NBC/CBS/ Al Jazeera/ABC/NPR – All the same .

Wow, Sam Donaldson is a terrorist.

I. did. not. know. that.

It was nice to see Jake back. Hopefully there will be more Mid-East uprisings to keep Christiane busy.

I can’t take credit for the idea, but Al Jazeera deserves a Peabody for the conditions under which they’ve been reporting. I mean, there was something of a tussle in this country when a couple of members of the administration said something derogatory about Fox News, but it would’ve been unimaginable for their credentials to be revoked, their cut-off phones or if the police stormed their offices.

Whenever something happens in the world, CNN and our other news networks get into place to keep us informed. Sure, Al Jazeera started talking about a post-Mubarak Egypt before anyone else and they’ve shown some video that they’ve described as something the Mubarak administration wouldn’t want Egyptians to see, but the overwhelming majority of the viewers to their English channel have been outside of Egypt’s borders and if it wasn’t for their reporting, we’d not be nearly as well informed.
—

BTW – Completely off-topic for the post, but germane to the rest of the Donaldson clip: Former President Carter, the one who brokered the Camp David Accord said this morning, he believes Mubarak “will have to leave” because “the people have decided”, among other things.

No question, Al Jazeera English kicked ass in it’s reporting here. No American news media even got close. American news media generally is a joke! People seem to forget that most Arab governments absolutely hate Al Jazeera.

Matt Schneider said:
“Given that the controversial Al Jazeera network is not widely available in the U.S. and has been criticized in the past for demonstrating an anti-American bias in its coverage, Donaldson’s praise might raise an eyebrow.”

Nah. Our eyebrows have been raised so frequently in the past by the behavior of anti-American Liberals that the rest of us now just take it in stride. Donaldson has always been in that camp, so his finding a way to praise another anti-American organization is predictable. Some quotes I’ve saved up over the years are so anti-American, that without a scorecard it’s impossible to distinguish whether they were made by Al Qaeda leaders or Democrats.

Many also forget that it was al Jazeera’s Arabic language network that aired all those Osama tapes. The English language channel is completely different and it’s hard to find a situation where it was taking sides.

“Talk about propaganda for Al-Jazeera. Thank you for what you’re doing. People say Al Jazeera fanned the flames here by bringing the fact that democracy is in existence and that people are being suppressed. That’s what we need. ”

Sam, what are you talking about?

We all know that what is happening in Egypt now was caused by Sarah Palin’s rhetoric.

BFD said:
Wow, Sam Donaldson is a terrorist.

I. did. not. know. that.

Why do you think he wears that rug?

Gasket said:
No question, Al Jazeera English kicked ass in it’s reporting here. No American news media even got close. American news media generally is a joke! People seem to forget that most Arab governments absolutely hate Al Jazeera.

Gasket may now be the stupidest poster in the history of Mediate. Wow, you must really have no brain to post this drivel. I can assume at the very least you have never once visited any country in the Middle East. Dunce.

Ninja said:
Gasket may now be the stupidest poster in the history of Mediate. Wow, you must really have no brain to post this drivel. I can assume at the very least you have never once visited any country in the Middle East. Dunce.

Prove me wrong you whiner or shut up.

Sam Donaldson.

This is the first time since I left Haiti that I have seen a shrunken skull speak.

I hope people aren’t scared off by the name of Al-Jazeera. It’s one of the top news networks with some of the best reporters in the world. It gives a great and unbiased view of things going on in the ME and provides an outlook on the U.S. that you don’t get with FOX, CNN or network news. I don’t think their’s too much room to debate how good they’ve been covering the ME over the past decade.

Isn’t this a little bit of a “duh” situation?

It’s a conflict in Al Jazeera’s backyard! It would be like someone argueing that the coverage from the local NY stations were better after 9/11, than say, those in Dallas. An operation based in that area SHOULD do a better job, than those on the other side of the world, with only a reporter or two covering the entire region.

Again, duh.

I can’t speak for the arabic version, but the English language Al-Jazeera has stunning on the scene coverage. They are quite anti-Israel but I imagine if you were based near the area of Israel’s massive invasions and attacks, you would be too.

Raygun said:
They are quite anti-Israel

That explains the love they’re getting from some of our leftists posters.

http://egyptinternetprotest.blogspot.com/

Al-Jazeera has an Anti-Israel bias only a lefty could love. No surprise that Donaldson heaped praise on them. I’m sure Sam also approves of the Crescent News Network out of Atlanta and National Palistinian Radio from Washington D.C.

Some interesting reading:

Working Group on Egypt Calls for Suspension of U.S. Aid

There’s a very sensible plan for the US in there.

WaPo: Egypt protests show George W. Bush was right about freedom in the Arab world

They are quite anti-Israel but I imagine if you were based near the area of Israel’s massive invasions and attacks, you would be too.

Their what, now? Who have they attacked/invaded that didn’t attack them first? Do you have a problem with self defense?

Breitbart, Fox Nation defend Bachmann and blame CNN for something Fox News did http://bit.ly/hO0XmT

Gasket said:
No American news media even got close.

Fox did! Try it – You’ll Like IT!

Well , Obama did it .

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/obama-will-go-down-in-history-as-the-president-who-lost-egypt-1.340057

And what of Chantal Chamandy ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYJ1mAE0WHk

BatBoy said:
Fox did! Try it – You’ll Like IT!

I have watched FNC international coverage many times dude. It’s lackluster. It probably is the worst of all major US news networks. They most likely don’t have the resources or just don’t want to invest more in their international coverage. Their international correspondents are also mediocre. Greg Palkot? WTF. Compare his reporting to NBC’s Richard Engel…or even Amanpour when she was on CNNi. BBC is #1, CNNi (not CNN-US) is #2 in my opinion. Those two are the best internationally since they have an extensive network of worldwide affiliates and greatest # of journalists embedded worldwide. No big surprise really. They have been doing it longer and are better connected.

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/28/al-jazeeras-egypt-coverage-earns-high-praise-from-twitter/
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/01/30/egypt-bans-arabic-broadcaster-al-jazeera/

They have OWNED the US media on coverage of the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings. US Media playing catch up.

Excerpt from 1 Peter 3:8-12

Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing. Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, here’s what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful; Snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you’re worth. God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to what God is asked.

I thought that this was an incredibly apt comment that we who participate in the discussions here would like to follow.

ImNotBlue said:
Isn’t this a little bit of a “duh” situation?

It’s a conflict in Al Jazeera’s backyard! It would be like someone argueing that the coverage from the local NY stations were better after 9/11, than say, those in Dallas. An operation based in that area SHOULD do a better job, than those on the other side of the world, with only a reporter or two covering the entire region.

Again, duh.

I think he was talking in the context that most media in the Arab world are censored. Not months ago was hosni Mubarak signing a deal with the Gov of UAE which would airbrush the image of Mubarak thru AJ. That was one of the reasons in the first couple of days even AJ wasnt covering the protests in Cairo.

In lieu of all that AJ put it’s personnell in the streets and did what other international media couldn’t. Remember, in Egypt, AJ is an international cable channel, not a hometown tv station.

Courteous Commentary said:
Excerpt from 1 Peter 3:8-12 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing. Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, here’s what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful; Snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you’re worth. God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to what God is asked. I thought that this was an incredibly apt comment that we who participate in the discussions here would like to follow.

Scram , Tammy Fay .

Courteous Commentary said:
Courteous Commentary

Its a nice thought but I do not believe it will go over big here.

Gasket said:
I have watched FNC international coverage many times dude. It’s lackluster. It probably is the worst of all major US news networks. They most likely don’t have the resources or just don’t want to invest more in their international coverage. Their international correspondents are also mediocre.

Yeah, just ask Steve Centanni, jackass.

Davo said:
Matt Schneider said:“Given that the controversial Al Jazeera network is not widely available in the U.S. and has been criticized in the past for demonstrating an anti-American bias in its coverage, Donaldson’s praise might raise an eyebrow.” Nah. Our eyebrows have been raised so frequently in the past by the behavior of anti-American Liberals that the rest of us now just take it in stride. Donaldson has always been in that camp, so his finding a way to praise another anti-American organization is predictable. Some quotes I’ve saved up over the years are so anti-American, that without a scorecard it’s impossible to distinguish whether they were made by Al Qaeda leaders or Democrats.

Would I be correct in assuming that you have never actually watched Al Jazeera? If you had, I think you might be very much surprised. To the extent there is any Islamic bias, it is simply in the variety of the stories which are presented. It is about as straight news as you can get anywhere in the world today, far less ideological than FOX “News” or MSNBC.

The Real Royal King said:
Would I be correct in assuming that you have never actually watched Al Jazeera

You would be correct. Fake conservatives don’t need actual evidence to make assertions. They rely on their talking point gurus to tell them what to think. If they’d bother to actually watch al Jazeera, then they’d start to have a sense of what a news network looks like and stop buying the spoon-fed drivel Fox dispenses as “news”.

But then again, the fact that al Jazeera actually spends more than five minutes examining an issue and actually has EXPERTS instead of the same set of circling shark pool of talking heads with books to sell giving their two cents on every topic whether they are qualified or not is not something the American “News” audience is accustomed to.

Pablo said:
Yeah, just ask Steve Centanni, jackass.

LOL…a little defensive tonight PabloWS?

http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/personalities/steve-centanni/bio/#s=a-d
That’s his FNC bio, they don’t even call him a foreign or international news corespondent.

Richard Engel Bio
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5424809/ns/nightly_news-about_us/

Centanni guy is looking like a rookie Pablow.

Sweet dreams. ;)

The Real Royal King said:
Would I be correct in assuming that you have never actually watched Al Jazeera? If you had, I think you might be very much surprised. To the extent there is any Islamic bias, it is simply in the variety of the stories which are presented. It is about as straight news as you can get anywhere in the world today, far less ideological than FOX “News” or MSNBC.

They are not waving the American flag so they are biased and not credible. That’s the conservative’s worldview. I had a similar argument with my brother who is a conservative and actually had to show him their website just to prove to him they were not screaming “Death To America” LOL.

Gasket said:
Centanni guy is looking like a rookie Pablow.

Yeah, Centanni is a complete rookie and doesn’t know shit about Islamists! Jackass.

Aside from him “converting”, that is.

Sam Donaldson was Right!

From the bio Gasket linked:

In 2006, Centanni provided live coverage from the Gaza Strip when he and cameraman Olaf Wiig were kidnapped and held hostage for two weeks in August by Palestinian gunmen. Previously, he traveled extensively throughout the Middle East to capture both sides of the ongoing war in the region.

Did you even read it?

They should have a place to give tips to Mediaite cause I just saw a totally awesome political video that is probably gonna go viral or it should even thought it’s local in Chicago.

Carol Mosley Braun just said to some other candidate that she was strung out on crack and belongs to a cult. That story should be right at the top of the page!

Gasket said:
No question, Al Jazeera English kicked ass in it’s reporting here. No American news media even got close. American news media generally is a joke! People seem to forget that most Arab governments absolutely hate Al Jazeera.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#Controversy

for all the ignorant rightwingers..he’s right..many arab nations HATE aljazeera

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/30/ap/middleeast/main7298593.shtml

More bio:

Centanni was the first television reporter to provide on-site reports from the building where Uday and Qusay Hussein were killed after a gun battle with the 101st Airborne Division. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Centanni served as an embedded journalist with the Navy SEAL’s, providing numerous first reports for the network, including a report that the U.S. had captured two main offshore oil terminals located 22 miles off Iraq’s southern coast, preventing them from being blown up by the Iraqis.

While covering the War on Terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Centanni was first to report the fall of the Taliban in their final stronghold of Kandahar. During Operation Enduring Freedom, he reported on U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, the new interim government in Kabul and hostilities between Pakistani and Indian troops along the frontlines in Kashmir. Currently, Centanni is covering the crisis in Iraq and is stationed in Doha, Qatar.

You didn’t read a word of it, did you, Gasket? Faux Noise, amirite? Steve Centanni is no Richard Engle, right?

Gasket said:
I have watched FNC international coverage many times dude. It’s lackluster. It probably is the worst of all major US news networks. They most likely don’t have the resources or just don’t want to invest more in their international coverage. Their international correspondents are also mediocre. Greg Palkot? WTF. Compare his reporting to NBC’s Richard Engel…or even Amanpour when she was on CNNi. BBC is #1, CNNi (not CNN-US) is #2 in my opinion. Those two are the best internationally since they have an extensive network of worldwide affiliates and greatest # of journalists embedded worldwide. No big surprise really. They have been doing it longer and are better connected.

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/28/al-jazeeras-egypt-coverage-earns-high-praise-from-twitter/
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/01/30/egypt-bans-arabic-broadcaster-al-jazeera/

They have OWNED the US media on coverage of the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings. US Media playing catch up.

You’re right, but I don’t think any cable television news station has nailed it yet. A few major newspapers do a good job, but not much on TV. One possible reason: little interest?

Do you think that their’s enough interest in international (especially Middle Eastern) news here in the U.S. for Fox, CNN, whoever to value putting resources into it?

BatBoy said:
Fox did! Try it – You’ll Like IT!

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/17488/53/

fnc international does care to be international because there ratings in the us are the best…there are far less ppl outside the us who would believe what fox news would call “news”

and to mediaite: how freaking long does it take to get a new password on this site???
lost my password,took me hour and i still didnt get the email
i made a new account because i couldnt wait that long!!!!

Pablo said:
From the bio Gasket linked:

Did you even read it?

I did. That’s why I linked to it you toad! He has nothing on Engel. Read Engel’s BIO then talk to me again Susan. Bob Woodruff of ABC got hit by an IED in the middle east covering the war. Shit happens when you are in a war zone. That does not make Bob an expert on middle east matters however. That just means he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He’s still a good journalist however.

Centanni is an ok journalist, never said he was total shit or clueless. I simply said his analysis and expertise on everything middle east pales in comparison to actual foreign correspondents like Richard Engel.or even say Michael Ware. Have you even watched the reporting of these people before your nut swingage? These guys can embed, know the local culture well, are embraced and speak to the locals there in their own languages, and can extract information that some random fly in English talking journalist would never get. Richard lived in Egypt for years too. He will have more intricate knowledge of the area’s politics. It’s no contest why his experience would be superior. Capisce? I have no idea why I keep responding to your prattle btw after me eating your lunch or is it dinner yesterday. Now saunter along and f@ck off, spinmeister! :)

stephenpyle said:
You’re right, but I don’t think any cable television news station has nailed it yet. A few major newspapers do a good job, but not much on TV. One possible reason: little interest?

Do you think that their’s enough interest in international (especially Middle Eastern) news here in the U.S. for Fox, CNN, whoever to value putting resources into it?

You got it. BBC is good because they are subsidized by the British government. CNN-I is good because they have an established network of correspondents worldwide where they can always ‘plug-in’ to get more entrenched coverage. You saw this during the Peru earthquake. For a single news organization to do all this on it’s own would be very expensive. This is the reason why coverage from media like FOX is sub-par in the international market. They don’t feel the investment is worth the return. I have another theory as well but I do not have enough evidence to support it. It has to do with the age of the demographic following international events.

Yes the media is the message (McLuhan), of the people, but do not forget how internal competition for orthodoxy is also flamed by it. http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/group_polarization.htm

Color Me Badd said:
They should have a place to give tips to Mediaite cause I just saw a totally awesome political video that is probably gonna go viral or it should even thought it’s local in Chicago.

Carol Mosley Braun just said to some other candidate that she was strung out on crack and belongs to a cult. That story should be right at the top of the page!

Dang, the things that come out of that church! haha

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/elections/carol-moseley-braun-patricia-van-pelt-watkins-crack-addict-20110130

Correction. Amanpour’s in Egypt Illinois, checking to see if all the Islamophobia goin’ on There has been the root cause of the strife w/Mubarek in Cairo. You’re Bad America! You’re Bad..Bad..BAD!

The Real Royal King said:
Would I be correct in assuming that you have never actually watched Al Jazeera?

Would I be correct in assuming that you never actually read either Matt Schneider’s article here, or my post? Matt’s statement about Al Jazeera’a anti-American slant is what I addressed, and noted the anti-American rhetoric Americans have had to endure from Democrats ever since 9/11 ………………..actually since the mid 60′s, but this article is about the Middle East.

The American Media was a disgrace, is a disgrace and a bloody shame to their profession.

To haughty Leftist media hack Donaldson: “Thank you for smoking.”

Gasket said:
Centanni is an ok journalist, never said he was total shit or clueless.

No, you said “they don’t even call him a foreign or international news corespondent” and “Centanni guy is looking like a rookie Pablow.”, both of which are utterly moronic.

Donaldson is an integral part of the “mainstrem progressive media” in this country, so of course he sees no bias or political agenda in Al Jazeera’s coverage!

After all, Donaldson’s media elected Barack Obama!

And after singing ‘Thank you very much’, Donaldson went to fetch a turkey for Mr. Scrooge.

skyfet said:
The American Media was a disgrace, is a disgrace and a bloody shame to their profession.

I have to agree and need to express my concern for our democracy. We depend on a competent media, but all we get is FOX and MSNBC.

Pablo said:
No, you said “they don’t even call him a foreign or international news corespondent” and “Centanni guy is looking like a rookie Pablow.”, both of which are utterly moronic.

I stand by my words. I never said he was clueless (you did) — so YOU are in deed the MORON and LIAR for attributing your words to me…just like clockwork — erecting strawmans. Yes, compared to Engel, or Amanpour, Centanni is a f*cking rookie when it comes to international correspondence. FOX doesn’t seem to have confidence in him to call him their foreign or international news correspondent. They call him a “national correspondent” in their profile. The bios don’t lie, but apparently, that’s your forte PabloW.

truthiness said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera#Controversy

for all the ignorant rightwingers..he’s right..many arab nations HATE aljazeera

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/30/ap/middleeast/main7298593.shtml

Facts and CONservatives are immiscible.

Of the many stupid things Donaldson has said, this trumps them all.

http://www.frumforum.com/in-praise-of-ben-wedemans-reporting

Where in the hell has Donaldson been? For him to thank Al-Jazeera for their self serving format… Wow now that is an enemy of the state. Time for Donaldson to go climb under a rock. FOREVER!!! He should take Al-Jazeera to bed with him under his rock too! Where has love for your country go? If you don’t like America, then go live outside of our boarders so those who love our country can land a job!

Colmbs is one of the dumbest people on the planet? Except for Gasket, RRK, Iris, Unreasonable Lib, Real John, DonnaK and SarahP.