WASHINGTON — We never hear from Doha. That was the assertion by Joie Chen, Washington anchor for Al Jazeera America at Monday's CCLP Washington Communication Leadership forum. "I have never been to Doha," she said, "and I haven't heard from anyone in Doha." Rejecting criticism that Al Jazeera America is an instrument of the government of Qatar, which funds the new network, Chen said Al Jazeera America should be compared to the BBC or NPR, not to the VOA or Russia Today. "We are not in the public diplomacy business," said Chen. "We are in the journalism business."……
Tag: DC
Copps offers rebuttal to FCC report on the future of news
WASHINGTON — Federal Communications Commission member Michael J. Copps is calling for reinvigorated federal regulation of broadcasting to encourage more, and more serious journalism. Expanding on his June 9 remarks following the release of the FCC's staff report on the information needs of communities, Copps criticized the report's optimism about the Internet. "What we have gained on the Internet," said Copps (pictured left), "does not match what we have lost" due to cutbacks in newspaper and broadcast newsrooms. And he urged new FCC regulatory initiatives to help create new and strengthened forums for journalism and debate…….