International News

I really like how Russia Today’s front page was set up. The square blocks that you had to click on to navigate your way through the site where a fun and easy way to get the news. It did not seem anything like the New York Times or even the Daily Evergreen in the formal news way. It had more of a laid back feeling and almost a GO GREEN feeling in the front page as well. BBC World News I have actually watched on television before and been to this site a couple times. I like this site and how it represents the news. It does a good job of giving world news and also news that goes on in their country as well. The website was very easy to navigate through as well. Press TV instantly reminded me of a copy-cat site of the New York Times just because the first thing you see on the main page is a picture of the White House. I don’t know why that reminded me of it but it did. This site was the formalist of all of them. It had a good lay out, a little boring to look at but it got to the point of the news it was trying to share with the public.
Al Jazeera English does not seem like a controversial site to me personally. I could understand where the concerns are with the news that they broadcast and that they are located in the Middle East, but it does not seem like they are harming anyone. I read the other stories that were given on whether or not they should be allowed in the U.S, and I think it should be. I think that if they can keep their stories under-wrap and not try to talk about issues that could cause a huge up roar, then I think that cable companies should agree to have their channel. It’s understandable that they say no because we do already have so many different networks that offer news constantly throughout the day. The question is if they do get through to U.S networks, will they continue to broadcast how they do or will they change tactics and start showing stories that they feel the public needs to see to understand the Middle East struggles. I’m not a big news watcher in the first place for the exact reason that I don’t want to always see stories about the war and about conflicts in the Middle East. I truly change the channel and find something else to watch.
1. I think that they internet will help promote their good nature image because there is not much about terrorist attacks or stories in the Middle East. When opening the site, the front page is filled with world news, not just news in the U.S and not just news in the Middle East. They are offering a wide variety of news articles and videos to watch from. I think that having the broadcast be in English does give them a good upper hand in trying to win over the cable companies.
2. Like I said earlier in the paragraph above. I do think that they should be offered in the U.S. I think that getting cable companies to accept them though is completely another story. Companies are so afraid to let something like this in to their companies that can be seen as something so controversial.
3. The news that they broadcast is world news in a sense. There are stories that I did not see in the New York Times today when I read it. A couple articles were similar in the New York Times like Al Jazeera online, but they were more in depth and discussed worldly facts rather than comparing it to something in the U.S. Yes, some of their stories do have something to do with terrorist attacks or they discuss the Middle East but all together it focuses more on what is going on around them.
4. The Code of Ethics is a very nice list to be followed. I truly don’t know if they have followed that just by listening to a few short videos and reading two articles. It seems like they are doing a good job on delivery a world view of the information and showing a clear knowledge of the facts. There has not been any mention in any of the articles I read if they were wrong and they had to correct themselves. Maybe if I spent a couple hours looking through things I could find more evidence to support their code of ethics, but for the first glance it looks fairly news worthy. Their number six though about trying to do news without being biased is a nice thought but as everyone knows almost impossible. A biased opinion is going to slip out somehow, even if not intended to sound like it.