The US launch of Al Jazeera English in Washington,DC: An analysis of American media coverage

Abstract

Since its US launch in the Washington, DC, market in July 2009, Al Jazeera English (AJE), like other news organizations, has engaged in activities to shape and promote its journalistic values and practices for itself and the public. Using the theoretical framework of journalists as interpretive communities, this article examines American media coverage of AJE through its first seven months of broadcasting in the DC market. The study finds that AJE’s attempts to shape and modify its image for an American audience have been mostly successful, although limited. The analysis indicates a gradual move towards acceptance of the network in the USA by its journalistic peers (other American journalists).

Keywords

Al Jazeera English journalistic practices journalists as interpretive communities media coverage promotional campaign

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Al Jazeera (2009) Al Jazeera: Changing Channels. Live taping of program, Knight Studio, Newseum, Washington, DC, 25 June.

Al Jazeera (2011a) Al Jazeera English launches in New York, 1 August. Available at: http://www.aljazeera.com/demandaljazeera/2011/07/201173116144745180.html

Al Jazeera (2011b) Demand Al Jazeera. Available at: http://english.aljazeera.net/demandaljazeera/

Al Jazeera English (2010a) Q&A with Sophia Qureshi. Al Jazeera English screening of Cyberwars and discussion, Georgetown University, 29 April.

Al Jazeera English (2010b) Reporting from the Front Lines: Covering the Human Side of Conflict. Al Jazeera English event featuring Josh Rushing, Sherine Tadros and Ayman Mohyeldin, moderated by Adel Iskandar, Georgetown University, Gaston Hall, 29 September.

Al Jazeera English (2011) Reporting a Revolution: A Conversation with Ayman Mohyeldin. Al Jazeera English event, Georgetown University, Intercultural Center CCAS Boardroom, 24 March.

Allers

(2009) Al Jazeera English launches in first major U.S. cable market. The Arab American News, 11–17 July.

Bishop

(1999) From behind the walls: Boundary work by news organizations in their coverage of Princess Diana’s death. Journal of Communication Inquiry 23: 91–113.

Bishop

(2001) News media, heal thyselves: Sourcing patterns in news stories about media performance. Journal of Communication Inquiry 25: 22–37.

10.

Blitzer

Kurtz

(2009) Reliable Sources, 12 July. CNN.

11.

Burns

(2010) Clinton: Critics of US Haiti relief misguided. Associated Press Online, 26 January.

12.

Campbell

(2011) Al Jazeera enrages dictators, wins global viewers with coverage of unrest. Bloomberg.com, 25 February.

13.

CNN (2001) Al-Jazeera presents Arabic view of war? 6 November. Available at: http://www.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/06/arabic.tv.ap/index.html

14.

Dawson

(2009) Sir David Frost on Frost/Nixon. Sunday Times, 18 January. Available at: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article5518653.ece

15.

Day

(2006) Al-Jazeera International hires Gizbert. The Guardian, 4 April. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/apr/04/abcs.tvnews

16.

Doha News (2012) Al Jazeera network announces corporate restructuring, 1 January. Available at: http://dohanews.co/post/15121535277

17.

El-Nawawy

Powers

(2008) Mediating Conflict: Al Jazeera and the Possibility of a Conciliatory Media. A report prepared for the Knight Foundation. Los Angeles, CA: Figueroa Press.

18.

Federal News Service (2009) Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowship 60th Anniversary Event, 9 September.

19.

Fox News (2011) Columbia University awards top journalism prize to Al Jazeera English, 5 May. Available at: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/05/al-jazeera-english-wins-columbia-universitys-journalism-prize/

20.

Gans

(2009) Britain wins 5 International Emmys; 1st for Brazil. The Associated Press State & Local Wire, 24 November.

21.

Ghosh

(2012) http://shiulieghosh.com/home.htm

22.

Glaser

Strauss

(1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. New York: Aldine De Gruyter.

23.

Gustin

(2011) Game changers: Al-Jazeera’s Spring. Time.com, 26 October.

24.

Haas

(2006) Critical forum: Mainstream news media self-criticism: A proposal for future research. Critical Studies in Media Communication 23(4): 350–355.

25.

Helman

(2009) Will Americans tune to Al Jazeera? Forbes.com, 13 July.

26.

Jackaway

(1995) Media at War: Radio’s Challenge to the Newspapers, 1924–1939. Westport, CT: Praeger.

27.

Jaafar

(2009) Doha Tribeca sets exec trio. Daily Variety, 30 July.

28.

Jowett

O’Donnell

(1992) Propaganda and Persuasion, 3rd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1–46.

29.

Joyella

(2011) Americans biased against Al Jazeera English? Not if they think they’re watching CNN. Mediaite, 17 March.

30.

Khamis

(2007) The role of new Arab satellite channels in fostering intercultural dialogue: Can Al Jazeera English bridge the gap? In: Seib

(ed.) New Media and the New Middle East. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 39–52.

31.

Khanfar

(2010) Keynote Address: ‘Media, Politics and the Middle East’. Center for Contemporary Arab Studies 2010 Annual Symposium: Information Evolution in the Arab World. Georgetown University, 23 March.

32.

Kilday

(2009) Doha Tribeca names executive director. hollywoodreporter.com, 29 July.

33.

King

Zayani

(2008) Media, branding, and controversy: Perceptions of Al Jazeera in newspapers around the world. Journal of Middle East Media 4(1): 27–43.

34.

Meltzer

(2010) TV News Anchors and Journalistic Tradition: How Journalists Adapt to Technology. New York: Peter Lang.

35.

Mirkinson

(2011) Wadah Khanfar, former Al Jazeera Director, defends himself after WikiLeaks cable reveals U.S. ties. Huffington Post, 21 September.

36.

Mosiman

(2009) What has Austin King been doing? Wisconsin State Journal, 6 July.

37.

PR Newswire (2009) The United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) Awards Committee Announces 2009 Winners at Annual Award Dinner and Dance, 2 December.

38.

Radia

(2011) Sec. of State Hillary Clinton: Al Jazeera is ‘real news’. U.S. losing ‘information war.’ ABC News, 2 March. Available at: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/03/sec-of-state-hillary-clinton-al-jazeera-is-real-news-us-losing-information-war/

39.

Ricchiardi

(2011) The Al Jazeera effect. American Journalism Review, March & April.

40.

Rose

(2009) Jerusalem, N.Y. college presidents discuss education; Al Jazeera director analyzes Middle East-U.S. politics; Memoir explores Armenian genocide. The Charlie Rose Show, 12 August.

41.

Ruggiero

(2004) Paradigm repair and changing journalistic perceptions of the internet as an objective news source. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 10: 92–106.

42.

Rushing

(2007) Mission Al Jazeera. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

43.

Samuel-Azran

(2010) Al-Jazeera and US War Coverage. New York: Peter Lang.

44.

Schudson

(2002) What’s unusual about covering politics as usual. In: Zelizer

Allan

(eds) Journalism after September 11. New York: Routledge, 36–47.

45.

Shaw

(2012a) Al-Jazeera English adds to trophy chest with Scripps Award. TheWrap.com, 16 March.

46.

Shaw

(2012b) Petitioners demand Comcast carry Al-Jazeera English nationally. TheWrap.com, 10 February.

47.

States News Service (2009) Three decades of progress on women’s rights, but major obstacles to equality persist, 2 December.

48.

Stelter

(2008) American anchor quits Al Jazeera English channel. New York Times, 28 March. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/28/business/media/28anchor.html

49.

Stiff

Mongeau

(eds) (2003) Persuasive Communication. New York: Guilford.

50.

The Stream (2011) The Stream: An Interactive Forum. Promotional document distributed at event with Al Jazeera producers, hosts, and editors held at Georgetown University, 3 February.

51.

Tenenboim-Weinblatt

(2009) Jester, fake journalist, or the new Walter Lippmann? Recognition processes of Jon Stewart by the U.S. journalistic community. International Journal of Communication 3.

52.

Todd

(2009) Homewood native relishes Al Jazeera challenge. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 27 July.

53.

Tryhorn

(2009) Staff shakeup at Al-Jazeera English. The Guardian, 20 November.

54.

Tuchman

(1978) Making News. New York: Free Press.

55.

Vanacore

(2009) Journalism still finding recruits if not profits. The Associated Press, 21 September.

56.

Vlessing

(2009) Al-Jazeera network cleared for Canada. hollywoodreporter.com, 26 November.

57.

Vlessing

(2011) Al Jazeera English’s Tony Burman back to Canada. Hollywoodreporter.com, 7 July.

58.

The Washington Daybook (2009) The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) holds a meeting on ‘Media as Global Diplomat II: New Findings on the Science of Media and Conflict’, 1 October.

59.

Weprin

(2011) Al Jazeera’s Al Anstey: ‘We are categorically anti-nothing and pro-nothing’. Mediabistro.com TV Newser, 24 February.

60.

Wessler

Adolphsen

(2008) Contra-flow from the Arab world? How Arab television coverage of the 2003 Iraq War was used and framed on western international news channels. Media, Culture & Society 30(4): 439–461.

61.

Youmans

(2011) The debate over Al Jazeera, English in Burlington, VT. Arab Media & Society 13(Summer).

62.

Youmans

Brown

(2011) Can Al Jazeera English leverage its ‘Egypt Moment’ into an American audience? Arab Media & Society 12(Spring).

63.

Zandberg

Neiger

(2005) Between the nation and the profession: Journalists as members of contradicting communities. Media, Culture & Society 27(1): 131–141.

64.

Zayani

(ed.) (2005) The Al Jazeera Phenomenon: Critical Perspectives on New Arab Media. Boulder, CO: Paradigm.

65.

Zayani

(2008) Arab media, corporate communications, and public relations: The case of Al Jazeera. Asian Journal of Communication 18(3): 207–222.

66.

Zayani

(2011) Toward a cultural anthropology of Arab media: Reflections on the codification of everyday life. History and Anthropology 22(1): 37–56.

67.

Zelizer

(1992) CNN, the Gulf War and journalistic practice. Journal of Communication 42(1): 66–81.

68.

Zelizer

(1993) Journalists as interpretive communities. Critical Studies in Mass Communication 10: 219–237.

69.

Zelizer

(1997) Journalism in the mirror. The Nation, 17 February, p.10.