A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Friday, August 3, 2012

Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya on Syria

Anyone interested in Arab media needs to read Sultan Al Qassemi on at Foreign Policy on "Breaking the Arab News," how Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya are both compromising standards and skewing news in their reportage on Syria, presumably reflecting the views of their Qatari and Saudi ownership. This criticism has been growing lately, and it's not the usual beleaguered-regime-blames-the-media situation. Al Jazeera Arabic seems more blatantly guilty, from the little I've seen of it, than Al Jazeera English. One doesn't have to like the Syrian regime or wish it well — I certainly don't — to feel some of the Arab reporting has been askew and unbalanced.

It's too bad, since Al Jazeera in particular was a pioneer among Arabic media, but it's good to see an Arab media critic speaking openly about it.

No comments: