Staff members of Al Jazeera have informed me that as soon as Al Jazeera America (AJAM) launches on August 20, American viewers will be unable to access the online livestream of Al Jazeera English (AJE). Because of restrictions imposed by cable providers, AJAM and AJE will both be unavailable to online viewers in the United States.
When Al Jazeera announced its purchase of Current TV in January, the network said it would broadcast sixty percent of its content from the US, and forty percent from its international AJE affiliate. All that changed in May, when the network decided that all of AJAM’s content would originate from the United States.
As a result of the move, the thousands of American news consumers who have turned to AJE for an alternative to the mind-numbing, sensationalistic content familiar to CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC will soon have to obtain a VPN proxy to watch its broadcasts anywhere outside the extremely limited area where it is currently available on cable, like in Washington DC and Los Angeles.
To make matters worse, because Time Warner
Al Jazeera sources have told me that the impending end of AJE’s free online broadcast in the United States has added to the wave of internal dissent provoked by the launch of AJAM. Among hardcore American news consumers hungry for adversarial reporting from around the globe, this development is not very likely to inspire much confidence either.
The dumbing down of America continues apace…..
Thanks, Max.
Oh the US gov. wont accept AJE b.c its “biased” against US and Israel so they start a new channel?
Why would anyone care for AJE anyway? Unless of course they’re on their payroll.
If you already have access to the decrepit CNN, you’re pretty much getting the AJE editorials anyway. No difference between CNN propaganda or AJE propaganda.
This article is a waste of MW space.
Aljazeera English today is nothing like the way it was a few years back. The constraints imposed by the owners in reporting on Libya, Syria, Egypt, etc. are very evident nowadays. With the US launch things can only get worse. I used to watch it all the time a few years back on satellite, but stopped after it became very apparent they were not reporting, but cheerleading events in Libya. I tuned in the other night to see a featured guest drone on for the entire segment about what a traitor Bradley Manning was, with nobody on to rebut or offer a countering view. I would have thought I was watching Fox except for the logo that told me otherwise and the fact I can’t get Fox on my dish. Be prepared to be disappointed.
Max, do you know if Canada will broadcast AJE? Easier to stabilize by VPN.