<p>In conjunction with its partnership with Pacifica Radio, the student-run Wesleyan radio station will begin carrying weekday hour-long broadcasts from <em>Al Jazeera</em> 11am-12; this, on the heels of the pivotal role played by the Arab-based news organization in broadcasting recent events in Egypt:
[WESU</a> 88.1 FM](<a href=“http://wesufm.org/]WESU”>http://wesufm.org/)
[thanks, to <em>Wesleying</em> for original post]</p>
<p>I get it on TV and it’s actually exceptional in terms of reporting and analysis. Then again, I get a number of news channels and their international editions all tend to be vastly improved over their home country editions. For example, I don’t think Glenn Beck makes the FOX News international edition and there’s much more news and less analysis…and the news is less editorialized, so it’s quality stuff. Al Jazeera distinguishes itself by focusing coverage on highly-populated corners of the globe that most of the West forgets/ignores/dismisses. They’re not afraid to serve up criticism of the U.S., but they are equal opportunity critics, meaning that there are no, uh, sacred cows (so to say).</p>
<p>Exceptional, it is that. Accurate, no; biased, definately. I think your comparison to Fox is misplaced: Fox is crazy only most of the time. As for Al Jazeera, they are not “equal opportunity critics.” Take a look at its reporting on Israel, or in ALJ speak, the Zionist Aggressors. What next, tout the wonders of Iran’s “Press TV?” If you want a non-U.S. look at the world, cool, try the BBC. ALJ, please.</p>
<p>Actually, my current favorite is France 24. Fortunately, I don’t have to go far to get a non-US look at the world, nor am I relegated to one or two such outlets. I actually have to go out of my way to get a U.S. slant, which is why I bother with FOX News. It’s true that Al-Jazeera doesn’t try to win friends (just influence people) when it comes to its coverage of Israel. For that, I agree that it deserves marks against it. Still, as a regular consumer of non-US news sources, I’ve found (yes, surprisingly) Al-Jazeera is a far better news organization than you allow.</p>
<p>All in all, U.S. cable news sucks, so it’s a low bar. Even U.S. news organizations’ international arms put their U.S. products to shame. While the international editions of U.S. cable news channels had some sort of coverage of the events in Tunisia, a check around U.S. cable news as that was going on one month ago made you wonder if Tunisia even existed. Instead, there were low speed car chases in Southern California, a dog sledding down a hill and a cross-eyed possum that was about to be displayed in a German zoo – the latter, I presume, qualifying as “international news.” These stories were featured on the web pages, too. By comparison, I’ll take Al-Jazeera (and many other) news offerings over what CNN and FOX dish up to their U.S. viewers. While Al-Jazeera was covering the on-going medical problems that 9/11 first responders face, you could turn on CNN to see if Britney Spears was wearing panties that day. Maybe it was editorial bias against America, but Al-Jazeera was ahead of U.S. news organizations on that story.</p>
<p>Even if you object to its bias, at least it touches on stories that actually rate as news. But we should at least agree that it’s not anywhere close to having the laughable bias of, say, China Central TV news. That’s the rap that Al-Jazeera gets, but that’s a meme that gets too much traction from people who don’t object to a 7-minute segment on how well (or poorly) Justin Bieber handled the Grammies…which is why Al-Jazeera is worth a look (or, on WESU, a listen) so that viewers/listeners can decide for themselves and, as college students are fully capable of doing, filter out the bias or maybe even learn from it.</p>
<p>that Wesleyan radio will offer well-rounded coverage of the news, especially in the Middle East. Al Jazeera is definitely biased against Israel, unjustly so. While the rest of its world coverage may be decent, I would hate to think that students at Wesleyan would not have access to both sides of the story where Israel is concerned. With that said, it is my opinion that most Western media outlets, BBC and CNN included, are also biased against Israel and will most often frame their news stories in ways that make Israel look bad- or choose not to cover the positive stories about Israel at all. The war against Israel is, in large part, a PR war, and it is working. </p>
<p>I have heard that there is a significant anti-Israel agenda on the Wesleyan campus. Is this true?</p>
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<p>I think when someone uses a loaded word like, “agenda”, the burden is on them to define what they mean by it? There are a handful of Palestinian students at Wesleyan and in some quarters, at least, even ascribing a nationality to them would constitute a significant ratcheting up of the rhetorical stakes. My suspicion is that if you conducted a poll, most Wesleyan students would support some variant of the “two-state solution”, but, again, I’m not sure whether that answers your question.</p>
<p>maybe “agenda” was the wrong word to use- i apologize and i thank you for your reply. i have heard, and this might not be true which is why i am asking, that there is a concerted effort to bring pro-Palestinian (and therefore anti-Israel) lecturers, activities, events to campus, more so relatively speaking, than other political events. maybe this is wrong.</p>
<p>it also struck me as odd that obtaining an hour-long Al Jazeera news program was significant enough to post on College Confidential.</p>
<p>@mommyg: you should watch Fox News and stay away from Wesleyan</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to offend anyone- and I’m sorry if I did. Honestly, I do not watch Fox News because I view them as ridiculously biased. And why should I stay away from Wesleyan? Please explain.</p>
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<p>As far as I can tell, Wesleyan may have five or six Palestinian or Palestinian-American students at any given time. That’s probably five or six more than Williams, Bowdoin or Middlebury – but, don’t hold me to that. They have the same rights to bring speakers to campus, shout slogans and to hold bake sales as any other group.</p>
<p>It’s interesting to note that when Israeli historian, Benny Morris, spoke at the university two years ago, most of the people who protested the event were non-students. The students who disagreed with Morris were inside listening respectfully and asked questions at the appointed time. The entire evening would barely register as a blip on the screen for a typical Wesleyan weeknight: [Israeli</a> Historian Draws Small-Scale Protest ? The Wesleyan Argus](<a href=“http://wesleyanargus.com/2009/02/03/israeli-historian-draws-small-scale-protest/]Israeli”>The Wesleyan Argus | Israeli Historian Draws Small-Scale Protest) </p>
<p>As for why I think Al Jazeera broadcasts being made available on Wesleyan airwaves might be news, well, mostly it’s a matter of timing. Al Jazeera has been in the news quite a bit these past two to three weeks.</p>
<p>That information is very helpful, thank you. Of course all groups have the right to organize and present their views. Respectful discourse and behavior, and interest in other peoples’ beliefs and opinions is an example of maturity and intelligence, something Wesleyan students and faculty are known for. </p>
<p>And yes, you are right, Al Jazeera has been in the news a lot lately. I understand now why it would be applicable to post about it. I didn’t think about that.</p>
<p>PS Thanks for the link.</p>
<p>I spent a sleepless night thinking about this last night. It was hurtful what dschungel said and I just wanted to say a couple of things and then I won’t post here again. First, supporters of Israel’s right to exist, a homeland for the Jewish people, are not necessarily political conservatives. I, in fact, am a very liberal democrat. Second, supporters of Israel and a Palestinian state living side by side in peace have nothing against the Palestinian people, in fact, we want nothing more than for the Palestinian people to live honorable, productive, fruitful and peaceful lives. They deserve it. </p>
<p>The truth is hard to find in today’s media. I hope that the WESU88.1FM will work to broadcast information from Israel’s perspective, as well as the Arab network. I also hope that at Wesleyan, students who believe as I do will not be told to “watch Fox News and stay away from Wesleyan”. </p>
<p>Thank you for hearing me out. Wesleyan is an amazing place and am proud to be a part of its community.</p>
<p>mommyg, I apologize for the second part of my statement. It was mean and came out much harsher than I intended. I did not mean that anyone, including you, should not be welcome at Wesleyan because of their opinions about Al Jazeera, etc. I meant that if you are intolerant of different perspectives then I hope you stay away, but the way I tried to say that was reckless, and I totally recant it. If the first part of what I said hurt your feelings also, I apologize for that.</p>
<p>Thank you for your post and apology- of course it is accepted.</p>
<p>It’s interesting to note your point…</p>
<p>“I meant that if you are intolerant of different perspectives then I hope you stay away”</p>
<p>Please think about how, based on what you wrote, you fit that description perfectly.</p>
<p>Here’s to working together for a peaceful and tolerant world for our children. Clink.</p>
<p>As a lurker, I would like to say how nice this conflict has been dealt with considering how vehement and strong opinions get on the Israel-Palestine conflict. I would like to say that I like Al Jazeera while recognizing that it has a bias, which is pretty natural considering that it is based in Qatar. It does strive for integrity and honesty, which is more than many American news programs.</p>