Khaled Diab of Al Jazeera comments as follows: “It’s not just the news that is depressing these days; so too is the state of the global media. Everywhere you look, the press is under assault from repressive regimes, terrorists and corporate interests. Freedom House’s latest report found global media freedom was at its lowest level in a dozen years: according to the Washington DC-based watchdog, just 13% of humanity enjoys access to a free press. Conditions are particularly bleak in the Middle East. Indeed, given the dangers facing reporters there, “it is almost a miracle that anyone would make journalism their career choice”. Yet the war on the press disguises a “paradoxical truth” – that, thanks to digital and social media, Arabs have never enjoyed freer access to information; and “never have the region’s journalists mounted such a constant, consistent and comprehensive assault on the state’s media dominance”. Investigative journalism sites such as Inkyfada in Tunisia and Mada Masr in Egypt have refused to be cowed; as has the award-winning Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, the brave citizen-journalist group reporting out of Islamic State-controlled Syria. Despite everything, the truth is getting out. (Al Jazeera,Doha, Qatar, 13 May 2016).
I felt personally uncomfortable when Al Jazeera folded in the United States. It was a media outlet that not only broadcast news no one else carried, but it had a ring of truth about everything it did. I kick myself for not watching it and supporting it more often (advertisers were suspicious of its Arabic (horrors!) ownership, even though the staff were experienced Western reporters). The mainline American news channels, particularly Fox, cannot be relied upon, and are creatures of corporations and special interests. CNN International is slightly more inclined to offer the unvarnished truth compared with its domestic counterpart, but one still has to employ a healthy scepticism. I’m glad there are brave and honest journalists in the Middle East. But whatever happened to American journalism?
Ed Schultz is one of the few forthright and truthful broadcast journalists in America. Try News with Ed on http://www.rt.com
I’m personally very sceptical of RT. Bear in mind that its owned by the Kremlin. As a result, they obviously have an anti Western and anti Ukrainian agenda. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t read them, but personally I would rate them as even less trustworthy than Fox. Also, Al Jazeera are owned by the Qatari government, whose treatment of migrant workers has been appalling to say the least.
As far as trustworthiness is concerned, I rate the Economist and Financial Times very highly. Although I may not always agree with their views, rarely do they make factual errors. In America, the Washington Post I think is pretty good. If you can afford the subscription, Foreign Policy is also worth a read.
Despite being British, I’m not a fan of the BBC. Not because of any perceived bias, I simply find it to be a low-information news outlet. There’s no real academic rigor or in depth analysis. For the best impartial news and analysis in Britain, I would recommend The Week (the magazine is a lot better than the website.)
You have a wonderful grasp of what is going on in the United States. Yes, maybe you cannot trust RT, or any media outlet if it comes to that. But Schwarz has a perch with RT and it is he who is a lone, brave speaker of truth ( maybe for the time being?). He may serve a purpose for the Russians to embarass the Americans, but you don’t have to attend to the rest of there offerings.