LONDON -- The launch of Al-Jazeera English, the English arm of Al-Jazeera Satellite Television, on Nov. 15 was a notable addition to the growing global efforts aimed at counterbalancing American-European domination over world media.
It's still too early of course to appraise, in any serious fashion, academic or otherwise, the performance of Al-Jazeera English, and whether it has lived up to its own ideals and the expectations of its projected audience. It must be said, however, that the clash of discourses and the calls for a balanced media is hardly new. This topic is in dire need of urgent and continual discussion.
Clearly, the need for Al-Jazeera, and subsequently its English service, came from the realization that the presentation of events in Arab countries are far from fair in the mainstream media in the United States and elsewhere in the West. Further, the public's opinion of these events are not only limited, but bits and pieces that they may perceive are often tainted.