All Jazzed for Al Jazeera

When little girls and boys dream of becoming journalists they imagine something similar (though perhaps with a bit less time detained) to what Al Jazeera's reporters have been through in the last two weeks. Journalism, in its most idealized state, includes not only reporting on the exciting events of the world, but participating in them. It also, no matter how much objectivity one shoots for, means standing up for what's right. 

It's that standing up that's caused an Al Jazeera English blackout in the United States since its inception in November of 2006. It's no secret that America's right wing has protested Al Jazeera since its inception as anti-American -- a shaky label that, if included to mean anti-U.S. government, the right's darling FOX News certainly could share. 

Now, however, as people find themselves captivated with the ongoing protests in Egypt, it's that strong editorial stance that seems to be drawing people to the internet for a look at the channel. Al Jazeera has successfully demonstrated itself to be the definitive source for information on the story. Americans are sharing links to AJE on Facebook and Twitter, The New York Times reports that the online campaign to bring the channel to the U.S. is working, and talks with Comcast will be held later this month.

All this is great, because Al Jazeera might be what the American television news landscape needs right now to focus its attention back on the actual events of the day, and less on its own rhetoric and misreporting.

There's one little problem though. While Americans found themselves supporting Egyptians during the heat of protests, the story has already begun to fade from the headlines. Julian Assange has found his face splashed on the front pages of the Guardian and The New York Times, while the Egypt spotlight has dimmed. So too will American enthusiasm for Al Jazeera. 

I'm not saying they'll stop watching and start uninformedly talking smack again. Al Jazeera has proven itself  a network that will relentlessly chase a story it thinks worth telling, even as its journalists are detained, its offices raided and its feed officially banned. Americans will do what they always do (which means going back to whatever it was they were doing before). A few might put AJE into their news rotation but with the heavy focus on the Arab world, most will turn away, in that other American tendency: isolationism.

As life returns to normal for some Egyptians who can't keep their shops closed any longer, so too will Western news habits. Just a week ago most couldn't help but ask which country would be next. Most, unfortunately, won't tune in to find out.