Catch Al Jazeera English in Canada
May 8th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Good news for those who have been hoping for more diverse broadcast news media sources in Canada, a country where the majority of internationally focused sources are American: Al Jazeera English (AJE) began broadcasting through Canadian networks as of May 4th. The decision was made in November 2009 by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) due to compelling advocacy efforts carried out by free media and human rights focused groups like Canadians for Peace and Justice in the Middle East. The CRTC was also hounded with fierce resistance by Canadian Israel lobbying organizations that tried to prevent Canadian audiences from being exposed to AJE because of its alleged “anti-semitic material.”
However, according to a CRTC representative:
Despite concerns expressed by certain parties, there is nothing on the record of the current proceeding that leads the commission to conclude that AJE would violate Canadian regulations…
AJE managing director Tony Burman also responds to the accusations of bias by noting:
All of the negative stereotypes that have been attached to Al Jazeera…fade away when people look at the channel and realize it’s a channel that’s been on the air for almost four years and it’s award-winning.
AJE was created in 2006 and is broadcast in over 100 countries. In Canada, the news channel is currently available to clients of Bell TV (channel 516), Videotron (channel 173) and Rogers (channel 176).
