The Jewish World Review (JWR) has a good article comparing al Jazeera and the new Arabic radio station based out of Virginia called al Hurra. According to the stations themselves, the other is biased.
''We're neutral and simply report the facts,'' al Jazeera's London bureau chief Mostefa Souga told me. ``Al Hurra is the Bush administration's mouthpiece.''
''Al Jazeera fans the flames,'' contends Farrell Meisel, an al Hurra founding father, formerly program director at Miami's WCIX-TV (now WFOR). ``We're legally shielded from White House interference and have balanced reporting by experienced Arab journalists. We avoid propaganda.''
However, as the JWR article points out, in comparing the coverage offered by the two stations, it is easy to see which news source has the anti American bias and which does not:
In Fallujah, al Jazeera showed horrific images, branding U.S. soldiers ''occupiers'' who target ''martyrs'' and civilians. Al Hurra aired less graphic video while emphasizing ''American forces'' were fighting ''gunmen,'' restoring order and preventing chaos. Both covered the Abu Gharib prison scandal that dominated al Jazeera's broadcasts, but was infrequently the lead on al Hurra.
Best wishes to al Hurra.
(As noted in JWR, CBS analyzed the above for 60 Minutes. Wish they would analyze their own coverage for bias.)
