The deep wounds that fracture this country are re-emerging after the earthquake that killed 300,000.
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera in Canada: A positive addition to the media mosaic
A year ago, OpenMedia.ca and Canadians for Al Jazeera, along with several other groups, rallied people from across Canada to contact the CRTC in support of Al Jazeera English's (AJE) application to broadcast in Canada. Of the approximately 2,800 public comments submitted to the CRTC, all were in favour of bringing the broadcaster to Canada, except 40 parties who filed comments in opposition.
Al Jazeera Transparency Unit
In January 2011, Al Jazeera launched its WikiLeaks-inspired Al Jazeera Transparency Unit (AJTU). The aim of the AJTU initiative is to promote tranparency in government and corporate practices.
Essentially, AJTU encourages whistleblowers to anonymously submit content for review by Al Jazeera's editorial department. Content submitted for evaluation may include documents, photography, audio and video clips, etc. Submissions deemed to be of merit may be featured on Al Jazeera broadcasts.
![Murray Dobbin](http://rabble.ca/sites/rabble/files/imagecache/thumbnail/category_pictures/murray dobbin.jpg "Murray Dobbin is a guest senior contributing editor for rabble.ca. Murray has been a journalist, broadcaster, author and social activist for 40 years. A board member and researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, he has written five studies for the centre including examinations of charter schools, and "Ten Tax Myths." Murray has been a columnist for the Financial Post and Winnipeg Free Press and contributes guest editorials to the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and other Canadian dailies. He writes a regular "State of the Nation" column for the on-line journal theTyee.ca which is published simultaneously on rabble.ca.
Murray has written five books, including critical profiles of Preston Manning, Kim Campbell and Paul Martin. His "The Myth of the Good Corporate Citizen" has been described as a citizens' guide to globalization. He has also prepared radio documentaries for the CBC Radio's Ideas series on subjects including taxes, human rights and the right-wing regime in New
Zealand.
A long time social activist Murray has been involved in many movements from the anti-nuclear movement, to the fights against so-called free trade and public private partnerships. He is the founder of Word Warriors, a project which co-ordinates letter-writing to the editorial pages of newspapers across Canada. He is a Senior Advisor to the Rideau Institute on International Affairs.")
Al Jazeera, social media and Egypt's uprising
The New York Times reckons "it is Al Jazeera's moment." Indiantelevision.com gushed: "The western media's countless criticism of the Qatar-based satellite channel has bitten dust in the face of the network's relentless coverage of the event.... During the initial days of the coverage, American media used Al Jazeera video and referred to its content with admiration, usually reserved for the BBC.... Al Jazeera surely has won new fans across the United States for its up-close, around-the-clock coverage of the protests in Egypt."
The Palestine Papers: Israel's peacemakers unmasked
For more than a decade, since the collapse of the Camp David talks in 2000, the mantra of Israeli politics has been the same: "There is no Palestinian partner for peace."
This week, the first of hundreds of leaked confidential Palestinian documents confirmed the suspicions of a growing number of observers that the rejectionists in the peace process are to be found on the Israeli, not Palestinian, side.
Some of the most revealing papers, jointly released by Al-Jazeera television and Britain's Guardian newspaper, date from 2008, a relatively hopeful period in recent negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Al Jazeera English comes to Canada
Yesterday Canada's broadcast regulator, the CRTC, approved Al Jazeera English's application to broadcast in Canada. The introduction of Al Jazeera English global news service will increase the diversity of Canada's media landscape.
