War, Journalism & the Middle East

Revelations that President Bush proposed bombing Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based Arabic satellite station stunned the world. But should it have? The U.S. since it launched its war on Iraq has often singled out Al-Jazeera’s coverage as anti-American. What’s anti-American about it? Al-Jazeera reports on the war from the perspective of Iraqis who see their country occupied. And crucially Al-Jazeera, unlike the corporate U.S. networks, has journalists who are unembedded and speak Arabic, a handy language to know. The role of the corporate media in promoting the war and being a conduit for a fusillade of lies has to mark one of the appalling low points of American journalism.

Recorded at the University of Sydney.