6 Live Professional News Streams You Can Watch Online For Free

Watch what’s happening in the world right now, without paying for a cable subscription. Several TV stations from around the world stream their English channels directly to the web, giving you access to what’s happening right now from your browser. A growing number of broadcasters, seeking new audiences, are putting their shows onto the Internet for everyone to watch. The quality and the viewpoints vary, but the point is clear – if you have Internet access you can watch live news.

We’ve previously shown you websites where you can watch news online, but that list focused mostly on on-demand clips. If you want to know what’s being reported right now though, you’ll need a live stream. Here’s 6 that you should consider watching on a regular basis.

Al Jazeera

Arab dictators hate it but that doesn’t mean you will.

It’s hard-hitting journalism from the Middle East with coverage from all over the world. Al Jazeera is making a name for itself during the Arab Spring. They have reporters on the ground all over the region and every dictator seems to, at some point, blame them for causing the uprisings.

You can watch Al Jazeera on your desktop with LiveStation, or you can watch on their website.

Bloomberg

Business more your thing than politics? Check out Bloomberg.

Known for its up-to-the-minute take on Wall Street and stock markets around the world, Bloomberg offers three different TV streams: US, Europe and Asia. Check out all three streams at Bloomberg TV.

C-SPAN

To some it’s that channel you surf by when you’re looking for something else to watch. Don’t let C-SPAN’s reputation scare you though. It’s possibly the best resource out for there for hardcore political junkies. Watch what’s happening in Washington DC in real time.

France24

In many ways, it’s France’s answer to the BBC. Funded by the French government, France24 aims to bring a less Anglo-centric worldview to the news cycle. Having said that, they do offer an English stream.

Curious? Why not check it out? Expect to hear some debate and get a different point of view.

NHK World

The international broadcast of Japan’s national broadcaster, NHK World is perfect when news from Japan dominates the headlines. Their coverage of the recent earthquakes gave them a great presence on the web, but as that story fades into the background, NHK remains a solid news broadcaster from a Japanese perspective.

RT

RT is an international broadcast funded by the Russian government, offering news and documentaries around the clock.

This one seems a little more blatant with its agenda than any of the other networks listed here. There’s even an entire Wikipedia article of criticisms. Still, it’s important sometimes to find news from an entirely different perspective, and for Westerners, RT is certainly that.

Conclusion

These are the highest quality, free streams that I could find. Do you know of any other ones? If so, please add them in the comments below, and be sure to check the comments for other recommendations. If past news-related articles are any indication I’ll probably be called a liberal/conservative/communist/fascist/corporate hack/anti-globalist a few times as well, which will be fun.