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11 Sep 2011 21:51

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World: Al Jazeera sister network raided by Egyptian officials; network defiant

  • If broadcasting the truth is considered endangering stability, then it is an honor for any media outlet to be endangering stability.
  • Ahmed Zein, manager of Al Jazeera Live Egypt • Sounding defiant amidst a raid that took the network off the air on Sunday. The raid was not without warning — a couple of weeks before, the country’s minister of media, Osama Heikal, said that it would take actions against media outlets that “endanger the stability and security” of the country — which one could argue the happened with last week’s attack on the Israeli embassy. Al Jazeera Live Egypt is a fairly new sister network that cropped up in reaction to the Egyptian revolution, seen in the West as a coming out party for the Qatar-based network. The affiliate focuses on street protests. source

08 Mar 2011 20:43

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Culture: Al Jazeera’s next move: Nickelodeon kid’s-TV territory?

  • When Al Jazeera isn’t focused on news, they’re focused on kids. The network has had a children’s programming offshoot for half a decade in the Middle East, and now they want to bring it over to the U.S. as the Al Jazeera Children’s Channel. Their hope? That the edutainment network’s high-minded approach to kid’s shows might be able to earn them some TV play outside of the traditional silo of international news. For what it’s worth, above is their test pattern. It’s pretty cute. (via negevrockcity) source

01 Mar 2011 16:29

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World: Abroad, military possibilities loom over Gaddafi’s chaos

  • Will international forces tighten on Gaddafi? Here’s a simple, neat little video by Al Jazeera on international military response to Libya. source

21 Feb 2011 15:00

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World: A video glimpse into the chaos, brutality in Tripoli

  • Not for the faint of heart: This Al Jazeera English clip gives a stark and worthy overview of the bloodshed in Libya, including some particularly grisly shots taken from the streets of Tripoli. Be advised that it’s rather unpleasant to watch, but nonetheless – there’s a truth to the grim images that needs to be presented in times like these. It’s important for the ability of Libyans to make themselves and their horrific struggle known, and to inform our international conscience. source

01 Feb 2011 10:56

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World: Posted without comment: Video of today’s Egyptian protests

  • (via al-Jazeera English’s YouTube channel)

31 Jan 2011 21:09

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U.S., World: By the numbers: al-Jazeera English’s huge leap in online traffic

  • 4M number of online views al-Jazeera English says it has gotten since Friday
  • 1.6M number of views the network has gotten from the United States alone
  • 2,500% the increase in the site’s online traffic since Friday (a big deal) source
  • » Why they aren’t on cable: As our buddy ProducerMatthew figured out last night, they’re fighting in a very competitive space. And now he has a little backup from the New York Times. In statements acquired by the paper, many cable companies said similar things. It’s like applying for a federal job and getting a form rejection letter apparently, except with Comcast.

30 Jan 2011 23:05

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Politics: Max Headroom: TweetDeck an unofficial “Meet the Press” panelist

  • The TweetDeck in the room: For their Egypt roundtable today, Meet the Press decided to take a cue from the CNN playbook and stick social media on a giant TV screen within plain sight. Surprisingly, Chuck Todd, Harold Ford and company weren’t completely distracted by this and had something pretty intelligent to say about Egypt. David Gregory’s intro was a weeeeeeeee bit forced, though. Next time, leave the innovative gimmicks to Jake Tapper … oh wait, he doesn’t have a show anymore. 🙁 Carry on.
  • Egypt: An excuse to drill in the gulf Look, it’s understandable that you feel that oil drilling should be allowed in the Gulf Coast, Rep. Jeff Landry of Louisiana. It was the first thing we thought of, too. But, you know, think this can wait a week? Maybe two? This is so close to the edge of the crisis that it seems a little insensitive.
  • Behind the scenes of al-Jazeera Commotion. Guy futzing with non-working cell phone. Hard work to ensure that al-Jazeera doesn’t go off the air in Egypt. What might surprise is that even they sound surprised at how strong the protests in Egypt were – and Ayman Gaballah, the guy talking, says they had word that this might go down!
 

30 Jan 2011 20:08

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Biz: Why do U.S. cable companies continue to block al-Jazeera English?

  • There was reluctance from these companies to embark in a direction that would perhaps be opposed by the Bush administration. I think that’s changed. I think if anything the Obama administration has indicated to al-Jazeera that it sees us as part of the solution, not part of the problem.
  • Al-Jazeera English’s head of North American strategies Tony Burman • Discussing why getting his network on U.S. cable systems has been such a hard sell. When the English-language network launched in 2006, it carried a bit of a reputation with it (despite its editorial independence and BBC-like business model), and it’s one that’s kept the network running in D.C., parts of Ohio and parts of Vermont. That’s it. (Oh, and if you happen to own a satellite dish.) This is despite the fact that the service is widely-available in Europe and Canada without any troubles. “Why in the most vibrant democracy in the world, where engagement and knowledge of the world is probably the most important,” Burman continues, “why it’s not available is one of these things that would take a PhD scholar to understand.” Meanwhile, Fox News airs unabated. source

29 Jan 2011 10:39

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World: Egypt death toll estimates: Three sources, three different numbers

28 Jan 2011 18:49

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World: Al-Jazeera breaking ground with Creative Commons-licensed news

  • News organizations take note: Not only is al-Jazeera getting much attention for their coverage of the Egypt crisis, but they’re breaking a lot of ground, too. They’ve released tons of content with a Creative Commons license – video, Flickr photos and more. They’ve had a long relationship with the CC people, and this proves exactly why it’s so fruitful. Just think if the AP actually did this instead of threatening to sue everyone under the sun. source