Exploring News Beyond the U.S. Assignment

While surfing through the different news channels today, I noticed that none of them seem to be the same. As I suspected, I felt that with every news station, with the exception of BBC World News, there was bias from wherever the news was being broadcasted. I felt that each station would drop certain hints that indicated which country, or view, they supported the most. I also listened to a few arguments that occurred discussing an issue, which usually was something about the United States, and I saw that the person who opposed the U.S. had much more speaking time than those who supported our country. While watching BBC World News, I did not get any sense of bias. It seemed to follow the Murrow standard the best, and I feel that it is a very reliable source, with a variety of stories and information. After watching Al Jezeera, I was able to see the biggest bias in all of the news sources. I felt that they were pretty anti-American, and it was apparent in the way they portrayed their stories.

1. I do not feel that the Internet will exactly help Al Jezeera reach an American audience, but I don't believe it will hurt their number of viewers either. Although it is a way for people in the U.S. to have an opportunity to view the news station, I do not see how many Americans would have the desire to do so. The station seems to be pretty anti-American, and I cannot see someone from here wanting to listen to that constantly when they have the opportunity to listen to other news.

2. I do not think that Al Jezeera should be broadcasted in the U.S. I feel that it should stay on the Internet. I think that a lot of arguments would come from offended Americans if it were broadcasted here. That is not to say it shouldn't remain on the Internet though. That way, people can view it if they want to, but they don't have to hear it without logging onto the site by choice.

3. I feel that their way of broadcasting differs from the kind in U.S. news stations because of their variety. I felt that the reporters were coming from multiple places, rather than a news station with very few on-scene reports. It seemed a little more scattered to me than many news stations I see here that seem to have a very structured plan and style.

4. From what I saw, I believe they stuck to their code of ethics. For a news team to post their code of ethics, I feel that they would have to keep a pretty conscious effort of following it. From my knowledge, other news companies do not make their code of ethics public, so people have no way to tell whether or not they are following it. Although, I'm sure it is common for multiple news sources to slip up here and there.