04-05-2003, 05:37 AM
I agree with you mostly, but for this:
What would an free Arab press (note: this is subtly different from an Arab press with a "free" readership, but I will ignore that for the moment)? Actually, it would be Al-Jazeera. Despite Western denounciation of Al-Jazeera, it is in fact nearly the only free press in the Middle East. I believe they are based in either Qatar or Bahrain, whose government has allowed a free press in the Al-Jazeera network. This is remarkably different from neighboring countries (including our nominal allies, the Saudi) who have tightly state-controlled medias.
What we see as anti-Western bias is simply capitalism. Sell to your base. FOX News, most would say, is fairly biased, and yet hopefully we would agree that Americans are fairly "free" as well. FOX News sells well because it sells to its base of viewers.
So to address the original point, a free readership may in fact prefer Al-Jareeza (which, if I recall correctly, has said positive things about the United States before, though anti-Western sentiment is stronger). Just because you and I cannot see why someone would prefer that particular bias does not mean a "free" person would not.
Note: By muzzling Al-Jareeza, one would be in fact undermining plans to usher in democracy in the Middle East. Part of the kit and bundle of democracy is a free press. Free does not mean unbiased. It means not goverment controlled/influenced. (BBC, CBC, ABC and their ilk are not goverment influenced ... actually, I believe in the charters setting them up, it states rather strictly that the government cannot control what they report.)
Quote:13. Opportunity to establish an Arab free market for a free press. Al-Jazeera's customer base lives in police states, and that affects how they slant the news. What would an Arab press with a free readership look like?
What would an free Arab press (note: this is subtly different from an Arab press with a "free" readership, but I will ignore that for the moment)? Actually, it would be Al-Jazeera. Despite Western denounciation of Al-Jazeera, it is in fact nearly the only free press in the Middle East. I believe they are based in either Qatar or Bahrain, whose government has allowed a free press in the Al-Jazeera network. This is remarkably different from neighboring countries (including our nominal allies, the Saudi) who have tightly state-controlled medias.
What we see as anti-Western bias is simply capitalism. Sell to your base. FOX News, most would say, is fairly biased, and yet hopefully we would agree that Americans are fairly "free" as well. FOX News sells well because it sells to its base of viewers.
So to address the original point, a free readership may in fact prefer Al-Jareeza (which, if I recall correctly, has said positive things about the United States before, though anti-Western sentiment is stronger). Just because you and I cannot see why someone would prefer that particular bias does not mean a "free" person would not.
Note: By muzzling Al-Jareeza, one would be in fact undermining plans to usher in democracy in the Middle East. Part of the kit and bundle of democracy is a free press. Free does not mean unbiased. It means not goverment controlled/influenced. (BBC, CBC, ABC and their ilk are not goverment influenced ... actually, I believe in the charters setting them up, it states rather strictly that the government cannot control what they report.)