Thanks for posting this. I've been watching it. It is good, as it 
usually is. You can watch/read Al Jazeera via the Internet. IF you 
want access, you'll have to write to your cable provider and 
congressional reps.

George

--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> This series from "Frontline" is powerful and, I think, a must-see.  
I know we send a lot of e-mails around, and I know many of us rant 
and rave about all sorts of issues. Truth, it must be hard somedays 
to decide what latest issue is worth worrying about, which cause 
warrants our attention. But the following is worth a look. It's a 
four-part series about media and how perceptions are shaped in the 
newest Information Age. When you think about it, just about 
everything we think and feel is influenced by someone else: whether 
it's Madison Avenue telling us who's beautiful or what kind of car is 
hip, American Idol pushing no-talents off as singers, rappers telling 
us what it is to be "real", Hollywood pushing the myth of half-naked 
Spartans fighting an army of degenerates, or the President 
influencing our thoughts on everything from religion to social 
issues, we're bombarded with sights and sounds and slogans that 
say "This is good" or "This is bad".  Nowhere has this been in more 
evidence recently than the ideological battle of America vs. the 
Middle East, and America vs.--America, where soundbites, controlled 
messages, and subtle manipulations have been used to sway the public 
and pit us against each other. Indeed, I wonder how many of us--even 
those who think of ourselves as "free thinkers"--realize how much our 
minds are influenced by the media, and just how partisan and 
subjective that media has become nowadays.  
> 
> I watched the  fourth part of the series, "War of Ideas", last 
night. It focuses on how Arab and Middle Eastern TV is fast 
approaching the sophistication of American TV, technologically, and, 
especially, psychologically. One guy compared an Arab station to Fox, 
with the same slickly packaged pandering-to-the-crowd format. It 
touches on Al-Jazeera and its influence, and the regrettable (in my 
opinion) decision made by all major content providers in the US not 
to carry Al-Jazeera English, the new entity aimed at brining a Middle 
Eastern viewpoint to the English-speaking world.  Chilling that our 
government has basically made a decision for us on what we can watch, 
especially given how many respected *American* reporters have signed 
on with Al-Jazeera English. Not to mention, the audience of Arab-
focused cable and TV outlets is *huge*, and how can Americans make 
informed decisions about American Mid-East policy if we don't even 
know what the hell the Middle Easterners are thinking? Perhaps if 
we'd had some more knowledge taht up front, no one would have been 
foolish enough to think "Shock and Awe" would result in a cowed-but-
grateful Iraqi populace greeting our troops with open arms.
> 
> The entire series can be viewed online at the following address  
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/newswar/
> A brief quote from the synopsis:
> 
> ...Drawing on more than 80 interviews with key figures in the 
print, broadcast and electronic media, and with unequaled, behind-the-
scenes access to some of today's most important news organizations, 
FRONTLINE correspondent Lowell Bergman examines the challenges facing 
the mainstream news media, and the media's reaction, in "News War," a 
special four-part series. 
> Bergman traces the recent history of American journalism, from the 
Nixon administration's attacks on the media and the post-Watergate 
popularity of the press to new obstacles presented by the war on 
terror and changing economics in the media business and the Internet. 
The topic has special resonance for Bergman, whose career as a 
journalist for FRONTLINE, The New York Times, ABC News and 60 Minutes 
has included reporting on the issues that are critical to the current 
controversies. "There has been a perfect storm brewing in the world 
of news," says Bergman. "Not since the Nixon administration has there 
been this level of hostility leveled at news organizations. … [But] 
unlike the confrontations of 35 or more years ago, today's news war 
sees the very economic foundations of the business shifting."...
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>


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