Auditioning for Al-Jazeera:
The Qatari English language news service must pay hefty salaries to its English-speaking white presenters. But is this a good enough reason to want to join a news service? Could there be another attraction for some people to want to work for Al-Jazeera, a news-service with an editorial line which often inclines towards Pan-Arab populism, and offers a hospitable platform to crazy mullahs, declarative antisemites and Holocaust deniers?
Brian Henry, a Toronto writer and editor, self described as "a refugee from Canada’s social democratic party, the NDP", writes:
...Tony Burman, former editor-in-chief of the CBC has accepted a senior position at Al-Jazeera’s English language news service....
...Millions of people around the world already watch Al-Jazeera in English, and cable companies could make it available in Canada, too. But they don’t because the Canadian Radio and Television Commission ruled that cable companies must insure Al-Jazeera conforms to broadcasting regulations that forbid “abusive comment.”
Al-Jazeera’s Arabic service features guests who are open Jew-haters and Holocaust deniers – material that might constitute a criminal offence in Canada, never mind a mere breach of broadcasting regulations.
In his essay published on CBC’s website, Burman remarked that Al-Jazeera “had been accused by some Canadian groups of ‘anti-Semitism.’” Apparently Burman couldn’t see the anti-Semitism or didn’t have a problem with it... Apparently Al-Jazeera tells it the way Tony Burman sees it.
...Some other CBC journalists write as if they’re auditioning for Al-Jazeera. Perhaps they are. Neil McDonald, for example, who for now, still works for the CBC, keeping track of the Jews on our dime.
(Read the rest, here, on Engage)
The Contentious Centrist
"Civilization is not self-supporting. It is artificial. If you are not prepared to concern yourself with the upholding of civilization -- you are done." (Ortega y Gasset)
1 Comments:
Hi, Noga.
I'm honoured to see my piece here.
- Brian
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