Al Jazeera Assignment

1. How effective do you think the Internet will be for Al Jazeera as it attempts to reach a U.S. audience?
I think the internet will be extremely effective for Al Jazeera as it attempts to reach a U.S. audience. I had never heard of this station before, but after spending time on LiveStation watching it I could see how it could become very popular. It raised many controversial topics, debates, and takes on information that people otherwise wouldn't have access to. If there could be some advertising done, or ways to get the word out about Al Jazeera, I believe through the internet it could very easily reach a large portion of the U.S. audience.

2. Based on your own observations, do you think that Al Jazeera English should be allowed to broadcast in the U.S.?
I have mixed feelings on whether Al Jazeera English should be allowed to broadcast in the U.S. Generally, I would say yes because of the "Freedom of Speech," but this station is broadcast and head-quartered in the Middle East and I can see how that would be extremely controversial at this point in time.

3. What, if anything, do you notice about Al Jazeera's approach to telling the news? How is it different than the U.S.-based TV news outlets that you have experienced?
Al Jazeera's approach seemed a little different because it openly raised many different global controversial issues. It didn't seem to have as many limits on the scope of information that they could bring up. I also noticed that it seemed they spent a little more time on each issue than a regular news broadcast would.


4. While on the Al Jazeera site, be sure to check out the network's published Code of Ethics. Based on your own observations, do you think they are adhering to them?
After reviewing the code of ethics, it seemed to me that they were adhering to almost all of them. The only one that I would question is balance. Its difficult for any news station to provide an equal balance to its audience, but I did notice that they would generally stand by one side when presenting issues on the broadcast. The rest seemed very accurate to the station and it seemed they focus on sharing the truth.