At the same time that the U.S. military is harassing Al Jazeera reporters, other parts of the U.S. government, including the State Department, are attempting to answer Al Jazeera in its own language and format. On February 14 the United States launched a nominally independent, U.S.-funded Arabic-language satellite channel called Al Hurra, which means "the free one." The purpose of this effort is to address the lack of popular support for the U.S. occupation in Iraq, as well as the deepening crisis of American legitimacy throughout the Arab world; polls from the region indicate that more and more people hate the United States every day.
And there's nothing new about a new study about further disintegration of the US media that made last week's news. I don't know about you, but I am certainly not surprised that more people are turning to alternative sources like late night comedy shows and the Internet for their facts. Turns out, "infotainment" is overtaking serious news in traditional outlets, and the bottom line has replaced old-time American journalistic values in modern newsrooms.
It's all one big yawn, as a bunch of folks (me too) have been screaming for years about the commercialization of the news and the corporatization of the news business.
No comments:
Post a Comment