I moved to asian from canada last summer, and the presence of Al Jazeera was a little weird at first. It'll be up on TV, or people will be reading it on their computers, you get over seeing it about the 3rd time.

My limited experience is that its pretty average news. I find the BBC (or the CBC in Canada) to be considerably better with respect to seeming unbiased.. Al Jazeera kinda feels CNN-ish. I'm curious if anyone with more exposure feels the same? Also, CNN is still king for truly up to the minute breaking news.

I certainly think having a counter balance to Fox and CNN's right of center, wouldn't hurt, and I think people should be allowed to watch what they want. However, I'd be more inclined to petition to US government to mandate the BBC be broadcast for free.