Subject: RE: Iraq...
Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2004 14:33:58 +0100



Erik asked


> Does anybody know where i can find aljazeera news
> subtitled in english, french, german or dutch.


They certainly didn't have it in English last year.
Keri and I got in touch with them to try to get
aljazeera but discovered we could only get it in
Arabic. Their net news service in English is at
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5D7F956E-6B52-46D9-8D17-448856D01CDB.
htm

By the way, the origins of aljazeera are quite ironic.
As part of a cost-cutting move by the British government,
the BBC decided to close down its Arabic television news
service. So the redundant BBC Arab journalists decided
they would start their own channel. They were fortunate
to get the backing of the ruler of Qatar, where the BBC
arabic service (and now aljazeera) was based. Although
western governments constantly accuse aljazeera of bias,
they say that all they are doing is trying to live up
to the ideal of detached reporting they were told was
the ideal of the BBC. Anyway, since Qatar, like Britain,
is a monarchy, they are hardly likely to be calling
for the violent overthrow of traditional regimes.
But at least they do provide a different perspective,
and a more balanced one than you get from the BBC
nowadays.

Dave C