A New Perspective free essay sample

Even though that is how many views it today, a different prospective. But is Al-Jazeera really that different from the BBC and other news agencies? When we look at the stories and material they publish we can see that it is not that different. Their websites features the same stories. So why is Al-Jazeera considered so controversial? In my own opinion the reason it is viewed as controversial maybe that it comes from a part of the world where a free speaking news agency is rare to come by. We clearly appreciate a â€Å"free press† news agency from the Middle East, and especially one that is also available in English. Considering the fact that Al-Jazeera receive funding and is owned by powerful people with big money, or even governments, it would be naive to think that Al-Jazeera would remain uninfluenced by these forces. The Al-Jazeera satellite channel is actually owned by the state of Qatar. We will write a custom essay sample on A New Perspective? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page How can it be unaffected by that? And considering the chairman of Al-Jazeera the enterprise, Sheikh Hamad bin Thamir Al Thani also is the former Deputy Minister of Qatar we cannot say that Al-Jazeera is a news agency without government ties. But a large news agency like Al-Jazeera need government ties to be able to report the news accurately in some areas. So that can work both ways. Al-Jazeeras popularity rose fast with the war in Iraq, so in 2003 they hired their first English speaking journalist. And shortly after, in March 2003, an English website was up and running. In 2005 Al-Jazeera International had expanded, and they had opened a series of broadcasting centers all over the world, including London, Kuala Lumpur and Washington D. C. More and more people from all over the world could now enjoy what Al-Jazeera had to offer. And as they expanded they started looking more and more like already existing news agencies. I’m sure the original idea was to create an independent and different new agency. But with time Al-Jazeera has been corrupted by the modern capitalistic society we live in. I won’t go as far as saying it was corrupted by capitalism, because Al-Jazeera is not making any money, but some people will always benefit from what they are doing. Al-Jazeera is clearly not as independent and controversial as people are made to believe and maybe Al-Jazeera themselves believe. I would like to ask the question, is there really such a thing as a completely independent and uninfluenced news agency? I am in no way, shape or form trying to undermine the importance of a free press and Al-Jazeera as a news agency. Freedom of speech is one of the most important things in our society today, and I consider Al-Jazeera a credible source of information. Al-Jazeera is an organization of good journalists and reporters.