After barely a year on the air, Al Jazeera English is hamstrung by the very Western-Arab tensions the channel was created to mend. The Brits and Americans are recoiling as they lose once-generous funding from the Emir of Qatar and as the channel is transformed from a relative independent into something of a lapdog for neighboring dictators. Outside critics (like the Times of London) say the channel needs less wonky internationalism and more "news from home," i.e. America and Britain. That sounds a lot like the makeover Samantha Bee was mocking in her hilarious Daily Show segment on the launch of Al Jazeera English, excerpted after the jump.

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