Al Jazeera English: Global News in a Changing World (The Palgrave Macmillan Series in International Political Communication)

Although Al Jazeera English has yet to receive to receive the attention accorded to its Arabic-language elder sibling, it is in many ways the more interesting of the two. It seeks to redefine global news coverage by focusing on areas that are traditionally neglected by most news organizations, and its potential audience is many times larger than that of the Arabic channel. This will be the first book to thoroughly examine this channel's coverage methods, effects on its audience, and its place in the world of mediated geopolitics.Al Jazeera recognized that if it was to expand its worldwide influence, it could not do so wholly in Arabic. And so, in 2006, it launched Al Jazeera English, the first English-language news channel to be headquartered in the Middle East. With its principal broadcast centers in Doha, Washington, London, and Kuala Lumpur, the channel faced the task of proving itself to be more than a curiosity and just a junior version of the all-news English-language channels such as the BBC or CNN. After several years of operation, Al Jazeera English seems well on its way to defining its place in the market. The breadth of its coverage, particularly its emphasis on reporting from the global South, has distinguished it from many of its competitors. Thorough coverage from the Middle East and from Africa provides a perspective that other major satellite channels have rarely offered their audiences. Initially, Al Jazeera English was available to 80 million cable and satellite households. It was, however, accessible by only a small number of viewers in the United States (mainly those accessing it through several online providers) primarily because of political reasons. Whatever the political back-story may be, gaining access to a larger global market will depend on audience demand. If Al Jazeera English does a better job of covering major stories, particularly in the Middle East and the global South, than other channels do, and if its competitors find themselves saying, "As Al Jazeera English reported today . . .," news consumers will eventually demand access. This book will examine these political issues and will also analyze the channel's audience base, particularly in Africa and South Asia. The book will also offer evaluations of Al Jazeera English's defining moments to date - its reporting during the 2008-2009 war in Gaza (written by Palestinian and Israeli scholars), and its coverage of the "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy in 2010. The volume will also consider Al Jazeera English in the context of public diplomacy and the growing significance of diasporic populations. Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction....Pages 1-4 The Origins of Al Jazeera English....Pages 5-28 The Nature of the Channel’s Global Audience....Pages 29-40 Content: The Messages of AJE’s News....Pages 41-56 AJE after the Arab Spring: The Politics of Distribution in the United States....Pages 57-78 Covering and Reaching Africa....Pages 79-96 Covering and Reaching South Asia....Pages 97-119 Covering Gaza, 2008–2009: A Palestinian View....Pages 121-142 Covering Gaza, 2008–2009: An Israeli View....Pages 143-162 AJE’s Conciliatory Role: Covering the “Ground Zero Mosque” Controversy....Pages 163-185 Conclusion: AJE in the World....Pages 187-197 Back Matter....Pages 199-204 Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 List of Figure and Tables 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 11 1 The Origins of Al Jazeera English 15 2 The Nature of the Channel’s Global Audience 39 3 Content: The Messages of AJE’s News 51 4 AJE after the Arab Spring: The Politics of Distribution in the United States 67 5 Covering and R eaching A frica 89 6 Covering and Reaching South Asia 107 7 Covering Gaza, 2008–2009: A Palestinian View 130 8 Covering Gaza, 2008–2009: An Israeli View 152 9 AJE’s Conciliatory Role: Covering the “Ground Zero Mosque” Controversy 172 10 Conclusion: AJE in the World 195 List of Contributors 206 Index 208 Introduction / Philip Seib The Origins of Al Jazeera English / Shawn Powers The Nature of the Channel's Global Audience / Hussein Amin Content: The Messages of AJE's News / Tine Ustad Figenschou AJE After the Arab Spring: The Politics of Distribution in the United States / Will Youmans Covering and Reaching Africa / Amelia Arsenault Covering and reaching South Asia / Michael Kugelman Covering Gaza, 2008-2009: A Palestinian View / Rima Najjar Merriman Covering Gaza, 2008-2009: An Israeli View / Eytan Gilboa AJE's Conciliatory Role: Covering the "Ground Zero Mosque" Controversy / Mohammed El-Nawawy Conclusion: AJE in the World / Philip Seib. Although Al Jazeera English has yet to receive to receive the attention accorded to its Arabic-language elder sibling, it is in many ways the more interesting of the two. It seeks to redefine global news coverage by focusing on areas traditionally neglected by most news organizations, and its potential audience is many times larger than that of the Arabic channel. Its coverage of the 2011 Arab Spring brought the channel a large new audience. This is the first book to thoroughly examine this channel's coverage methods, its effects on its audience, and its place in the world of mediated geopolitics This is the first book to thoroughly examine Al Jazeera English and its coverage methods, its effects on its audience, and its place in the world of mediated geopolitics.