News War: War of Ideas & Requiem 1x57

The fourth part of News War looks at media around the globe to reveal the international forces that influence journalism and politics in the United States. The lead story focuses on the new Arab media and its role in both mitigating and exacerbating the clash between the West and Islam. With a focus on Al Jazeera and how it has changed the face of a parochial and tightly controlled Arab media, this hour explores Al Jazeera’s growing influence around the world: from Muslim communities in Europe to the pending launch of a new English-language service that will be broadcast in the United States. The second story is about an online newspaper OhmyNews created by South Korean journalist Oh Yeon Ho who set out to confirm his belief that every citizen is a reporter. OhmyNews employs 25 trained reporters who cover the major news stories of the day much like any newspaper, but what is unique are the nearly 33,000 “citizen journalists” who post up to 200 stories a day. OhmyNews has become one of the most influential news and information sites in Korea with more than 750,000 unique users per day. He has recently launched OhmyNews International in English and another site in Japan and says he’s coming to the United States.

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