The United States Government's new Arabic-language satellite television channel claims to be bringing something new to the Arab world. The message is impossible to miss, as it is incessantly hyped in the clumsily cued station promos: If you look, you must surely see; a new horizon; a new window on the …

There is something very important to be said about competition, especially within the media. With the onslaught of cable and satellite networks in the United States, Americans can easily watch a news story on four or five different channels, to ensure they get a balanced and accurate idea of what …

The 1991 war in Iraq propelled an American satellite channel, known colloquially as the Chicken News Network and by its initials, CNN, into a global news power. In the second  Iraq war, another broadcaster, Al-Jazeera, became famous - or infamous, depending on your point of view. Most Americans know Al-Jazeera for …