Can Al-Jazeera Save American News??

On Friday night, at 6:30 I sat before the TV hoping to return to something I’ve always enjoyed in years past: the nightly news from one of the major networks. Sadly, I keep forgetting that the face of the news has changed, literally.

With the passing of Peter Jennings, and retirements of Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather, the news no longer has a face I feel I can trust. On NBC, Brian Reynolds feels temporary, a placeholder until they get things figured out. On CBS, Bob Schieffer seems rickety and unsure – as if he’s a victim of the news instead of its caretaker.

The story of the leaking of a CIA operative’s name is complicated and I think the average American needs help dissecting it. But the network dissection seems to soft-pedal the true heart of this story: that Libby set out to destroy a political enemy and that our reasons for going to war in Iraq are in serious doubt. But as I flip around and watch all three networks, I realize the unfamiliar news anchors are a metaphor for another important aspect of this story...

We can no longer trust the people who give us our news.

Where were the investigative journalists when the Administration was outlining its reasons for war? How come the press hasn’t found out who ordered torture at Abu Gharib? With the news organizations owned by corporations who profit from Administration policies, the mainstream media can do nothing but be stenographers for their contacts in the government.

Enter Al-Jazeera.

Now in English and expanding as a global news service, the Qatar-based network has established an office in Washington D.C. and is hiring American and British journalists to head up those offices. Will Al-Jazeera be able to scrutinize our government without having a conflict of interest?

Obviously Al-Jazeera has a long way to go before it can prove that it’s credible and not anti-American. But I’m betting you won’t catch an Al-Jazeera reporter yucking it up with the VP’s Chief of Staff like a certain "New York Times" reporter did. If these guys can be objective and lay out facts in a responsible way, I’m thinking they’ll eventually get the respect they want and other news organizations will notice their stories and follow suit.

That’s good for the American press. And that’s good for America.

Meanwhile... shout out to Brokaw, Rather, and Jennings. You guys are greatly missed.