Modern day Orientalism in International Broadcasting

It is interesting to compare the technical manifestation of ‘freedom of the press’ in America and the actual.

This past week Al Jazeera, the Qatar funded broadcasting system that within the last couple of years has developed an English language network, began a campaign in North America to address ‘myths and misperceptions’ about their work. This is due to the fact that the majority of American and Canadian cable networks will not carry Al Jazeera, although this is supposedly slowly changing.

Al Jazeera is known for its presence in the Middle East and for coverage of world issues/events often from the ‘other side’, such as airing speeches by Osama bin Laden, etc. As seen in Al Jazeera’s PR campaign in the North America, how is the conception of ‘Othering’ (Hall; Silverstone) a present concern in international broadcasting? Is this a clear example of Edward Said’s analysis of ‘Orientalism’ but in a different medium?

The biggest questions are: Are all international broadcasts considered equal? If not, why not? And, who says?