Al Jazeera and the Global Media Landscape: The South is Talking Back

219 Pages·2013·0.94 MB·English

by  Tine Ustad Figenschou

Al Jazeera and the Global
Media Landscape
This book analyzes how and why Al Jazeera English (AJE) became the chan-
nel of choice to understand the massive protests across the Arab world in
2011. Aiming to explain the ‘Al Jazeera moment,’ it tracks the channel’s
bumpy road towards international recognition in a longitudinal, in-depth
analysis of the channel’s editorial profi le and strategies. Studying AJE
from its launch in mid-November 2006 to the ‘Arab Spring,’ it explains
and problematizes the channel’s ambitious editorial agenda and strategies
and examines the internal confl icts, practical challenges, and minor break-
throughs in its formative years.
The Al Jazeera phenomenon has received massive attention, but it remains
under-researched. The growth of transnational satellite television has trans-
formed the global media landscape into a complex web of multi-vocal,
multimedia, and multidirectional fl ows. Based on a combination of policy-,
production- and content-analysis of comprehensive empirical data, the book
offers an innovative perspective on the theorization of global news contra-
fl ows. By problematizing the distinctive characteristics of AJE, it examines the
strategic motivation behind the channel and the ways in which its production
processes and news profi le are meant to be different from its Anglo-American
competitors. These questions underscore a central nexus of the book: the
changing relationship between transnational satellite news and power.
Tine Ustad Figenschou is a Postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Media
and Communication, University of Oslo, Norway.
Routledge Advances in Internationalizing Media Studies
Edited by Daya Thussu, University of Westminster
1 Media Consumption and 8 Media Power and
Everyday Life in Asia Democratization in Brazil
Edited by Youna Kim TV Globo and the Dilemmas of
Political Accountability
2 Internationalizing Internet Mauro P. Porto
Studies
Beyond Anglophone Paradigms 9 Popular Television in Eastern
Edited by Gerard Goggin and Europe During and Since
Mark McLelland Socialism
Edited by Timothy Havens, Anikó
3 Iranian Media Imre, and Katalin Lustyik
The Paradox of Modernity
Gholam Khiabany 10 The Global News Challenge
Marketing Strategies of
4 Media Globalization and the International Broadcasting
Discovery Channel Networks Organizations in Developing
Ole J. Mjøs Countries
Anne Geniets
5 Audience Studies
A Japanese Perspective 11 Al Jazeera and the Global Media
Toshie Takahashi Landscape
The South is Talking Back
6 Global Media Ecologies Tine Ustad Figenschou
Networked Production in Film
and Television
Doris Baltruschat
7 Music, Social Media, and Global
Mobility
MySpace, Facebook, YouTube
Ole J. Mjøs
Al Jazeera and the Global
Media Landscape
The South Is Talking Back
Tine Ustad Figenschou
First published 2014
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
© 2014 Taylor & Francis
The right of Tine Ustad Figenschou to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him/her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Figenschou, Tine Ustad.
Al Jazeera and the global media landscape : the south is talking back / by
Tine Ustad Figenschou.
pages cm. — (Routledge advances in internationalizing media studies ; 11)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Al Jazeera English (Television network) 2. Television broadcasting
of news—Political aspects—Qatar. I. Title.
PN1992.92.A393F55 2013
079.17’4927—dc23
2013018905
ISBN: 978-0-415-81443-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-06732-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of Figures vii
Acknowledgements ix
1 Introduction: The Al Jazeera Moment 1
2 A Strategic Contra-Flow? Al Jazeera–Qatari Relations 26
3 Editorial Strategies: The Challenges of ‘Reporting Back’ 49
4 Reversing the News Flow? News Geography on
Al Jazeera English 74
5 A Voice of the Voiceless: Al Jazeera English’s
Source Hierarchies 98
6 Challenging the Spin: The Gaza War 2008–2009 118
7 Suffering Up-Close: Al Jazeera English’s
Dramatic Visualizations 139
8 Beyond the Arab Spring: The Structural Contradictions
of the Al Jazeera Project 160
Appendix 173
Notes 175
References 185
Index 205
This page intentionally left blank
Figures
4.1 Presence on the ground 93
4.2 Al Jazeera English’s Southern perspective 94
5.1 External or internal (AJE) sources 114
5.2 External news sources on Al Jazeera English 115
5.3 Source gender 116
6.1 Priority given to the Gaza war (2009) 128
6.2 Topical emphasis on Al Jazeera English 131
6.3 Source nationality: Al Jazeera English’s Gaza war coverage 132
7.1 News items showing casualties: AJE, CNN and BBC 149
This page intentionally left blank
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to thank the informants at Al Jazeera
English for sharing their professional insights, honest opinions and pre-
cious time. A special thanks goes to the Al Jazeera Network’s Ezzeddine
Abdelmoula, Lana Khachan and Sebastian Ford for arranging the inter-
views and facilitating access to the network’s headquarters in Doha and
London, and to Christina Aivaliotis for helping out with the fi nal fact
check.
I am very grateful for the support from series editor Dr. Daya K. Thussu
and the editors at Routledge/Taylor & Francis Books, Felisa Salvago-Keyes
and Nancy Chen.
My partner in crime, Nina Bigalke, has read the manuscript thoroughly
and given invaluable feedback. Thank you.
The point of departure for this book is my PhD research (2006–2010)
at the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo. My
two excellent supervisors, Professor Espen Ytreberg (University of Oslo)
and Dr. Naomi Sakr (University of Westminster); all the hardworking assis-
tants involved in various parts of the project: Sarah Chiumbu, Elin Strand
Hornnes, Turid Edvardsen, Marthe Ødegaard and Alix Dunn; and my dear
colleagues in Oslo have all been crucial in completing this analysis. I have
also benefited from pep talks and discussions with Kjersti Thorbjørnsrud,
Audun Beyer, Unn Haukvik, Ole Johan Mjøs and Alexa Robertson at differ-
ent stages of the writing process. Thank you all.
Researching this book has taken me on a long journey, to Qatar, the
United Arab Emirates, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, the UK, the US,
Germany, Finland and Sweden. It would not have been possible to conduct
extensive fieldwork, to present my work internationally or to complete the
manuscript without the financial support from the Faculty of Humanities
(University of Oslo), The Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund, The
Leiv Eiriksson Mobility Programme (The Norwegian Research Council),
The Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Organisation (NFF)
and The Freedom of Expression Foundation (Fritt Ord). Thank you.