Funny I thought the job of a journalist was to report the news?
Anyone can report the news. It's the good journalists who uncover the news, or expose previously unknown facts about newsworthy events. Look at Bernstein and Woodward. They reported the news, but did additional research, and as a result got Nixon to resign. That's what "monitoring the centres of power" is all about, and it's crucial to any healthy democracy.
Hmmmm? Ever been to Qatar? I have numerous times and "The Peninsula" is funded by the Emir of Qatar! It is also interesting to note that the 10th anniversary special had one of the leads of "The Penninsula" saying the west was the enemy. My question is how do they get choice video showing attacks on coalition forces? Reporting the news or making the news? Or in bed with the terrorists? Time to find an alternative to oil and Natural Gas, yesterday!
How do they get choice videos of attacks on coalition forces? Perhaps there is an embedding program for AJ journalists wishing to report on insurgents. I doubt very much there is, but it is a fact that Western network and independent journalists as well as AJ journalists have interviewed insurgent leaders, and in some cases, filmed attacks. I do not see anything wrong with that. Coalition forces embed journalists all the time. I agree that the line can be blurred between combatant and journalist. Apparently Oliver North used an M-16 in combat during OIF, and he was there strictly as a journalist. There was also a reporter, I think from CBS who admitted at times he was considering using a rifle when he was pinned down with a US army unit underneath a bridge during the attack on Baghdad. Similarily, Robert Fisk admitted accepting an AK from a Soviet soldier in a convoy as they were travelling through a route known to be popular for mujahadeen ambushes. It goes both ways.
As far as AJ is concerned, the reason they seem to get such dramatic footage is firstly, they will air it. You won't see CNN or FOX news airing graphic attacks on coalition forces, or anyone else for that matter. This doesn't mean they don't possess such footage. Secondly, since most AJ reporters are Arab, they can more effectively report in dangerous areas in Baghdad, the result being that they see more attacks, by both Coalition forces and insurgents. They may be biased, but do you really think the media we have access to in the West is not?