One can only appreciate certain aspects of journalism that Al Jazeera does but it is still a state-run channel with its own agendas. You would know this better than anyone being an insider. Anyway, happy 2023 to you.
Thank you Patricia and yes, bubbles were great! Happy about badge, thank you so much for supporting this newsletter. Here's to 2023, hope you have a fab one! xx
Dear Barbara, thank you for keeping us informed throughout 2022.
It is a shame that with so many news stories out there, that the focus drops from what's happening in the likes of Yemen, Afghanistan, Myanmar etc. With channels such as the BBC, Al Jazeera and Sky News here in the UK running practically 24 hours there is surely scope to lengthen the loop upon which some stories are repeated to allow others to be included too. I don't need the headlines repeated every 15 minutes, hourly will do, especially when there's a ticker on the screen too!
And with that said, all that remains is to wish you a happy New Year for 2023 😘🥂
Dear Neil and Annalisa, thank YOU for being such loyal and engaged readers. I do think the News Channels do their best while obviously catering to their specific audiences, so I feel it's more of a social media algorithm issue.
Have a great New Year's Eve and wishing you a serene start to 2023. xx
Hi Barbara, a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. As you say it’s been a heck of a year. My own “high points”, I marked being cancer free for a year, I became a U.S. citizen, I lost a close aunt and (so far) I’ve spent five months living in a hotel after a tree fell into our house. On the news agenda, I agree completely. My wife gets very depressed about the state of the world. I try to remind her that a) the media always prioritize the bad which gives an uneven view of the world, b) my job means that we get more exposure than your average Joe on the street would and c) there is still good in the world- I saw the midterms here in a very positive light given the way things have been going lately. Here’s wishing good things for you and yours in the New Year x
Dear Glenn, sorry to hear it's been a year of ups and downs, but wonderful news about being cancer free. Totally agree about the news exposure we get in our jobs. I don't mind focusing on several specific 'depressing' (so to speak) issues. It's the avalanche of bad news stories that you get on 24 hour news that I don't miss at all.
Sending you and your family lots of good wishes for 2023. take care xx
Speaking of lost and forgotten prejudiced narratives. When I saw on DW News that a vice president of the European Parliament has been charged with corruption over allegations that World Cup host Qatar paid huge bribes to influence EU policy, I kept checking Al Jazeera for their take on this. In spite of daily checks, I was unable to find any mention of it. Until that time I watched AJ every day. Disappointed, I stopped watching that channel. I wonder if News with a Foreign Accent was able to place any perspective on it.
Hi Tom. I also checked the AJ website when the news broke and saw that they were covering it there, though I didn't check enough of the TV coverage to see if and how they're talking about it on TV. If they're not, it's a grave omission. I published my Qatar/world cup piece before the EU story broke (not that it changes my sentiments about world cup, and I do talk about EU/Qatar corruption while doing the News Review on the Monocle24 Daily on december 12th https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-monocle-daily/2365/ ) I think the whole story is shameful. There are no convictions yet so I won't go into details, but if true it shows how vulnerable the EU is to bribery and how shameless Qatar is. Makes me angry that it will damage the Al Jazeera brand, and the many people within it that work hard to bring a balanced view of the world. But it's unavoidable. Shame.
Thanks Barbara. I did hunt through their website as well, but looks like I did not dig deep enough. It is encouraging to know however that they did touch on it at some point. It is also encouraging to know from an insiders perspective that there are folks at Al Jazeera that are able to pursue their work with a view to presenting and independent narrative. I certainly do not blame them for being what seems to be the only news outlet that keeps the story about Shireen Abu Akleh alive and in the minds of the audience for example, and have often reflected on how it seems the other news outlets seem to have buried or forgotten that. Thanks for this new information, I think I may have to start watching them again!
The way I see it, news is like a puzzle. Check several sources, be aware of their financing/biases, and then put it all together to get a more complete view. Al Jazeera isn't perfect but it's a much-needed piece of that puzzle
One can only appreciate certain aspects of journalism that Al Jazeera does but it is still a state-run channel with its own agendas. You would know this better than anyone being an insider. Anyway, happy 2023 to you.
Thanks for all your interesting writings,and thanks for the badge,a nice surprise hope you enjoyed your bubbles, I have six badgesnow.
Love you,thank you.xx
Thank you Patricia and yes, bubbles were great! Happy about badge, thank you so much for supporting this newsletter. Here's to 2023, hope you have a fab one! xx
I need a good secretary soon pronto.
Dear Barbara, thank you for keeping us informed throughout 2022.
It is a shame that with so many news stories out there, that the focus drops from what's happening in the likes of Yemen, Afghanistan, Myanmar etc. With channels such as the BBC, Al Jazeera and Sky News here in the UK running practically 24 hours there is surely scope to lengthen the loop upon which some stories are repeated to allow others to be included too. I don't need the headlines repeated every 15 minutes, hourly will do, especially when there's a ticker on the screen too!
And with that said, all that remains is to wish you a happy New Year for 2023 😘🥂
Dear Neil and Annalisa, thank YOU for being such loyal and engaged readers. I do think the News Channels do their best while obviously catering to their specific audiences, so I feel it's more of a social media algorithm issue.
Have a great New Year's Eve and wishing you a serene start to 2023. xx
Hi Barbara, a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. As you say it’s been a heck of a year. My own “high points”, I marked being cancer free for a year, I became a U.S. citizen, I lost a close aunt and (so far) I’ve spent five months living in a hotel after a tree fell into our house. On the news agenda, I agree completely. My wife gets very depressed about the state of the world. I try to remind her that a) the media always prioritize the bad which gives an uneven view of the world, b) my job means that we get more exposure than your average Joe on the street would and c) there is still good in the world- I saw the midterms here in a very positive light given the way things have been going lately. Here’s wishing good things for you and yours in the New Year x
Dear Glenn, sorry to hear it's been a year of ups and downs, but wonderful news about being cancer free. Totally agree about the news exposure we get in our jobs. I don't mind focusing on several specific 'depressing' (so to speak) issues. It's the avalanche of bad news stories that you get on 24 hour news that I don't miss at all.
Sending you and your family lots of good wishes for 2023. take care xx
I’d love your newsletter! Happy new year Barbara, Feliz Año Nuevo. Let’s try to meet again in Perugia. Bacione
Thank you so much Angela! I’m glad you like it! Hopefully see you in Perugia. Happy 2023
Speaking of lost and forgotten prejudiced narratives. When I saw on DW News that a vice president of the European Parliament has been charged with corruption over allegations that World Cup host Qatar paid huge bribes to influence EU policy, I kept checking Al Jazeera for their take on this. In spite of daily checks, I was unable to find any mention of it. Until that time I watched AJ every day. Disappointed, I stopped watching that channel. I wonder if News with a Foreign Accent was able to place any perspective on it.
Hi Tom. I also checked the AJ website when the news broke and saw that they were covering it there, though I didn't check enough of the TV coverage to see if and how they're talking about it on TV. If they're not, it's a grave omission. I published my Qatar/world cup piece before the EU story broke (not that it changes my sentiments about world cup, and I do talk about EU/Qatar corruption while doing the News Review on the Monocle24 Daily on december 12th https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-monocle-daily/2365/ ) I think the whole story is shameful. There are no convictions yet so I won't go into details, but if true it shows how vulnerable the EU is to bribery and how shameless Qatar is. Makes me angry that it will damage the Al Jazeera brand, and the many people within it that work hard to bring a balanced view of the world. But it's unavoidable. Shame.
Thanks Barbara. I did hunt through their website as well, but looks like I did not dig deep enough. It is encouraging to know however that they did touch on it at some point. It is also encouraging to know from an insiders perspective that there are folks at Al Jazeera that are able to pursue their work with a view to presenting and independent narrative. I certainly do not blame them for being what seems to be the only news outlet that keeps the story about Shireen Abu Akleh alive and in the minds of the audience for example, and have often reflected on how it seems the other news outlets seem to have buried or forgotten that. Thanks for this new information, I think I may have to start watching them again!
The way I see it, news is like a puzzle. Check several sources, be aware of their financing/biases, and then put it all together to get a more complete view. Al Jazeera isn't perfect but it's a much-needed piece of that puzzle