It's probably not gonna happen

There's been a fair amount of comment, and a little controversy, over the CRTC's decision to allow Al-Jazeera television to be broadcast in Canada. I can't speak to the content of their broadcasts because I've never seen any, but I drop by their English language website regularly to scan the headlines and read the occasional story. They certainly represent a different point of view than the Western media but I haven't seen the hate they've been accused of fomenting.

And it appears I still won't get the chance to judge for myself.

The controversial Arabic-language TV station Al-Jazeera got approval yesterday for digital distribution in Canada -- but don't expect to see its programming any time soon, if ever, via Canadian cable companies and direct-to-home satellite services.
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Michael Hennessy, president of the Canadian Cable Television Association, which applied more than a year ago to get the 15 third-language services approved for distribution in Canada, said he was particularly "stunned" by yesterday's Al-Jazeera decision. While the CRTC approved its eligibility, it also said whoever distributes the network has to meet what Hennessy called "totally unprecedented conditions:" It has to keep "an audio-visual recording" of all Al-Jazeera programming; and it has to prohibit "abusive comment" from airing on Canadian TV sets, to the extent of permitting distributors to "alter or curtail" Al-Jazeera shows to accomplish that.

Hennessy said these provisos "ensure that no distributor will carry [Al-Jazeera] in this country" because it requires the distributor to assume "a role in controlling content that we don't originate. It's a frightening precedent." He predicted that Arab-Canadians and Italian-Canadians, for that matter, will turn to U.S. satellites and other illegal "grey-market technologies" to get the programming that the CRTC either has denied or restricted.
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The restrictions on Al-Jazeera seem to have been inspired, in part, by concerns from the Canadian Jewish Congress and B'nai Brith Canada, which objected to the Al-Jazeera bid, saying it would bring "hateful messaging and anti-Semitic themes" to the country's TV sets if approved unconditionally.

We're about due for another campaign to promote the Fox News Channel in Canada. I wonder if the CRTC will consider the same kinds of monitoring and restrictions on their bias content.