TV news groups vet Al-Jazeera, but not dish network

Although the White House has asked the major TV networks not to carry live broadcasts by the Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera on the grounds that they could include coded messages to terrorist cells operating in the U.S., it has not asked EchoStar Communications’ Dish Network to stop offering Al-Jazeera to its subscribers, who, for an additional fee, can receive it 24 hours a day, the New York Times observed today.

“We have been in communication with them,” Echostar spokeswoman Judianne Atencio told today’s New York Times. “They are aware that we are broadcasting it 24 hours a day and they have not given us any specific directions. For now, it’s business as usual.”