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Meet the Al Jazeera Correspondents Who Are Putting American Coverage Of The Egypt Crisis To Shame
The Arabic news channel Al Jazeera is owning the coverage of the unprecedented uprising happening right now in Egypt.
Amazingly if you're in the United States you can probably see Al Jazeera English online.
Twitter has been full the last day or so of people sending links to various live streams and apps that allow you to do just that.
As reported in the NY Times yesterday, Al Jazeera's coverage over the last 15 years has helped to build a narrative regarding about everyday Arab suffering.
After some initial slow reporting, which resulted in rumors that the emir of Qatar and Al Jazeera founder, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak struck a deal not to report on the protests Al Jazeera kicked into action and "was reporting from the streets in Cairo in its usual manic style."
Since we're just becoming familiar with them, and the whole world is watching, we thought you might want know more about the news anchors of the moment.
Shiulie GhoshBorn in Leeds, England, Shiulie Ghosh is one the main anchors reporting on Egypt from the international Al Jazeera headquarters in Doha, Qatar. After spending eight years at BBC in various positions, she joined ITV News in 1998, and then moved on to Al Jazeera English in 2006. Her past coverage of world events includes the Kosovo conflicts, where she covered the bombings carried out by NATO flight crews. She also covered the London Underground bombings in 2005 and the death of the Queen mother. |  |
Ayman MohyeldinAyman Mohyeldin is the lead correspond ant at Al Jazeera English - he reported that the Egyptian police were trying to shut down the Cairo broadcasts of Al Jazeera. Born in Cairo, he has lived in Egypt, the United States, and currently resides in Gaza Previously, he worked for CNN and NBC in Washington. Some of his prized work includes covering the aftermath of the U.S.-Iraq invasion, part of which includes an Emmy nominated documentary on the daily lives of Iraqi citizens. He personally witnessed the handover of Saddam Hussein to an Iraqi judge, and was the first journalist to report on the tunnel network used for smuggling weapons, medicine, food, fuel, and people across the Egyptian Gaza border. |  |
Jane DuttonThe Senior News Presenter in Al Jazeera's Doha bureau, Jane Dutton is one of the main correspondents reporting live from Cairo. Previously she has worked for CNN presenting the Morning International TV news, and also for CNBC and BBC World. |  |
Dan NolanDan Nolan is an Australian journalist, now an anchor based in the Doha bureau of Al Jazeera English. He is one of the correspondents reporting out of Cairo. He previously spent two years in Al Jazeera Bureau in Sydney, and before that a correspondent for Australia's Channel 10. He covered the 2007 South Korean hostage crisis from Kabul. |  |
Laura KyleBorn in England, Laura Kyle is an anchor on Al Jazeera English in Doha. Previously she was an anchor on CCTV, a major television network in China. She also wrote for the Chinese daily, 21st Century, while co-hosting a show on China Radio International. |  |
Rawya Rageh
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Sherine Tadros
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Comments
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60 Comments so far
Show AllYes, I highly recommend Al Jazeera English, if you have not tried it yet.
Been getting my news from there since it started.
Forget about most of US mainstream outlets: they're just parroting the corporate state's party line.
same here far better than the UK & US seemingly news
'Amazingly if you're in the United States you can probably see Al Jazeera English online.'
For how long, if the number of viewers increases dramatically?
One thing you will not see much of on Al Jazeera, (if you can get it in the US) is Ms. Clinton lying her ass off. The government of the US gives a crap about nothing other than the US, Israel and Mubarak.
As for our pathological liar secretary Clinton, she is so far gone she might as well tell us that she's been demonstrating in Tahrir Square for the last few days.
Mostly ladies, is there some signifcance here? No gender bias, just curious. Tony
Actually - are we as curious when, as usual, it's mostly gentlemen? Mmmm...
Nah, guys would rather carry guns. Tony
al Jazeera is putting all of the world media, to shame, and showing just how pathetically biased in favour of neoliberalism / neoconservatism the likes of CNN, MSNBC, Fox, BBC, et al really are.
I won't contend that al Jazeera is completely without any bias of its own, but you are certainly right – in general, their coverage and attempts at objective analysis have been praiseworthy.
I'd go so far to say Al Jazeera has been putting to shame the ultra-consolidated Pravda-esque US media ever since its inception, especially in its coverage of Bush's War for Oil in Iraq. This is of course why they needed to be ruthlessly targeted by US-led military forces on so many occasions.
THE CIA NEWS NETWORK; THE ALWAYS BS NETWORK; THE NEVER GIVE YOU THE TRUTH NETWORK; AND ESPECIALLY THE NAZI NEWS NETWORK; should make all of us ashamed to be Americans as we watch Al-Jazeera!
Wouldn't that be, CIA News Network, Always Bullsh*t 'Channel', Never Brings Credibility News (Moderately Slavish Noisy Bourgeois Chatter), Censored Blather Salesmen, and Fascistic Organized Xenophobia News?
Don't forget the Nice Polite Republicans!
Or PBS (Positively Bendable Sycophants.)
re: "Don't forget the Nice Polite Republicans!"
That's right! How forgettable they've become...
Only thing good on the left-end of the FM dial is college radio. Even Passivica Radio has lost me.
Exactly!
WOW
add CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) to the list.
You mean the Canadian Broadcasting Corruption...
When not ignored, interrupted, or put down/shut down by men, woman are free to display their intelligence and courage.
Hence, women reporters on the front lines, right in the thick of it, fearless and brave.
Also, people feel less threatened by women and so will talk to them more freely because women are generally more empathetic to the people's plight.
The main organs of the press and other media in the US are afflicted by a severe case of ideological autism.
Suggesting that al Jazeera is without any bias of its own is fool's gold. It's coverage beats the world's media reports by far though.
The amazing thing so far is how excited some are getting withpot a clue how these "turnovers" turn out. Trsading the old master for the new master as Iran did? No one knows yet.
As suggested earlier there is certainly a severe case of ideological autism going on, that's for sure.
Who has suggested al Jazeera is without bias?
Apparently, to all your other flaws, you also cannot read.
"The amazing thing so far is how excited some are getting withpot a clue how these "turnovers" turn out. Trsading the old master for the new master as Iran did? No one knows yet.
As suggested earlier there is certainly a severe case of ideological autism going on, that's for sure.
"
Yeah, among the right wing trolls like you.
Who has suggested al Jazeera is without bias?
Apparently, to all your other flaws, you also cannot read.
"The amazing thing so far is how excited some are getting withpot a clue how these "turnovers" turn out. Trsading the old master for the new master as Iran did? No one knows yet.
As suggested earlier there is certainly a severe case of ideological autism going on, that's for sure.
"
Yeah, among the right wing trolls like you.
thank you, al jazeera, for supplying oxygen to the world!
TAKE THIS ARTICLE DOWN, PLEASE.
Al-Jazeera LIve is not identifying their correspondents because of fears for their personal safety.
It's not about the correspondents!!!!
Good old U.S. cult of personality strikes again.
TAKE IT DOWN!!
laudable thought, but they're all already well known. Except to Americans, who are, fortunately, a bit far away from the scene to shoot them.
It's an eerie feeling crouched in front of my computer trying to make out the broken up live stream from al Jazeera out of Egypt, like some WWII European trying to find out what's happening on a short wave radio. My radio gets dozens of stations that seem unaware that anything is going on at all. NPR is running Car Talk. The TV is full of ball games and Antiques Road Show. Every now and then my clueless president or his bewildered Secretary of State make some inane statement. I truly do live in Stupidville.
I hope Egypt succeeds in freeing itself from puppet masters of every stripe. I hope the trend continues. It won't happen here, but we might live to see the United States complete the transition from mere stupidity to global irrelevance. Huge outdated paradigms crumble as easily as little ones.
Al Jazeera English has been on my favorites list on my Firefox browser for several years now. It is my fall back for coverage that is as close to unbiased as I think we in N America can get. Individual journalists like Amy Goodman do an excellent job, but they cannot cover the world with the resources AJE brings to bear. I get AJE thru a standard cable/internet/telephone connection and it comes thru quickly and easily with no fade-outs, etc. I hope it does not get blocked in the future. I have been following the Egyptian crisis with avid attention for a week now, seeing live coverage from Cairo and Alexandria. Beats the hell out of any american media network.
It's like America being the best at journalism is the default setting.
@petrkrop you can find bios for all of the above correspondents and more at aljazeera.net
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/profile
Al-Jazeera is a world leader in journalism- not a shadow organization. The Middle East is part of our world- not an alien planet where life (including journalistic life) exists in a separate dimension in terms of personal security. Accomplished journalists deserve recognition everywhere, and it does not advance the profession for journalist identities to be hidden. The secrecy that you suggest would be a capitulation to coercive information control.
Good to see our resident troll Mightymite is spewing the faux news line I saw earlier. They should keep this violent dictator because the next government might be worse. Lucky Fox news wasn't around before the Revolutionary war against the English.
I would like to send this to Tunisia and Egypt but haven't a clue how.Don't belong to facebook and such. Any help is appreciated. Tony
TUNISIA AND EGYPT
Quench, yes quench thy thirst of this nectar; this nectar of the gods known as freedom! How wondrous is this struggle, this struggle that defines the ultimate endeavors of a people. The sacrifices, the chaos, the coming together of divergent races, religions, ideals to demand an end to the rule of the me to the rule of the we!
The taste of one’s own blood, a poison known as teargas and then to keep an eye on what the ultimate prize is shows the courage that bloomed at Tiananmen Square, Poles facing Russian tanks and other peoples who decided that life without freedom did not mean life at all but an existence. The ones who paid the most with their lives had a glimpse of this nectar and , surely, left with a final peace that transcends any treasure that may be found on this earth.
A wish, a wish that all who love and treasure this nectar, the nectar of freedom will see this as a beginning and push so that all on this planet may drink of this most prized of elixirs’… FREEDOM!!!
Tony 1/30/2011
I like Al Jazeera news, and also RT news, I can't understand why the cable companies don't pick them up? Oh well, it really doesn't matter, because I no longer subscribe to cable.
When I was in the Baltic countries recently, I found the news to be quite a bit different there, as they always tried to present both sides of the story, of conflicts.
Also, when I was in China, I even found CCTV news to be more objective than the news here.
I think one can compare our news stations to the GM and Chrysler companies of the last decade, and expect they will be next to fall by the wayside. GE sold NBC to Comcast, primarily because it is a sinking ship, but Comcast is sinking as well, with double digit losses in subscribers. NBC should help it sink all the faster.
Welcome to the new credibility.
Goodbye CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox, Katie Couric and Brian Williams ...and good riddance.
Thanks, I was trying to remember Brian Williams' name today. I think he covered the funeral of Ayatollah Khomeini. He was cowering on a rooftop, safely distant from the mourners who packed the street, a terrified suit among the aliens. The news anchor kept telling him to be careful. He was the perfect prettied clueless xenophobic American. I was trying to imagine him on the streets of Cairo, but could not. Americans, according to tonight's Blue Pill News, are waiting at the airport desperate to leave the country. Can you believe that? Cairo is exactly where I would like to be tonight.
Al Jazeera has been my mainstay for many years - although it is regularly interrupted when it suits the US-MIC (bombed to smithereens, for instance, or blacked-out). They've had top-notch reporters all along, and offer such a well-rounded global menu - great in-depth reporting too.
Usually their fare is pretty balanced, but I've felt the heavy hand of bias in their reporting from Egypt - not sure what their agenda is in this case, but at times it's been nearly as hysterical as what I'd expect from CNN (?) boobies. I haven't watched US TV in many years, and hardly did even back then so don't know about newer stuff like 'Fox' - or whatever happened to ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS after they turned full-on fascist. (Post Walter Cronkite)
This is the most biased I've ever seen AJ to be - although most of their regular reporters (on the scene) did just fine, and others tried to quiet down the hysteria - there were a couple women commentators/hosts who sounded ready for the booby-hatch, especially doing 'interviews' where they were leading their victims (guests) or twisting what they said - very unusual. More than the usual rumor-mongering too. And talk about jumping to conclusions - it was crazy on Friday night.
Today's headline from the Independent UK sums up the new reality: http://tinyurl.com/6bz5uqg
[COPY]
Robert Fisk: Egypt: Death throes of a dictatorship
Our writer joins protesters atop a Cairo tank as the army shows signs of backing the people against Mubarak's regime
[END COPY]
If anything, I'd observe that the al Jazeera network has been giving far too kind coverage to the Murbarak mafia.
al Jazeera is not covering the fact that much of the purported "looting" and especially the egregious damage to the National Museum has been done by Mubarak's goons, thugs and agents provocateurs as an amateurish way to attempt to influence world booboisie opinion.
I wished al Jazeera were more opposed to the continuation of the criminally insane Murbarak mobsters. The evidence of there criminality is legion.
The fact that al Jazeera has been ordered out of the country by Mubarak is an indication that they are on the right trail.
I accept and agree with your assessment - that is not where I perceived the bias. As for the looting, AJ repeatedly announced that because of security issues, they could not go out and physically verify what 'Mubarak's goons, thugs and agents provocateurs' were doing. But I smelled a rat while listening to the reporting - they were making assumptions without sufficient facts in hand and ignoring several possible outcomes of the protests - such as sneaky tactics and violent repression (which was reported, but downplayed, in other cities, while Tahrir Square was peaceful). It was this shifting emphasis that made me feel so queasy about the reporting...
al Jazeera's reporting is always "hysterical", this is especially the case for their Arab version. That is one thing in their favour.
Unlike the BBC, CNN, MSNBC, etc, they do not pretend faux gravitas, they do not pretend to be "serious".
Good journalism, as also shown by Wikileaks, is hard to come by in capitalist, communist, theocracies and other dictatorships now intent on controlling and shutting down the Internet.
I gotta save that one - perfect description !
Washington's Blog Headline: Is the Egyptian Government Using Agents Provocateur to Justify a Crack Down On the Protesters?
http://tinyurl.com/4u5xzup
Blog article includes this al Jazeera citation:
http://tinyurl.com/64czumk
"7:38pm Ayman Mohyeldin reports that eyewitnesses have said "party thugs" associated with the Egyptian regime's Central Security Services - in plainclothes but bearing government-issued weapons - have been looting in Cairo. Ayman says the reports started off as isolated accounts but are now growing in number."
Mohyeldin has been very good - more cautious in his reporting, sticking to basic facts without sensational speculation, he countered some of the hyperbole.
Agreed. US coverage weak at best. The one exception is reports from Richard Engel (NBC/MSNBC) who provides an unique perspective.
It is good to see Al Jazeera using reporters from many different countries and languages. And even old hands from american media stations.
And as '''armybrat January 30th, 2011 6:35 pm''' says, I too, haven't watched much american tv, especially news, unless I happened to be at someone's house, as I haven't had a tv hook up by cable, dish or antenna for 11 years now. I do slip to a msm website just to see what crap they have percolating on their front pages. But u.s. blog sites as CD, Truthdig and other and RT, AJ, Asia Times and other offshore news venues is what I can believe if only it correlates so well with what is happening here and abroad.
Right on. I read a lot of foreign newspaper websites as well - to corroborate information. My neighbors ask me whenever something big shows up on their 'TV news' - when they want to know what's REALLY going on... (I also like Atol - been a fan for many years.)
Be that as it may, but nobody can beat the US media when it comes to embedded journalism.
But if it's 'embedded' it isn't 'journalism' - it's propaganda...
armybrat January 30th, 2011 9:07 pm
Sarcasm, brat, learn deadpan sarcasm.