Thursday, February 6, 2014

Al-Jazeera in the Arabic World (Cultural Post 1)


Al-Jazeera, literally the island is a Qatari broadcaster with headquarters in Doha, Qatar.  Initially launched as an Arabic news channel detailing current affairs Al-Jazeera has expanded into a large media network in multiple languages.  Al Jazeera is maintained by the government of Qatar and services much of the Arabic world with news information.  Al-Jazeera is the most watched television source for most of the Arabic world.  Al-Jazeera was one of the few Arabic news stations to broadcast the events of the Afghanistan War in 2003.  Al-Jazeera was initially created following the closure of BBC’s Arabic Language television program.  Al-Jazeera pitched important issues not related to its home country broadcasting impartial stances on issues within the Arabic world.  Al Jazeera shocked viewers with its truthful portrayal of Israel, not usually seen in most Arabic countries, by showing Israeli citizens speaking Hebrew as well as its covering of the Iraqi War.  In the time following the terrorist attacks of September 11, Al Jazeera aired videos it received from Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.  Al Jazeera in 2003 launched their own English website broadcasting news in Arabic perspective.  The new English Al Jazeera faced many challenges due to fears that Al Jazeera voiced sympathies to extremist causes.  Many non-Arabic Muslim viewers in Europe and Asia listen to Al-Jazeera English and the news station not operates a significant presence in the news in even America.  Al Jazeera America launched in 2013 and is now a premier cable service with studios in Manhattan, New York.  Due to this new launching Al Jazeera reports many issues in the Middle East that most Americans are not familiar with.  Also, Al Jazeera is broadcast and is available in most countries of the world informing many viewers on issues in the Arabic world in both Arabic and many other languages.

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