On FIOS its 114, on Comcast 107, on DirectTV 358, on Dish 215, 4DTV has it at W5261. Did we need another news channel? I think we did, especially since CNN has gone downhill and FOX and MSNBC seem intent to fight political battles for the rest of time.
Al Jazeera America is not glitzy or really polished, today in my initial viewing I saw at least 2 ten seconds transitions of “dead air.” However, it is the refreshing hard news perspective that Al Jazeera brings that I’m looking forward to. They don’t have the gorgeous anchors of broadcast, or even other cable news channels. It’s more like the Weather Channel took up the news business. Good looking but mostly regular news people deliver the events of the day on Al Jazeera. Best of all, there is a very definite “This is not entertainment” feel to the channel.
If you are looking for a particular political slant, or audacious shouting matches over the latest news, then Al Jazeera won’t appeal to you. They do have a bias, but it may not be what you expect. They love to deliver hard news, they are one of the few news organization that still send reporters unescorted into the most dangerous events and then broadcast un-cut footage. Viewers will find that they tend to focus on something else as well, the unadorned and not so shiny parts of our world.
Find out what's happening in Morris Township-Morris Plainswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
It’s not third world TV, however I suspect Al Jazeera America will tend to be more about the disenfranchised. A good look at tonight’s special on Baltimore will say a lot more than I ever could. Have you been to Baltimore lately? There is a spectacular harbor area, which almost glows with it’s “newness”, ringed by some of the seediest and run-down neighborhoods I’ve ever seen. Think Newark in the late 60’s and 70’s.
It’s been a long battle for Al Jazeera to even get on cable and satellite, until they bought the struggling Current network they couldn’t get on with a wedge and a sledgehammer. However, now that they are on we all get another perspective to consider. Mostly Al Jazeera’s delivery of the news is unadorned, although not quite as deadly dry as PBS. It’s widely recognized as the “Just the facts” channel in many parts of the world, so US viewers may miss the constant commentary and not stop “news analysis.”
Find out what's happening in Morris Township-Morris Plainswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
We can expect a wider worldview as well which will be welcome. It may surprise many of us that the whole world is not “Anti-American”, although we definitely have our detractors. We’ll have to pick that up ourselves though, Al Jazeera is pretty dry when it comes to opinions. However, having another lens to capture the news only makes us all a little better informed, even if it scares the other cable news channels. There are only so many viewers and a lot of those are fading off to the web for their daily dose of events.
All in all I’m looking forward to watching the new channel. I’ve been a fan of getting my world events from their website for the last couple of years, as well as the BBC, so this will be just like having the news read to me. Not to mention being a nice change from the regular cable fare of overly polished “dolly-people” grinding their particular axe.
