When it comes to terrestrial TV there are only two free stations worth turning to for news and current affairs, and they are not the BBC, ITV or Sky.
They are the little known Al Jazeera, for its excellent foreign coverage and documentaries (currently The Coming War on China), and vilified RT which also broadcasts great documentaries and often offers a refreshingly new view on world events.
RT also has the added bonus of George Galloway’s Saturday half-hour discussion programme Sputnik among its regular political shows many on the Left will find of interest. If you miss it do not fret, it is repeated throughout Saturday every few hours or so.
I’d also suggest taking a look at RT’s Going Underground with journalist Afshin Rattansi with three shows a week; Chris Hedges show On Contact and other political and economic regulars.
But there is more Left point of view material regularly live-streamed and saved on YouTube.
Let’s start with Chris Williamson’s relatively new two hour weekly Wednesday interviews and discussions with left luminaries on his Resistance TV. Last week guested The Word ‘editor’ Peter Loo this week it is about the threatened annexation of the Jordan Valley in Palestine.
And then there is TyskySour (do not ask) by NovaraMedia. The presenter, Michael Walker, is more often than not joined by his sidekick Aaron Bastani and Ash Sarkar, who famously humiliated Piers Morgan on his GMB TV show by pointing out what a political ignoramus he really is. Click to the link to watch it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD7Ol0gz11k
TyskySour ‘broadcasts’ three times a week presenting their personal analysis of the week’s political events. Its politics veers to much to the centre left for my liking but it regularly has ‘left’ guests, politicians and trade union figures in the studio (online at the moment) for interview.
George pops up, in your face, again on YouTube with his Mother Of All Talk Shows (MOATS). Normally a 3 hour mix of comment, interviews and callers, but he also offers shorts, two or three minute commentary pieces on current issues.
And a late addition I’ve only just discovered, SWP TV. Slickly presented Zoom discussions by the Socialist Worker Party on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. The SWP ‘line’ comes across strongly and can be tiresome, but a wide range of topics available video if you miss the live stream.
Political tastes aside, the common main drawback none of them appear to publish programming well in advance, though if you sign up for Resistance TV for example, you will be emailed about that week’s programme. Al Jazeera and RT publish schedule links, find them at the end of this page.
All these ‘stations’ have alternative social media sites, Facebook, Twitter etc, so programming may be found there, though you will notice they seem to overlap or crowd each other.
The SWP was first off the blocks this Tuesday evening with a recruitment video, a debate billed as Palestine, Starmer and the Left: is there a future in Labour?
Chris followed on the Wednesday hosting a team of six invited guests (only three made it for technical reasons) to discuss Israel’s plan to annex (steal) the West Bank. This two hour show was advertised to start at 6.30pm.
Later that evening, at 7pm, the Labour Left Alliance held an online meeting to consider the Labour Party’s Green new deal, and at 8pm TyskySour looked at the Government’s whack-a-mole handling of the Coronavirus.
They are all free to watch live and the videos though they encourage viewers to like their sites and make a donation in one way or another. If you miss the live show they all can be found after the event, some times several days after, as videos posted on YouTube.
But in general it is up to us, the viewer, to check to see what is on if you want to catch the live shows, otherwise settle for videos which are always posted on YouTube some time after the event.
So we do not have to settle for the BBC’s blinkered and highly restricted view of the world. Alternatives are available and once you’ve found them it won’t be long before you wonder why you ever wasted any time on the official outlets.
Take a look and see for yourselves, it could be an eye-opener.
What’s on:
Al Jazeera https://www.aljazeera.com/watch_now/epgschedule.html
RT TV https://www.rt.com/schedule/
Festival of Resistance – Resistance TV (Chris Williamson) https://www.facebook.com/TheResistFest/
M.O.A.T.S (George Galloway) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf_HItERkRB3vnkWt2RSOLg
TyskySour/NovaraMedia https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9f7WaXxDSUqO6vA8-xNZItmrD6j0Rcph
SWP TV https://www.youtube.com/user/swpTvUk
Related posts:
Subscribe
Click here for a secure way to sign up, you will be supporting independent news. Click the button below.
Your Opinions
Disagree with this article? why not write in and you can have your say? email us
