We should be tuning in to Al Jazeera

Throughout the crisis in Egypt, the United States and other countries have tried to send reporters to cover the situation. Anderson Cooper can tell you how well that’s worked out.

Al Jazeera, perhaps the biggest and most credible news network in the Middle East, has been covering the situation thoroughly — but we can’t see it.

Al Jazeera, based out of Qatar, is shown in few cities across the U.S., though it has recently gained an outlet via Link TV, which is broadcasting the network to about 33 million homes.

But this is just a temporary measure, with Americans so hungry about the news from Cairo. Currently, Al Jazeera does not have a permanent home in the U.S.

That’s a shame. Al Jazeera has become a reputable news source that many Americans follow like the BBC — which has a station in the United States, making it available to American viewers on the television as well as online.

According to a recent Pew study, the majority of Americans still gets its news from TV rather than the Internet.

With such high figures, it makes sense for this major international network to have a home here.

But Al Jazeera English is having a hard time integrating with much of the populace.

The network’s American-born reporters feel threatened doing segments on their own soil, and the Bush administration was openly against AJE.

With all the hostility during the past few years, many are openly biased against the Middle Eastern network.

We say it’s stupid to block a reputable network based in an area of the world from which Americans want information and to which American reporters can’t get good access.

The BBC has an international reputation for top-notch news reporting, and now we have BBC America.

Al Jazeera is the best network in the Middle East.

Doesn’t it make sense that we get Al Jazeera English?