Via the BBC: David Frost joins al-Jazeera TV
Veteran UK broadcaster Sir David Frost is to join Arab-language TV station al-Jazeera, the network has confirmed.Sir David is to appear on al-Jazeera International, the pan-Arab news network’s new English-language channel, due to be launched next spring.
The Qatar-based channel said Sir David, who broadcast his final Breakfast with Frost programme for the BBC in May, would be among the “key on-air talent”.
Sir David was quoted as saying he felt “excitement” about his new role.
“Most of the television I have done over the years has been aimed at British and American audiences,” he said.
How someone with Frost’s pedigree could join up with an organization that has been so clearly a propoganda machine is beyond me.
It is clear that al Jazeera is trying to become more ainstream, so perhaps these kinds of moves will ultimately be a net positive. Still, it strikes me as quite odd.
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Give them an air of legitimacy and enhance their propaganda? Who *wouldn’t* jump at that job offer?!
Comment by Steven L. — Friday, October 7, 2024 @ 8:00 am
I dunno–Brit Hume, Fox News?
Comment by X — Friday, October 7, 2024 @ 8:42 am
I’m curious, Steven, if you have ever actually watched al-Jazeera? What doctrine or cause are they propagating? If anything, they advocate Western values more than any Arab media in the region. Jumana Namour’s show on women’s issues, for instance, often has stories on the plight for civil rights in Arab countries. Their other opinion shows, like Sami Haddad’s, are much more “balanced” than similar fare you would find on cable news networks in the US.
Many of their news reporters largely came up in the BBC or Agence France Press and consistently do what journalists are supposed to do–ask penetrating and skeptical questions of those in power.
Comment by JackPalance — Friday, October 7, 2024 @ 9:23 am