Al-Jazeera’s coverage of dictators is more honest than AP’s

This story provides a perfect demonstration of the corruption of the American media.

What else can it be called when Al-Jazeera’s coverage of tinhorn dictators is more honest than the coverage provided by Associated Press.

Just look at the difference in how the two services each covered the recent…uh…election in North Korea:

The AlJazeera.net story:

Kim ‘re-elected’ in N Korea vote

Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader, has been re-elected to the country’s parliament in elections that have been closely watched for hints as to his possible successor. In an unsurprising result Kim was re-elected by voters in Constituency 333 with 100 per cent support, the official KCNA news agency said on Monday. The report said voters renewed their “unshakable determination to devotedly safeguard” the North Korean leader.

The Associated Press story:

North Korean leader Kim re-elected to parliament

Kim Jong Il was unanimously re-elected to North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament, state media said Monday, in elections closely watched for signs of a political shift or hints the autocratic leader is grooming a successor. All eligible voters in Constituency No. 333 cast ballots for Kim, renewing their “unshakable determination to devotedly safeguard” the leader, the official Korean Central News Agency said in first results from Sunday’s poll.

Contrast the two headlines: Al-Jazeera put quotation marks around the word “re-elected” in recognition of the fraudulent nature of the “election.” AP, on the other hand, may as well have been reporting that the British Prime minister had been re-elected.

Contrast the second paragraphs: Al-Jazeera refers to Kim’s unanimous election as “unsurprising” (in parens), another acknowledgement of the fraudulent nature of the “election.” AP simply reports that all eligible voters cast ballots for Kim as if that’s a common occurrence in elections.

Shame on Associated Press. They are so consumed by political correctness that they seem incapable of simply saying, “Kim Jong Il is a petty dictator and this election was a fraud.”

The only thing missing from their story was this line:

“Former President Jimmy Carter traveled to Pyongyang to observe the election and certified that it met the highest international standards for honesty and transparency.”