 10 people, including women and children, 
> in a building in a mainly Sunni area of Baghdad.
> 
> And a whole section labeled "Conspiracy Theories".
> 
> 
> Admittedly, none of this is factually wrong. But, it comes with a bias 
> that's as clear as day.

Well, I stand corrected, then. I still have to say that getting world
opinion is pretty hard on television in the U.S.. It's all American-centric,
so when we run into someone else's blatant propaganda, it's pretty jarring.
I still would prefer a range of opinion that went from A-Z instead of from
A-B. At the least, could we get some Canadian content?

I wonder why the U.S. gov't applauded them pre-9/11? Did Al jazeera change,
or did the U.S. change? Did U.S. actions change the tone of Al jazeera?

I still don't think there would be any harm in the U.S. carrying Al jazeera.
Knowing the biases going in is more useful than being betrayed by something
supposedly being "fair and balanced", IMHO. Then you can factor the bias
into your judgement. The very idea of being balanced is bogus. In "balanced"
coverage of issues that are cut and dry like "scientific" creationism
(dressed up as Intelligent Design these days) vs. evolution, one side has to
be "balanced" by another side that is actively supporting superstition and
pretending it's science. 

I think a great goal for news would be "fact-filled and critical thinking is
applied" and use that as a real mission statement. Alas, that would come up
against a lot of problems with the advertisers...and it wouldn't make as
much money in the long run, as people obviously prefer the "shiny object
news".


It's funny the different propaganda efforts that are out there....what's his
name saying that there are no homosexuals in Iran...LOL. That might fly in
Iran, but that draws howls of laughter and outrage here. I remember a
Turkish girl I knew in uni days telling me there were no drugs in Turkey.
She said she never heard of any in the papers/news. As a westerner, that was
LOL funny. 

-- 
Sean LeBlanc:seanleblanc at comcast.net  
http://sean-leblanc.blogspot.com/