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Queensland University of Technology
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio- Political Change
Aljazeera Case Study
By Ali Abusalem
A Thesis Submitted In Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
The Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology September, 2007
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Queensland University of Technology Candidate’s Certificate
I, Ali Abusalem, declare that this dissertation, submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy in Media and Communication, Queensland University of Technology, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution.
Signed:
Name Ali Abusalem
Date September 2007
Copyright © by Ali Abusalem, 2007 All Rights Reserved.
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Table of Contents
List of Tables ...... 8 List of Figures ...... 10 Abstract ...... 15 Acknowledgements ...... 19 Definitions used in this research ...... 21
Preface: Why Pan-Arab Satellite Television? 25
Chapter One: Introduction 31
Background to the research ...... 31 Identification of the problem: television as a catalyst of democratisation...... 37 Framing democracy...... 39 Focus of the study ...... 40 Research hypothesis and questions ...... 41 Justification of this research ...... 43 Aljazeera the pan-Arab satellite television service ...... 47 Research methodology ...... 49 Limitations of scope and assumptions ...... 51 Logistics ...... 52 Outline of this research ...... 52 Conclusion ...... 55
Chapter Two: The Research Model 57
Overview ...... 57 Theoretical Framework ...... 59 The model ...... 62 Utilisation of the model ...... 64 Relationship between variables in the research model ...... 64 Model Rationale and Implications ...... 68 Limitations of the research model ...... 73
Chapter Three Literature Review 75
Overview ...... 75 State-controlled Media in the Arab World: A Chronological Account ...... 77 Media, Democracy and Informed Citizens ...... 80 Aljazeera as a public political party ...... 90 The Birth of Aljazeera and Free Arab Media ...... 91 Aljazeera: Philosophy and policy ...... 92 A Brief History of Aljazeera ...... 96 Reporting Priorities ...... 97 The Arab Public Sphere ...... 98 Aljazeera and the competition...... 103
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Aljazeera, state-controlled versus free media ...... 105 Aljazeera and the Arab world ...... 110 The Role of the Media in Democracy ...... 114 Media and Cultural change ...... 115 Controversial programs ...... 120 Interactive Vox Populi ...... 122 Infotainment programs ...... 122 Religious programs ...... 123 Conclusion ...... 124
Chapter Four: Reporting the Middle East 127
Overview ...... 127 Self-reporting the Middle East ...... 128 Concluding Remarks ...... 141 Aljazeera turning the tables: a comparison with western media ...... 142 Back home ...... 146 Conclusion ...... 148
Chapter Five: Methodology 149
Introduction ...... 149 Theoretical Paradigm ...... 149 Quantitative Research Methodology ...... 154 Survey method ...... 155 Research Design ...... 157 Instrument design and administration ...... 159 Domain of Constructs ...... 160 Type of the Survey method ...... 164 Question development ...... 167 Measurement scale ...... 169 Pilot testing ...... 170 Last stage of the pilot study ...... 173 Ethical Consideration ...... 183 Conclusion ...... 184
Chapter Six: Data Analysis 185
Analysis of Survey Data ...... 185 Introduction ...... 185 Aljazeera Survey Report ...... 197 Introduction ...... 197 Method ...... 199 The Survey Groups ...... 199 Analyses Overview ...... 202 The Respondents ...... 205 Australian Media Habits ...... 213 Reliability of the Survey ...... 215 Analysis ...... 215 Differences between Groups and Gender ...... 215 Part B – General Perceptions ...... 216 Part D – News Coverage ...... 222
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Part E – Talk Show Programs ...... 227 Part F – Editorial Policy ...... 231 Part G – Gender and Human Rights ...... 235 Part H – Attitudes and Perceptions ...... 239 Part I – Aljazeera Live Programmes ...... 249 Relationships between Items ...... 263 Arab Viewers ...... 266 Discussion ...... 269 Arab and Australian viewers and media professionals ...... 269 Male and Female Respondents ...... 281 General Relationships ...... 284 Conclusion ...... 285
Chapter Seven: Summary and Conclusions 287
Summary ...... 287 Perception of democracy ...... 288 Research hypotheses ...... 290 Research issues conclusions ...... 293 What does it all mean? ...... 301 Overall Implications ...... 312 Conclusion ...... 314 Recommendation ...... 317 Epilogue: Reflections on Arab Media Objectivity ...... 318
References 321
Appendixes 383
Appendix A: Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon \ SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE \ Arab Viewers ...... 383 Appendix B: Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon \ SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE \ Media Professionals ...... 391 Appendix C: Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon \ SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE \ Australian Arab Viewers ...... 398 Appendix D: Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon \ SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE \ Analyse ...... 406
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List of Tables
Table 1- Comparison of State-controlled and Aljazeera programs ...... 35 Table 2- Viewership per television channel ...... 37 Table 3 - Research questions and hypotheses ...... 42 Table 4 - Comparisons among surveys methods ...... 166 Table 5 - Question content techniques ...... 168 Table 6- Five-point numerical scale (Developed for this research) ...... 170 Table 7- Number of participants in the pilot study ...... 177 Table 8 The demographics:Gender ...... 178 Table 9 - The demographics: Age ...... 178 Table 10 - The demographic data of the pilot survey respondents Education ...... 178 Table 11 - Missing data in demographic information ...... 189 Table 12- Frequency table for the demographic information ...... 191 Table 13- Loading and item to total correlations values ...... 195 Table 14- Ranking items based on factor loadings ...... 196 Table 15- Loading and item to total correlations values Integrity of information (IOI)...... 197 Table 16- Scale testing against the questionnaires ...... 203 Table 17- Percentage of Australian and Arabic viewers and Media Professionals responding in each age group ...... 205 Table 18- Percentage of Australian and Arab Aljazeera viewers and Media Professionals that were Arab Nationals coming from different regions . 206 Table 19-Percentage of Australian and Arab Aljazeera viewers and Media Professionals that were Arab Nationals coming from different regions . 207 Table 20- Percentage of Australian and Arab viewers of Aljazeera responding in different occupations ...... 208 Table 21. Percentage of Australian and Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals responding having completed or partially completed various education levels ...... 209 Table 22 - Percentage of Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals responding in different primary functional work areas .... 210 Table 23-Percentage of Australian and Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals responding that had the service for different lengths of time ...... 211 Table 24-Percentage of Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals Country of Residence ...... 212 Table 25-Percentage of Australian respondents engaging with news via television, radio and newspaper for different lengths of time ...... 213 Table 26- Different amounts of viewing time – Australian viewers ...... 214
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Table 27 - Average level of agreement (and standard deviations in brackets) by Arab and Australian viewers and Media Professionals responding regarding different aspects of Aljazeera ...... 216 Table 28-Average level of agreement by male and female respondents regarding different aspects of Aljazeera ...... 217 Table 29-Average level of agreement by Arab and Australian viewers and Media Professionals responding regarding the integrity of information broadcast by Aljazeera ...... 220 Table 30-Average level of agreement by male and female respondents regarding the integrity of information broadcast by Aljazeera ...... 221 Table 31-Average level of agreement by Arab and Australian viewers and Media Professionals responding regarding Aljazeera’s news coverage. 223 Table 32 - Average level of agreement by male and female respondents regarding Aljazeera’s news coverage ...... 224 Table 33-Average level of agreement by Arab and Australian viewers and media professionals responding regarding Aljazeera’s talk show programs...... 228 Table 34-Average level of agreement by male and female respondents regarding Aljazeera’s talk show programs...... 228 Table 35 Average level of agreement by Arab and Australian viewers and Media Professionals responding regarding Aljazeera’s editorial policy 232 Table 36 - Average level of agreement by male and female respondents regarding Aljazeera’s editorial policy ...... 232 Table 37- Average level of agreement (and standard deviations in brackets) by Arab and Australian viewers and Media Professionals responding regarding Aljazeera’s gender and human rights actions...... 237 Table 38- Average level of agreement (and standard deviations in brackets) by male and female respondents regarding Aljazeera’s gender and human rights action ...... 237 Table 39- Average level of agreement (and standard deviations in brackets) by Arab and Australian viewers and Media Professionals responding regarding attitudes towards and perceptions of Aljazeera. .. 240 Table 40- Average level of agreement (and standard deviations in brackets) by male and female respondents regarding attitudes towards and perceptions of Aljazeera...... 240 Table 41-Average level of agreement by Arab and Australian viewers and Media Professionals, responding regarding attitudes towards Aljazeera’s live programs...... 250 Table 42-Average level of agreement by male and female respondents regarding, attitudes towards Aljazeera’s live programs...... 251 Table 43 - The perception of Aljazeera among its viewers ...... 301 Table 44 - Credibility and accuracy of information presented across Aljazeera programs ...... 302 Table 45-The objectivity and neutrality of Aljazeera news coverage. ... 303 Table 46-The impact of talk show programs on viewers ...... 304
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Table 47 - Aljazeera, its approach and its commitment to ethical professional ...... 305 Table 48 - Aljazeera’s commitment and role in educating and promoting equality ...... 306 Table 49 - Table 48-Does Aljazeera met its professional objectives ...... 307 Table 50-The role of live shows in providing opportunities for viewers to freely express their opinions and views ...... 308 List of Figures
Figure 1-Adapted from Selected Definitions of Democracy (William M. Reisinger 2000 p.2) ...... 22 Figure 2-State-controlled media cause and effect ...... 34 Figure 3-Transnational satellite television (Aljazeera) ...... 36 Figure 4-Factors determining the development of electronic media ...... 46 Figure 5- Advancement of satellite technology of content production, transport and consumption ...... 47 Figure 6-Outline of the thesis Source: Developed for this research ...... 54 Figure 7 - Advances in media technologies and increased freedom of information ...... 57 Figure 8 - Schematic diagram of the theoretical framework ...... 60 Figure 9 - Research questions and the hypotheses in the context of this research context...... 60 Figure 10 - Relation between freedom of press and democracy in Arab World media context ...... 61 Figure 11- paradigmatic-syntagmatic relationship model of mass media 62 Figure 12 - Research questions and variables ...... 65 Figure 13- Survey questions categories and research hypotheses ...... 66 Figure 14-Conditions of Power State ...... 67 Figure 15- State-controlled media outcomes ...... 68 Figure 16- Rugh's developmental path of Arab media (developed for this research) ...... 69 Figure 17-Conditions of free media and democracy ...... 70 Figure 18 - Aljazeera satellite television outcomes and relationship between variables ...... 71 Figure 19 - Aljazeera satellite television outcomes ...... 72 Figure 20-The Opposite Direction: Most popular program ...... 121 Figure 21- Minbar Al-Jazeera forum ...... 122 Figure 22-Aljazeera This Morning promotional clip ...... 123 Figure 23 - Ash-sharia wa al-hayat format ...... 123 Figure 24-The three-tier model, developed by Darwish (2003, p.70) .... 132
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Figure 25 - The design of the research process ...... 158 Figure 26- The questionnaire development process...... 159 Figure 27 - Independent, dependent and mediating variables for each research issue...... 162 Figure 28 - Research issues, constructs, definitions, survey questions and scales used in the development of this research...... 164 Figure 29 - Key steps for the rigorous approach (Synthesised from Glass 1997 ) ...... 174 Figure 30-Outline of chapter 4. Source: developed for this research ..... 186 Figure 31-Survey Groups by number...... 200 Figure 32 - Percentage of Australian and Arabic viewers and Media Professionals responding in each age group ...... 206 Figure 33- Percentage of Australian and Arab Aljazeera viewers and Media Professionals that were Arab Nationals coming from different regions ...... 207 Figure 34 - Percentage or Australian and Arab viewers according to their occupations...... 208 Figure 35 - percentages across viewers...... 209 Figure 36-Percentage of Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals responding in different primary functional work areas. ... 210 Figure 37- Percentage of Australian and Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals responding that had the service for different lengths of time ...... 212 Figure 38-Percentage of Australian respondents engaging with news via television, radio and newspaper for different lengths of time ...... 213 Figure 39- Different amounts of viewing time – Australian viewers ..... 214 Figure 40-Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera promoting democracy in the Arab world for Males and Females...... 218 Figure 41-Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera being an agent for social and political change in the Arab world ...... 219 Figure 42-Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding the information broadcast by Aljazeera being correct and accurate...... 222 Figure 43 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding the news coverage by Aljazeera being balanced and fair...... 223 Figure 44 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding the news coverage by Aljazeera being biased...... 225 Figure 45-Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding the news coverage of Iraq by Aljazeera being balanced and unbiased...... 226 Figure 46-Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s talk shows’ agenda aiming to promote democracy...... 229 Figure 47 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s talk shows’ aiming to galvanise public opinion...... 230 Figure 48 - Distribution of responses for Arab female viewers regarding Aljazeera’s committal to biased, anti-American reporting...... 234
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Figure 49 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding ...... 235 Figure 50 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s ...... 236 Figure 51 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s promotion of issues irrelevant to Arab women and Arab societies ...... 238 Figure 52 - Distribution of responses for male Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s effect on their views about Israel...... 241 Figure 53 - Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding Aljazeera’s effect on their views about Israel...... 242 Figure 54 - Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding Aljazeera’s effect on their awareness of their rights as a citizen...... 243 Figure 55 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s effect on their awareness of their rights as a citizen...... 243 Figure 56 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s sympathy towards Arabs...... 245 Figure 57 - Distribution of responses for media professionals regarding Aljazeera’s use of double standards in covering the news...... 246 Figure 58 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s use of double standards in covering the news...... 246 Figure 59 - Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding Aljazeera’s perceived bias towards Arabs...... 247 Figure 60 - Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding the professionalism of Aljazeera’s staff...... 248 Figure 61 - Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding the professionalism of Aljazeera’s staff...... 248 Figure 62 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding the “Opposite Direction” allowing viewers to participate freely in their polls...... 249 Figure 63 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding the level of freedom expressed in "Aljazeera's Stand" encouraging viewers to publish their own opinions as articles and books ...... 252 Figure 64 - Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding the level of freedom expressed in "Aljazeera's Stand" encouraging viewers to publish their own opinions as articles and books ...... 252 Figure 65 - Distribution of responses for Media Professionals regarding the level of freedom expressed in "Aljazeera's Stand" encouraging viewers to publish their own opinions as articles and books...... 253 Figure 66 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera live programmes directing viewers’ attention towards viewing documentaries...... 254 Figure 67 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding the "Open Dialogue" promoting freedom of speech and expression...... 255 Figure 68 - Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding the "Open Dialogue" promoting freedom of speech and expression...... 255
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Figure 69 - Distribution of responses for Media Professionals regarding the "Open Dialogue" promoting freedom of speech and expression...... 256 Figure 70 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding there being a large space of free criticism of cultural taboos and religion in the "Opposite direction” ...... 257 Figure 71-Distribution of responses for Media Professionals regarding the level of freedom expressed in "Aljazeera's Stand" encouraging viewers to publish their own opinions as articles and books...... 257 Figure 72 - Distribution of responses for Media Professionals regarding Opinions expressed in "Opposite Direction" & "More than One Opinion" making it easier to publish them in form of publications such as: novels and poetry ...... 259 Figure 73- Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding all levels of Arab society being encouraged to express their opinions freely and openly directly to Aljazeera live programmes...... 260 Figure 74- Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding it being possible to discuss religion openly on the "Religion & Life" programme...... 261 Figure 75-Distribution of responses for Female Arab viewers regarding it being possible to discuss religion openly on the "Religion & Life" programme ...... 261 Figure 76-Distribution of responses for Male Arab viewers regarding it being possible to discuss religion openly on the "Religion & Life" programme...... 262 Figure 77 - Basic constituents of democracy ...... 288 Figure 78-Aljazeera as a catalyst of democracy ...... 289 Figure 79 - Mapping the research questions ...... 291 Figure 80-Syntagmatic-paradigmatic relationship of democracy and media power ...... 292 Figure 81- Triad of Aljazeera, Viewers, Democracy ...... 294 0Figure 82-The perception of Aljazeera among its viewers ...... 301 Figure 83-Credibility and accuracy of information presented across Aljazeera programs ...... 302 Figure 84-The objectivity and neutrality of Aljazeera news coverage ... 303 Figure 85-The impact of talk show programs on viewers ...... 304 Figure 86 -Aljazeera, its approach and its commitment to ethical professional ...... 306 Figure 87-Aljazeera’s commitment and role in educating and promoting equality ...... 307 Figure 88-Does Aljazeera met its professional objectives ...... 308 Figure 89- The role of live shows in providing opportunities for viewers to freely express their opinions and views ...... 309
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Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 15
Abstract
In less than ten years, Aljazeera television has become the most popular satellite news service in the Arab world. Regimes around the region have regarded Aljazeera as a threat, while Aljazeera has consistently claimed that it is simply reporting the truth. Notwithstanding this, Aljazeera has successfully established its presence in the media world despite the controversies surrounding its professional approach and the hammering criticism that has been directed to it in both the Middle East and the West.
This research explores the thesis that Aljazeera is a catalyst of democratisation and social and political change in the Arab world. As a recent media phenomenon, Aljazeera has been playing a critical role in changing the social and political values of societies in the Arab world and viewers’ perceptions of a range of social and cultural topics relating to human rights, equality, diversity, gender, employment and exploitation. It is said that through its persistent campaigns to raise the awareness of its increasingly broadening viewer base to these issues, Aljazeera has created a new public sphere in the Arab countries that are traditionally and historically non-democratic in the least and despotic and dictatorial in the extreme. It became “[the] arena within which debate occurs...” (Hartley, 2002, p.191) between viewers who share in the process of discourse to communicate and debate. In this context Aljazeera provided a public forum for Arab viewers to express their views and address a range of sensitive and controversial issues. Consequently, it is the perception of democracy that Aljazeera seems to be fostering in the Arab world, which is leading to a sense of empowerment at the individual level.
The research sought to examine this phenomenon through a field study that garnered vital data from a representative sample of 600 viewers of Aljazeera, including 100 media professionals, in four Arab countries: Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, and amongst the Arab diaspora (with the Australian Arabs as a focus group). The data was analysed against a media model that was developed specifically for that purpose. The findings support the research hypothesis that Aljazeera is a catalyst of democratisation and socio-political change.
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Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 17
Publications from the Research
The following papers and publications have been produced from the research reported in this thesis.
1. Standards of Reporting Translated Scripts in News Media. In Translation Watch Quarterly, Volume 2, Issue 1, 2006. TSI: Melbourne.
2. Reporting Translated Script. 14th AMIC International Conference. Beijing, China, 2005.
3. Stereotyping Arabs and Muslims in Australian Media: The Role of Australian Media in Framing Public Opinion on Middle Eastern Issues. 15th AMIC International Conference. Penang: Malaysia, 2006. Also published in www.ejournalism.au.com.
4. Television as a Catalyst of Democratisation, Cultural, Social and Political Change in the Arab World. 14th AMIC International Conference. Beijing, China, 2005.
5. Language, Translation and Identity in the Age of the Internet, Satellite Television and Directed Media. Book review. Ejournalism. www.ejournalism.au.com. 2005.
6. International Education as a Process of Globalization (Media and communication Focus): The Arab Gulf States experience in international education. www.ejournalism.au.com. 2006.
7. Framing Ethnic Media: News Broadcasting Policies and Standards in Post September 11Australia. www.ejournalism.au.com. 2006.
8. Educating Journalists in a Globalised World: Reaching and Teaching Globalised Media. Joint conference paper with Professor Alan Knight. Online Journalism in the Arab World. Realities and Challeges 22-23 November 2005.
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Acknowledgements
I wish to express my innermost appreciation and gratitude to all the people who have contributed to the completion of this dissertation. First of all, I had the good destiny to study under the supervision of Professor Alan Knight. I am very grateful for his guidance and encouragement. His profound knowledge of different perspectives of research provided me with the opportunity to broaden my knowledge and to make significant progress. I would also like to acknowledge the support of Professor Emeritus John Dekkers whose incisive comments and discussions of my research in the early stages put me on the right track towards achieving my research goals with clarity and focus.
I would also like to acknowledge the help of my associate supervisor Leo Bowman whose comments have contributed to the final draft of this thesis. My special thanks go to Associate Professor Terry Flew for believing in the value of my contribution to knowledge in this area of research and for giving me the opportunity to transfer my research to Queensland University of Technology.
Special acknowledgement and appreciation is due to Mr. Ibrahim Al Abed the Director General of the Emirates News Agency, WAM for his assistance and efforts during the duration of the field work and data collection.
I acknowledge the support of my wife Dimitra for her endless help and advice. My special thanks go to my beloved children Mousa and Neveen for their support and particularly Neveen for her efforts to enhance the expression of my ideas in the English language in this thesis. Respect and very special appreciation goes to my friend Ali Darwish, for encouraging and supporting me, who has believed in my ability to achieve my goals and who has acted as my mentor and adviser during the course of this research. Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest gratitude
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and love to my uncle Con and aunt Panayiota for their nurturing support and care for the family, without which this work could not have been completed. To Timmy, a special thank you for reminding me to take him for a walk and to take regular breaks from long sessions at the computer.
Finally, I dedicate this thesis to the children of Palestine, the dearest people to my heart, who have always inspired me with their resilience and fortitude to endure the challenging ebbs and flows of rigorous research.
Ali Abusalem Melbourne, September 2007.
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Definitions used in this research
Definitions used by practitioners, researchers, and scholars are not always identical. Therefore, this section defines the key concepts used in this research to create boundaries around the findings (Perry, 1998).
TSM (transnational satellite media) refers to “nationally-based media organisations extending business overseas that may foster a homogeneous global culture” (Wang, Servaes & Goonasekera, 2000 p. 12). While the expansion of transnational media is quite obvious to see, for many, media globalisation remains a myth as a concept (Ferguson, 1992).
Transnational Arabic Satellite: Aljazeera refers to the Qatar-based satellite TV, with its relatively open political and religious debate, has a huge following of 50 million viewers in the Arab and Muslim world (Miles, 2005). It is one of the most widely watched television news services in the world, which allows viewers to express their opinion and interact, 24 hours a day. Miladi (2006) shows how transnational television stations such as Aljazeera offer alternative political perspectives to Western media and a “space to think” for Arabic and Muslim audiences around the world. This definition was developed from the literature.
Transnational satellite television refers to the news services offering 24- hour live footage and immediate and spectacular news stories (e.g. Aljazeera, LPC, BBC and CNN).
Transnational satellite television service quality is defined as the viewers’ overall evaluation of the excellence of services provided by electronic networks such as the internet, satellite, and mobile phone news service (Santos, 2003). This definition was developed from the literature and justified.
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Mass Media refers to the tools for the transfer of information, concepts, and ideas to both general and specific audiences. These tools include newspapers, motion pictures, radio, television, and magazines, all of which have the technical capacity to deliver information to millions of people. However for the purpose of this research, Mass Media refers to satellite television, internet and mobile phones.
Mass media service performance is the outcome of the entire media organisation’ operations and strategies (Wheelen & Hunger, 2002). This definition was adopted from the literature and justified.
Perception of democracy: the concept of democracy is problematic in any given research and an operational definition was therefore developed based on eight basic constituents of democracy: respect for human rights and dignity; gender equality; freedom of speech; freedom of expression; freedom of information; freedom of movement; freedom of religion; and diversity.
Democracy: there are as many definitions of democracy as there are disciplines. Figure 1 summarizes the five major categories under which these definitions fall.
Figure 1 - Adapted from Selected Definitions of Democracy (William M. Reisinger 2000 p.2) These categories offer the following definitions of democracy.
• Democracy is "government by the people; that form of government in which the sovereign power resides in the people as a whole, and is
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exercised either directly by them. . . or by officers elected by them." (Oxford English Dictionary, 1933)
• "Democracy is the form of state within which the distribution of power in the state is determined exclusively by the social factors of power, but is not shifted in favour of any one class through the application of material means of coercion." (Otto Bauer, quoted in Meyer, 1957 [1986], p. 65)
• “Democracy is a competitive political system in which competing leaders and organizations define the alternatives of public policy in such a way that the public can participate in the decision-making process." (Schattschneider, 1960 p.141)
• "Democracy is a political system in which different groups are legally entitled to compete for power and in which institutional power holders are elected by the people and are responsible to the people." (Vanhannen, 1997 p. 31)
• Democracy is "governance by leaders whose authority is based on a limited mandate from a universal electorate that selects among genuine alternatives and has some rights to political participation and opposition." (Danziger, 1998 p.159)
For the purposes of this research, the following definition is used.
Democracy is a system of government by and for the people that respects human rights and gender equality, freedom and diversity.
This definition was applied to the present research to gauge Aljazeera’s contribution to the perception of democracy among its viewers’ and was used in this study.
Democratisation is simply the process of making something democratic. In its political sense, democratisation is the process of gradual introduction of democracy and democratic practices into countries and societies that have not experienced democracy before. It is the adoption by a country
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and sometimes the imposition by foreign powers, as we have seen in Iraq, of a democratic regime that emphasise the government rotation and plurality and diversity of opinions.
Pluralism is the existence of different ethnic, cultural, social, religious and political groups in society. In political systems, pluralism is recognition of the fact that such groups exist.
Public sphere refers to a social realm in which private citizens come together to discuss matters of common concern to form public opinions without the threat of persecution or punishment by government.
Fourth estate refers to the media and its role as a watchdog. In a functioning democracy, the fourth estate affords journalists enough protection as to perform this role without being subject to subpoenas by government officials.
Internet refers to the delivery of any media service over World Wide Web (Davidson 1996). It allows viewers to check any media’s website for updated information and services.
Traditional media for the purpose of this research refers to the traditional modes of information i.e. print media, TV and Radio. Traditional media can be state controlled or privately owned. However in this research only state controlled media is considered as traditional.
Telephone news services refer to the delivery of information over the telephone (e.g. SMS). This definition was developed from the literature and has been adopted for the purpose of this research.
Levant “is an imprecisely defined region in the Middle East, located south of the Taurus Mountains. It is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west and by the northern Arabian Desert and Upper Mesopotamia to the east” (NationMaster encyclopaedia [on line]). However for the purpose of this research, the Levant includes the following countries: Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Syria.
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Preface: Why Pan-Arab Satellite Television?
erhaps the best way to answer this question is to tell the reader something about my personal motivations for the present research. I was born as a refugee, without a homeland or a place Pto call home. As Darwish (2005) once put it, “For many people who are forced to leave their homeland, their point of reference remains anchored in their homeland, while physically living in exile, and for displaced people, living in the twilight zone, neither here nor there, the point of reference becomes oneself”. So while my point of reference has been myself, I have been also on a quest to rediscover my roots and find home away from home. To do this, I have needed to learn more about my past and my present at every stage of a long journey that has taken me farther away from home yet brought me closer to the home within me and to the homeland I have carried in my heart since my childhood.
I was born in Palestine in 1960 in a refugee camp called Aida located in the Bayt Lahim (Bethlehem) district. My family belonged initially to a village called "Ras Abu Ammar" in Western Jerusalem. The families escaped the 1948 Arab Israeli war; they were forced to leave their village leaving behind their home and belongings just as many other Palestinians who fled their homes, seeking a safe haven in the hope that they would return to their homes once the war was over. The only belonging my family took was the house key which is still kept with the oldest family member. The news was spreading fast that the Israeli Army massacred the mass population of Deir Yaseen village, leaving only one survivor so that the other villages were warned about the consequences of staying in their homes. People panicked and decided to save themselves and their families by moving to safer zones under the control of the Jordanian army. At camp Aida the only entertainment available for everyone was the radio.
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At that time it was the ‘Voice of the Arabs Radio’. All the refugees were listening to this radio station as it was the prime source of information about the political developments in Palestine and the only source of contact with family members who were dispersed in many geographical locations across Palestine.
In 1967 the second Arab Israeli war broke out and the family again had to leave their camp fleeing for safety. I was only seven years old and I still remember the misery and fear of all my family members particularly my mother, who was crying and carrying my youngest brother, who was at that time only five days old. We had to walk all the way from Camp Aida to the Jordanian borders without food or water. I remember that I was carrying the milk bottle that belonged to my youngest brother as we crossed an old wooden bridge that connected Palestine with Jordan. I was so scared. I was frightened and felt dizzy at the time. The milk bottle fell down into the river, which was at that point very shallow. I started crying worrying about the only food available for my brother. A Jordanian soldier looked at me with sympathy and jumped down into the river to catch the bottle and gave it back to me.
When we arrived at the other side of the river, we were loaded into the back of trucks and were driven away to Amman, the capital of Jordan, where we stayed at my uncle's house. I recall how the family was gathered around the radio to follow the news coming from Palestine. My mother was very optimistic that this time we were going to win the war and we would go back home very soon. Her optimism was never realized.
In 1970, a war broke out between the Palestinian fighters living in Jordan and the Jordanian army. Things got very bad for the Palestinians in Jordan, and for the third time the family fled for their lives seeking safe refuge in Syria. We settled at the Yarmouk refugee camp. Media was highly dominated by government authorities in Syria. Information and news were subject to censorship before they were released to the mass public. I used to tune the radio in to the BBC Arabic News Service, Monte
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Carlo and Voice of America to know what was going around the Arab world and about the Palestinian crisis. I was confused and didn't know whose version of the truth to believe. I didn't know that western media, just as Arab media, were reflecting a highly manipulated version of the truth to serve a particular political agenda.
I completed my high school education in Syria and was awarded a scholarship to study in Bulgaria in 1986. During my high school education I was involved in the school broadcasting team. I used to write and deliver programs for the students, including entertainment and scientific information. I also joined the theatre acting team, writing many plays and playing many roles particularly those related to the Palestinian cause. I also developed a school wall newspaper that included social, cultural and political topics. I was passionate about these types of activities which led me to start my own business of selling newspapers to generate extra income to help my father to support the family.
In Bulgaria I studied engineering and specialized in electronics, but my passion for journalism never abated. At the university, I became involved in all media activities just as I did at high school. I was working actively on increasing the awareness of the Bulgarian and international students about the Palestinian cause. I ran information sessions and seminars aiming to bring the agony and misery of my people to the attention of those who had unfortunately never heard about it.
While studying in Bulgaria, I met the love of my life and now the mother of my children and the rock in my life—a beautiful young Greek woman who was studying to become a pharmacist. She stole my refugee heart and gave it a home and a balsam garland for its wounds. After our graduation from university, we migrated to Australia in 1988. Our new life in Australia was the dream that I had been wishing for all my refugee life—a place to call home. Like a fish to water, I set out to write the next chapter. I worked for a couple of years in my area of expertise and decided that my passion belonged somewhere else. It was “media” and the picture of the
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radio that kept haunting my passion. I started writing in Arabic newspapers and Greek newspapers. Additionally, I have worked in different radio stations such as SBS radio as part of the Arabic program, 3XY’s Greek radio station and 3ZZZ radio station. I was not satisfied with all of this and decided to start my own 24 hour radio broadcasting, simultaneously completing my Diploma of Free Lance Journalism.
In 2003, I was awarded the Victorian Multicultural Excellence Award for Journalism. In 2004, I was nominated for the Australian of the Year Award. With all of these achievements I felt there was more to do and decided to take the challenge further and do my PhD in Media. This interest developed because of the emergence of Satellite Television and the boom in Arab satellite TV. I watched closely many Australian and Arab news channels and felt there were waves of change I recalled the reservoir of memories about my early childhood and felt there is a role I have to play in this arena.
This study examines the role of Arab satellite television Aljazeera network in the process of democratization and socio-political change in the Arab world and how its news service is challenging some of the Middle East's repressive regimes.
Aljazeera has quickly become a force to be reckoned within Arabic media not only in reporting news, but also in setting the political agenda and framing regional and world-wide events. Seen by many political and media commentators as a catalyst for democratization in the Arab world, Aljazeera has become the focus of both scholars and public attention.
The aim of this study is to carry out a qualitative content analysis informed by framing theory to determine indicators of democratization within a range of programs broadcasted by Aljazeera monitored over a specified period.
The analysis will be further consolidated by a field study of both Aljazeera on location and an in situ survey of a representative sample of Arab
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 29
viewers in three Arab countries. The aim of this empirical pursuit is to establish whether the media frames utilized by Aljazeera are initially in congruence with and representative of the individual frames of its viewers or whether they are in dissonance.
Ali Abusalem Melbourne, September 2007
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Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 31
Chapter One: Introduction
"Television creates lasting images. Thus, we in the television news business have a greater responsibility than most to avoid stereotyping, whatever the ethnic background or racial origin of the people involved" Ed Bradley (1984) Background to the research
Over the last ten years, the world and the west in particular, has been focusing on one curious media phenomenon in the Arab world, namely Aljazeera. In just ten years Aljazeera television has become the most popular satellite news service in the Arab world. Regimes around the region see Aljazeera as a threat while the producers and presenters claim that they are simply telling the truth. Aljazeera has successfully established its presence in the media world despite the controversies surrounding its professional approach and the hammering criticism that has been directed to it.
Aljazeera plays an educational role in the Arab world. It has effectively participated in lifting decades of government control over media. It has given the opportunity to the Arab world viewers to exercise their basic human right to express freely their opinion and to represent an Arab perspective on world events particularly those closer to home. Recently, the changing approach and the new face of Aljazeera proved that Aljazeera continues to renew and rejuvenate itself to meet its viewers’ expectations. The level of technology adaptation is obvious particularly in its recent expansion to provide Aljazeera Mobile Net, and a strong presence on the internet through its Aljazeera net website that enables interaction with users—all of these operations are fully integrated.
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Furthermore, Aljazeera has established a direct relationship between those who work behind the scenes and the public by creating morning programs that enable them to educate the public about their interactive technology aspects related to their electronic presence. In addition, Aljazeera has provided the public with the opportunity to share their special and personal video clips and images in order to bring the Arab world closer and to share a common cross cultural theme.
The controversies surrounding Aljazeera are based on transcripts of some segments of its news coverage or programs into English which has raised the question of what will happen if or rather when Aljazeera starts to broadcast directly in English to Western viewers.
Aljazeera has quickly become a force to be reckoned with in Arabic media; not only in reporting news, but also in setting the political agenda and framing regional and world-wide events. Seen by many political and media commentators as a catalyst for democratization in the Arab world, Aljazeera has become the focus of both scholars and public attention.
To understand this aspect of Aljazeera’s impact, the present study set out to examine the role of Arab satellite television Aljazeera in the process of democratization and socio-political change in the Arab world and how its news service is challenging some of the Middle East’s repressive regimes. The aim of this study is to carry out a qualitative analysis informed by framing theory to determine indicators of democratization within a range of programs broadcasted by Aljazeera monitored over a specified period.
The analysis is further consolidated by a field study of both Aljazeera by location and an in situ survey of a representative sample of Arab viewers in three Arab countries. The aim of this empirical pursuit is to establish whether the media frames utilized by Aljazeera are initially in congruence with and representative of the individual frames of its viewers or are in dissonance.
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Context of democracy There is general agreement among researchers and observers that Aljazeera and other Arab satellite television stations are playing a pivotal role in the process of democratization in the Arab world. Darwish (2005) observes that
as Arabic satellite television gains ever-increasing prominence in the Arab region and internationally, its role as a controversial catalyst in the process of democratization and influential agent of social, cultural and political change in the region becomes all the more important in a rapidly changing world of democracy, globalization and shifting allegiances. (p.398). .
In the same light, Alterman (2004) observes that
When such [Arabic satellite television] broadcasts began in the mid-1990s, many saw them as a harbinger of a democratic opening. Censorship had been a pillar of authoritarian rule in the Middle East for decades, and satellite television was beginning to chip away at it. Yet a decade later, not one Arab regime has fallen at the hands of its people, and few have taken meaningful steps toward democratization. Pan-Arab satellite televisions has brought more open political talk into studios, but not yet more open politics on the ground. (p.6)
State controlled media vs transnational satellite television Since its inception, television and mainstream media in the Arab world was owned and controlled by governments in order to steadfastly maintain the appearance and the government's point of view related to its people (Amin, 1996). Exception is Lebanon where prior to the 1974 civil war and even in post-war time the media has enjoyed a wider scope of freedom of expression than in other Arab countries.
As Rugh (2004) confirms, “the mass media play a larger role than other forms of communication in the daily lives of people everywhere, but especially in the Arab world. These media are consequently regarded by politicians and governments as having great political importance (p.xiv). The more autocratic, totalitarian or dictatorial the regimes, the tighter the control has been on mass media in the Arab world. Figure 2 shows a
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model of Arabic media consumption in a state-controlled setting. This model is based on propaganda-driven news and current affairs campaigns and entertainment programs prevalent in authoritarian regimes.
Figure 2-State-controlled media cause and effect There is general agreement among researchers and observers that because of the mass media revolution and advances of mass communication technologies, it is no longer possible for governments to prevent their citizens from accessing information about world affairs. However Samoleit (2005) says that despite these advances, the Arab media seem to retain the old state-controlled content, “which offered manipulated information or none at all; there are still enough possibilities for the state to oppress freedom of speech” (p.11).
Ayish (2002) provides a statistical comparison of state-controlled and privately owned media that paints a similar picture as depicted in Table 1. He compares the state-controlled Syrian Satellite Channel and Abu Dhabi
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Satellite Channel to Aljazeera. While his study showed that all three channels aired almost the same number of news items over a period of five days, about 70.4% of topics covered were political, and the remainder covered economic, civil strife, and military news reports. This is seen as a continuation of the traditionally political nature of programs carried by state-controlled television (see Table 1).
Table 1- Comparison of State-controlled and Aljazeera programs
Topic Abu Dhabi Satellite Syrian Satellite Aljazeera Television Television % % %
Political 58.3 75.7 77.4
Economic 11.1 1.4 11.2
Military 2.7 7.1 0
Cultural 7 0 0
Civil strife 8.3 8.4 5.7
National disaster 5.5 0 5.7
Other 11.1 4.2 2.8
Source: extracted from Ayish 2002, Political Communication on Arab World Television: Evolving Patterns (p.6)
With the introduction of transnational satellite television and privately owned television networks, the flow of information into the various parts of the Arab world has become unstoppable. However, the regimes and governments remain the same. Consequently, only the perception of democracy has increased in the Arab world as a result of transnational satellite television and not democracy itself. Figure 3 illustrates this condition.
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Figure 3-Transnational satellite television (Aljazeera)
While there are no accurate statistics that can be mapped out onto the graph presented in Figure 3, a poll conducted in 2006 by University of Maryland / Zogby International, regarding Arab public opinion, shows Aljazeera as the most watched channel. It can be extrapolated from this that the highest concentration of news programs attracts the highest number of viewers in the Arab World and the Diasporas (see Table 2). As a corollary, watching news may be indicative of viewers’ perception of increased public space and therefore democracy. This is supported by interpretive and descriptive studies of Aljazeera in developing aspects of civil society in the Arab world as further discussed in the literature review.
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Table 2- Viewership per television channel
Television Channel News Programs %
Aljazeera 64
Alarabiya 34
Nile satellite 32
MBC 28
LBC 15
Al Manar 15
Abu Dhabi 15
Al Hurra 9
The twenty first century witnessed a rapid expansion of television services and channels available to viewers, facilitated enormous growth in viewer- ship worldwide and established television as the dominant means of mass communication in most regions. According to Thomas (2003) the number of television sets in use from 1980 to 1996, almost tripled, rising from 550 million to 1.4 billion. By 2003, an estimated 2.5 billion people in developing countries had access to television service.
Identification of the problem: television as a catalyst of democratisation
As illustrated in the preceding section, the advent of Arab satellite television, especially Aljazeera in the 1990s has become the subject of study, both in media and political circles in the West. Interest of researchers and analysts in academia and strategic studies centres across the English speaking world, Europe and other parts of the world has focused on various aspects of this new phenomenon, primarily using the
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western model of media as the yardstick to measure the performance of the various Arab satellite television stations, drawing comparisons between the Western media and the fledgling Arab television and arriving at different conclusions about the role, professional standards and objectivity of Arab media.
The events of September 11, 2001 and subsequent war against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, have given rise to Aljazeera as a controversial media newcomer in the Arab world. Adopting a Western approach to news reporting and being free from state control, at least ostensibly, Aljazeera is seen by various analysts and observers as having changed the way news is reported in the Arab media. Not only that, Aljazeera is also seen as a catalyst of democratization in the Arab world— a view Aljazeera itself seems to have espoused and which is clearly manifested in its own self- promotions and the topics and programs it presents.
Alterman (2002) claims that:
In the last decade, a revolution has swept through the Arab world. While governments have, for the most part, remained stable, the ground on which they walk has shifted. Long accustomed to exercising control over what their publics knew and when they knew it, governments are finding that new technologies based on satellites and telecommunications have given rise to new kinds of regional media that are generally beyond those governments' direct control (n.p). He also states that “Arabs, and those who watch the Arab world, increasingly talk of how the satellite television age has spawned a body of discourse that scarcely existed before in the region”. Referring to the talk shows of pan-Arab television he further asserts that “clerics debate secularists, radicals debate moderates, and apologists for one regime lay into the apologists for another. Previously taboo issues such as, opposition politics, sex, and religion, have become staples of nightly programs” (p.5).
The research problem is therefore one of ascertaining whether Aljazeera is a catalyst for democratisation and social and political change in the Arab world and whether increased exposure to free media increases the perception of democracy among its viewers.
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Framing democracy
Mellor, (2005) confirms that modernization of both the media and society in the Arab world has been indicated through coverage of foreign news in the Arab press. She asserts that "since the early days of the press in the Arab world, foreign news has served as an indicator not only of its modernization, but of that of the whole society (p.41). While the relationship between the percentage of foreign news in the Arab press and social change has been debated, there seems to be a general consensus, at least among Arab observers, that the media is playing a vital part in framing democracy in the Arab world. El-Nawawy and Iskandsar, (2002) state that "the press in the Arab world is getting bolder and affecting the political culture in the region, which brings to mind the role that journalists have played in democratising other areas of the world" (p.78).In this light they claim that Arab journalists "are learning from recent history” and that “Middle East states can learn from those journalists pushing for democracy and freedom of speech" (p.69).
Similarly, O'Neil (1998) argues that an interrelationship exists between mass communication and democracy.
There is a common understanding that a strong connection exists between mass communication and democracy. Simply put, the assumption is that for democracies to function, civil society requires access to information as a means to make informed political choices. Similarly, politicians require the media as a way in which they can take stock of the public mood, present their views, and interact with society. The media are thus viewed as a vital conduit of relations between state and society (p.1). According to Gamson (1992) and Goffman (1974) “media coverage is characterized by an active construction, selection and restructuring of information to organize a particular reality in a meaningful manner for the public” (cited from Jasperson and El-Kikhia, 2003 p.114). This mechanism of influence, in which journalists employ a frame of interpretation in presenting an issue to the public, is known as media framing (Jasperson and El-Kikhia, 2003).
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The year 2006 events in Lebanon and to some extent in Egypt are proof of the serious role the media is playing in manipulating and framing reality. The controversial "uprising" in Lebanon and the coverage by Aljazeera and LBC of the opposition rallies and counter rallies have highlighted the power of the media not only in reporting events but also in framing events. The strong link between the media and the public has been demonstrated in placards carried by the protesters and marchers instructing the media to "zoom out" in order to show the viewers the large number of protesters and in the use of camera techniques such as close-ups, point-of-view shots, fish-eye lens, deep focus shots and fixed-angle shots.
Focus of the study
Aljazeera’s professional journalistic standards have been increasingly researched in the past couple of years. However, its influence on the aspects of democratisation and social change in the Arab World has been relatively ignored in academic research (Alterman, 2002; El-Nawawy and Iskandsar, 2002; Mellor, 2005). In addition to the limited amount of research being conducted in this area, none of the key figures of this field of research come from an Arabic background nor do they seem to have a substantial understanding of the complex nature of that part of the world. As a result the analyses were neither conclusive nor sufficient. Arab word is a politically and culturally volatile region and the relationship between media and democracy is worthwhile examined.
Therefore this study aims to examine the dynamics between the media and mechanisms of democratization and social and political change in the Arab World, and more explicitly the role and nature of the recent phenomenon of Arab satellite television ( particularly Aljazeera) as a catalyst of democratisation and social change in the Arab World. Thus in the context of this research, the researcher deems to identify the paradigmatic and syntagmatic relationship between Aljazeera and democratic and social
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change in the Arab world. In doing so he considers the following two perspectives:
• An extensive search of literature to identify the indicators of democratic and social change, in order to establish the relationship between the media and democratisation.
• Development of a research instrument to examine Aljazeera’s viewers’ and media professionals’ opinions regarding Aljazeera’s performance towards the democratisation in the Arab world.
Moreover this research factors in cultural, historical, political and ideological differences to ensure that analyses are objective and reflect a valid and reliable evaluation framework which will enable accurate assessment to the significant influence of Aljazeera on public opinion.
Research hypothesis and questions
As introduced in the preceding sections, the main hypothesis of this research is stated as follows:
Aljazeera is a Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-Political Change.
The hypothesis is situated within the framework of post-positivism, which emphasises the importance of multiple measures and observations and allows the triangulation of multiple sources of data, deductive reasoning and a larger degree of objectivity, while accounting for potential bias of interpretive analysis techniques.
The hypothesis entails three major research questions. These questions were developed to facilitate the examination of the main hypothesis (see Table 3).
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Table 3 - Research questions and hypotheses
Research Issues Research Hypotheses
Is Aljazeera promoting human rights Aljazeera promotes human rights and gender equality? and gender equality
Is Aljazeera promoting Public Aljazeera promotes public debate debate?
Is Aljazeera promoting diversity? Aljazeera promotes diversity
In addressing the three research issues, this research makes four main contributions to knowledge:
develops a model that identifies the conditions and effect of power state on traditional Arab media context,
develops a model that identifies the conditions of the free media and conditions,
establishes and tests a model of the effect of Transnational satellite media on democratic process and
compares the influence of state controlled media and Transnational satellite media in mass media contexts.
In summary, this section was concerned with the research hypothesis and the contribution of this research to the knowledge about Aljazeera, the pan-Arab satellite television. The next section refers to the justification of this research.
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Justification of this research
The previous section introduced the research question and hypotheses to be tested, which emerged from the review of the literature. The purpose of this section is to demonstrate the value of the contribution being made to mass media knowledge by addressing this research problem.
Research about Transnational satellite media is worthy of academic study on two grounds: firstly because transnational satellite media is an important, emerging, and fast moving technology in the mass media communication industry and are likely to affect the competitive advantages of mass media; and secondly because Aljazeera, the pan-Arab satellite television, is an important component of the Arab World mass media sector. Improving the mass media communication industry in this region is expected to have an impact on its democratisation. Both grounds are further discussed below.
The importance of transnational satellite media services The process of developing relationships between the social, political and phenomenological impact of mass media and communication technologies in the Arab World traditionally has been undertaken through developing a detailed understanding of key concepts in media studies. However, technology has created opportunities and/ or alternative ways of creating and maintaining relationships (Schiller, 1991).
In the mass media industry, traditional media services and television programming alone are no longer sufficient to provide information to match the needs of today's complex and demanding viewers. In the past 10 years or so, rapid growth of television services and channels accessible to viewers has facilitated substantial expansion in viewership globally and established television as the dominant means of mass communication in
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most regions. As such viewers were introduced to new concepts, incorporating novel subjects, movements, and attitudes (Moataz, 2004).
Viewers around the Arab World are increasingly utilising the satellite technology. Fattah (2005) claims that “with a $100 satellite hook-up, most Arab citizens can access more than 100 satellite channels” (p. 206).In addition “the majority of viewers in the Arab world prefer to watch private satellite stations broadcasting from inside an Arab country” (Miladi, 2004 p. 110). According to Wahish (2005), the month of Ramadan attracts especially large television audiences in Egypt and across the Middle East (about 55 million prime-time viewers across the region). This trend and the competition from satellite channels have prompted the Egyptian government to expand the nation's domestic television services (Rugh, 2004).
The provision of mass media services through new advanced media channels such as satellites, mobile phone, portable media players and internet has provided alternative methods for obtaining information more conveniently. Internet use has expanded throughout the developed world and is making rapid gains in many developing countries (Dominick, 2005).
As the growth of technology in the delivery of services has a considerable influence on the way mass media carry out business with consumers, service quality is one of the main factors that determine the success or failure of transnational media outlets. “Services must offer significant benefits for consumers” (Laven, 2000 p.20) because viewers still demand linear channels with a mix of high quality entertainment, drama and factual programming. Foster and Daymon (2002) state that “[C]ompetitive success was screen to result from investment on screen and the competition would drive quality rather than lead to a lowering of standards” (p. 39).
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Due to the dramatic changes that occurred in the mass media setting and which are more ubiquitous and frequent in electronic media settings, it is important to identify and understand the relationship between the following factors and their impact on the user behaviour:
New technology
Changes in the market
The influence of legislative authorities and governments
The new technology changes the media sector market as per Figure 5 and has impact on the user behaviour. Lynch and Stipp (1999) assert that program appreciation ("appointment viewing," "involvement," and "loyalty"), and the resulting higher levels of attention and tuning length to be the most important variables” regarding consumer behaviour (p.7).
However the government in order to deal with the technological advancements in the media market may steps in with its legislative authorities. The government involvement can be attributed to two reasons: protection of society from harmful information and/or protection of their power. The second reason is more apparent in the authoritarian regimes such the ones in the Arab World which in order to influence user behaviour pose control over the electronic media and suspend services in the name of “social peace, national unity, and public morals” (International Herald Tribune 2008 [on line]).
The factors determining the development of electronic media, their relationship and their impact on user behaviour is presented in Figure 4.
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Figure 4-Factors determining the development of electronic media
However not all the means of electronic media fall into the scope of this research; rather this research is concentrated on role of advanced satellite technology and more particularly on Aljazeera’s role towards the democratisation in the region. Review of literature on this issue identified dearth of empirical research. Therefore this research investigates Aljazeera’s role by examining its viewer’s opinions and beliefs in relation to democratic performance.
Figure 5 illustrates the advancement of satellite technology into the content production, transport and consumption of mass communication media.
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Figure 5- Advancement of satellite technology of content production, transport and consumption
Aljazeera the pan-Arab satellite television service
Aljazeera satellite television offers a wide range of programs and services to individuals and businesses and plays an important role in the Arab world. Aljazeera opens up possibilities for what Cohen (1997) calls “multiple affiliation of associations”, which gives rise to a “diasporic allegiance” and “proliferation of transnational identities that cannot be contained in the nation state system” (p. 174). Aljazeera signal is carried on Arabsat 2, Eutelsat 11, Hotbird and BSkyB. Aljazeera has reporters throughout most of the Arab world, and in many other countries. The channel was launched a few months before the collapse of the short-lived partnership between the BBC TV Arabic Service and the Saudi government, due to conflicting approaches to content. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, Emir of Qatar, seized the opportunity to employ the technical infrastructure and senior staff of the defunct service. Attracted by competitive salaries and freedom of expression and operation, Arab journalists, editors, broadcasters, engineers and other staff were brought in from different Arab countries as well as from the defunct BBC TV Arabic Service. By 2003 over 500 employees, with diverse political and religious backgrounds, worked in Aljazeera: from the very religious to the
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extremely secular, Muslims and Christians worked side-by-side in Aljazeera’s various departments (Helal, 2003).
Aljazeera was a phenomenal success, especially in covering the war in Afghanistan in 2001 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. As a result of its popularity, the channel was transformed in March 2006 into a network, with the launch of four channels: Aljazeera Sports, Children's and Documentary channels, and Aljazeera International (the English-language news channel started broadcasting in late 2006).
Aljazeera was funded initially by a five-year loan of $150 million from the Qatari royal family, yet it claims independence from any government body. It is funded by advertising and sponsorship, and in part by the Qatari government. It started broadcasting from Doha in November 1996, specialising in news and current affairs (Miladi, 2006).
Aljazeera has stolen Arab TV audiences from all other state-controlled media in the region with its freewheeling debates, uncensored news and, lately, online polling, which is a total no-no in the Arab world (Friedman, 2001). Every Arab regime has found something in Aljazeera's programs to complain about. Gambill (2000), reports that Qatari diplomats have received more than 400 official complaints from other Arab states about Aljazeera since its establishment in 1996.
Moreover, the mushrooming of satellite TV channels can be seen to have portrayed the debate about media effects as avoidable. Because of the developments in satellite technology, Arab audiences have become active participants rather than remaining 'passive dupes'. Their uses of alternative sources of information and their ability to analyse and compare political messages undermine the widely-held notion of media's 'priming' and 'agenda-setting' powers (Miladi, 2006). “Television audiences are active creators: they do not simply accept uncritically textual meanings, but bring previously acquired cultural competencies to bear on them” (Barker, 1999 p.110).
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Iskandar & El-Nawawy (2004), commenting on Aljazeera's Satellite TV services, claim that
The station has been the go-to channel for conflict coverage from the Middle East. Its coverage of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has catapulted it into a prominent position and stirred much international controversy, placing its approach to journalism in the spotlight. Despite the consequences of having reporters arrested, licenses rescinded, bureaus closed, and offices bombed Aljazeera's audience figures continue to soar (p. 315).
This situation has also created a new opportunity for other transnational satellite television services such as the Alarabiya station to gain a competitive advantage by not only delivering services, but also focusing on the quality issues of these services. Thus, this research is justified on the grounds of the importance of the transnational satellite television services sector to the Arab world democratic process, and the influence that the new service delivery technology will have on it. The next step is to provide an overview of the research methodology.
Research methodology
This section briefly introduces the methodology used in the data collection and analysis for this research (Full details are provided in chapters 5 and 6). This research adopts a quantitative methodology to test the proposed transnational satellite television (Aljazeera) service consequences model and address the research questions. The transnational satellite television service model is developed on the basis of the traditional media service outcomes model which is well established in the literature.
Following the development of the questionnaire, the validation of the research instrument was conducted in two stages. The first stage included a pilot study that provided preliminary indication of any areas in which the main research could encounter difficulties, the possibility of the research protocol not be followed, or, whether suggested methods or instruments
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were inappropriate or complicated (Van Teijlingen and Hundley, 2001).. Stage 2 involved a random sample of people from the general public. A mall intercept method using face-to-face interviews was employed to administer the survey. There were a total of 740 useable surveys administered. The survey was constructed and divided into nine sections that included demography, overall evaluation, integrity of information, news coverage, talk shows programs, editorial policy, gender and human rights, attitudes and perception, life programs and open ended questions. The survey incorporated the ethical research standards of Central Queensland University and a consent form was included.
The mechanism used to collect data relied on my personal effort and the assistance of a female volunteer to collect data from the female respondents. This is due to cultural differences as it was considered inappropriate for a male to approach a female in public. The targeted participants were selected randomly and were briefed about the purpose of the research and their willingness to participate.
Originally the survey questions were formulated in English and had to be translated to Arabic and incorporated in one form. The level of literacy was a determinant factor in the ease of data collection and time consumption.
Two types of data analysis were conducted on the survey data collected; descriptive analysis and inferential analysis. Descriptive analysis, using SPSS version 15, was performed for preparing the raw data to provide information to describe a set of factors for this situation (Sekaran 2000). For the inferential analysis, the assessment of the measurement scales and the test of the hypothesised relationships represented in the conceptual model, AMOS 7 and SPSS were used. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted first using SPSS. Then, the measurement model was assessed with confirmatory factor analysis and the hypothesised relationships were tested through structural equation modelling using AMOS 7.
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In brief, a quantitative methodology was used. Surveys were conducted in two stages to collect data for this research. Data were then analysed using SPSS and AMOS to undertake factor analyses that provided information to address the research problem.
Limitations of scope and assumptions
The research instrument was constructed to collect data from three kinds of populations: Arab media professionals and Arab viewers in Arab World and Australia. In the first population were included professionals from Aljazeera as well as professionals from other Arab media outlets. They provided an insight into the relationship between Aljazeera and its effect on freedom of speech and expression in the region as being viewed and monitored by them. The second kind of population is that of Arab public viewers who provided a platform for comparisons with the first population of Arab media professionals and at the same time validated the results.
There is one, main limitation of scope that restricts the generalisation of these research findings. This limitation is related to adoption patterns that may differ from country to country. Namely the way in which some media organisations utilise technologies in their promotion strategies may differ across cultural boundaries (Phillips, Calantone and Lee, 1994). Thus, if conclusions and implications are to be applied to other countries with different cultures and mass media regulations, further research should be conducted to confirm the relevance of these findings in differing cultural contexts.
The key assumption in this research is that all transnational satellite television outlets operate uniformly across all the Arab states. This assumption is attributed to the dearth of information and measures regarding their performance but also to the high monetary cost and time consumption, in conducting face-to-face interviews in all Arab states..
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Logistics
The conduct of this research was hampered by a number of logistical difficulties such as restrictions on movement imposed by the local authorities. Because the survey was conducted in public places such as shopping malls, the group gathering of respondents attracted the attention of local authorities for fear of potential civil disturbances. I personally was stopped and questioned by the authorities.
Due to cultural imperatives it was considered inappropriate to personally solicit responses from female participants. To counter this problem, I had to ask females from the respective countries to conduct the survey with the female respondents. Consequently, I had to coach them in how to conduct the survey in the most academic and scientific manner. My Australian passport was a liability in this instance. In addition, although I had permission to visit media outlets in certain Arab countries, authorities demanded special permission when they realised that I was an Australian citizen.
Outline of this research
The outline of this research has been adapted from Dunleavey (2003), Brause (2000) and Perry (1998).
This thesis consists of a preface and eight chapters as follows:
Chapter 1: Introduction. This chapter provides an overview of the thesis and provides the background of the research, the research problem and issues. It also provides justification for this research and underlines its contribution to the body of knowledge. In addition introduces the methodology used to collect data, the limitations of this research and finally outlines the chapters in this thesis.
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Chapter 2: The Research Model. This chapter presents a transnational satellite television model that constitutes the theoretical framework for this research and the basis of analysis and discussion of the data collected. From the research model three types of variables related to the research questions are identified: dependent, independent and mediating variables. The relationship between these variables would prove or reject the research hypothesis.
Chapter 3: Literature Review. This research surveys landmark publications that have examined the mass media in the Arab World and Aljazeera’s performance in relation to the concepts identified in the research model related. It provides also insights into the circumstances that facilitated its conception and a brief introduction of its most controversial programs
Chapter 4: Reporting the Middle East. This chapter discusses the controversy over Aljazeera’s style of reporting events in the Middle East and the severe criticism it received from both western governments and media networks due to its different approach in reporting and interpreting certain events from the Middle East
Chapter 5: Methodology. This chapter describes the methodology adopted for this research. In particular, it examines four research paradigms and justifies the selection of the post-positivist paradigm as the most suitable paradigm to conduct this research. In addition it justifies the selection of quantitative and more explicitly the survey method as the best method to collect data. This chapter refers also to the development and pilot testing of the research instrument and the means adopted to test its validity and reliability. It discusses also the sampling process, and finally the ethical considerations involved in this research.
Chapter 6: Data Analysis. This chapter reports the analysis of the collected data. It begins with the transfer of the data collected from each kind of population into separate data set in SPPS. Then the results from
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each kind of population are firstly reported in groups and then in between the groups using T tests and ANOVAs.
Chapter 7: Summary and Conclusions. This chapter provides explanations of the research questions and issues, grounded in the literature. Conclusions about research problems, implications for theory and practice, and the contribution of the research to the body of knowledge are all outlined. The limitations of the research and suggestions for further study are also discussed. Figure 6 gives a visual overview of the thesis.
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Figure 6-Outline of the thesis Source: Developed for this research
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Conclusion
This chapter introduced the research and outlined the foundations for the following chapters. Explicitly this chapter provided brief information about Aljazeera satellite television and its services and introduced the research hypothesis and research questions developed to address the research problem. In addition in the introduction chapter this research was justified in terms of the importance of transnational satellite television services, and specifically in terms of Aljazeera’s role in the Arab world’s emerging democracy. Finally the research methodology adopted to conduct the research and the limitations of this research were introduced followed by the outline of the dissertation’s chapters.
In the following chapter the research model developed for this research and which represents this research’s framework is discussed in details.
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Chapter Two: The Research Model
“I have yet to see any problem, however complicated, which, when you looked at it the right way, did not become still more complicated.” —Paul Alderson, in "New Scientist", 25 September 1969, 638 Overview
In chapter one, I introduced a model of media transition from state controlled to privately owned in relation to power state and democracy with an overlay of technology advances. (See Figure 7)
Figure 7 - Advances in media technologies and increased freedom of information
This model is based on a syntagmatic-paradigmatic model of media I developed specifically for this research. In this chapter, I will present this
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model and will attempt to explain its relationship and relevance to the study of democratisation at Aljazeera.
Rugh (2004), discussing the role of mass communication media asserts that “a media system necessarily responds to and reflects its environment, particularly the existing political realities, but also economic, cultural, and other factors” (p.2). He claims also that although the function of mass media facilities everywhere is “to [disseminate] messages from single originators to mass audiences and their roles are circumscribed to that degree…the precise function and structure of the media in a particular country can only be understood within the context of existing political and other factors in that country”(p.2).Referring to Arab world he concludes that “as there are some common cultural and other elements throughout the Arab world there are similarities in Arab media system; and as there are political, economic and other differences there are naturally differences among their media systems”(p.2).Consequently, the conditions of democracy determine the degree of public space available for the citizens of a particular country
In transnational television, the dissemination of information and diffusion of political and social change defies traditional models of democratization through media exposure and the transition or degree of influence is governed by the degree of globalization that consumer markets, such as the Arab world, experience. As technology is an inevitable outcome of the globalization, thus media diffusion is an inevitable outcome of technological advances. In this interchangeability, the transition from traditional forms of media, such as newspapers and radio, to modern forms, such as satellite television, internet, mobile and other multimedia applications, is necessitating and sometimes forcing increased public awareness of their basic freedoms. Attesting to this is the Arab world’s reaction to satellite television technologies and the heightened levels of expectations for freedom and political, social and cultural change, the advent of satellite television brought about in the Arab region. To this end and for the purposes of this research, the model that maps out the
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transition from these traditional forms to modern forms must take into account the interchangeability of information diffusion, technology and increased public awareness.
Theoretical Framework
A theoretical framework is “a conceptual model of how one theorizes or makes logical sense of the relationships among the several factors that have been identified as important to the problem” (Sekaran, 2000 c. f Radhakrshna et al, 2007 ). In other words the theoretical framework considers the interrelationships between the variables that are believed to be central to the problem under investigation (Sekaran, 2000).The review of literature in the disciplines of mass media theories, communication theories and the literature on the context of democracy were the cornerstone in the identification of the factors that would test Aljazeera’s role as catalyst of democratisation and socio-political change in the Arab World. Sekaran (2000) asserts that a theoretical framework of a research should address of the following:
o The variables
o The relationship between the variables
o The nature and direction of the relationships
o Why these relationships exist
o A schematic diagram of the framework
Figure 8 presents a schematic diagram of this research’s framework that address Sekaran’s (2000) requirements.
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Figure 8 - Schematic diagram of the theoretical framework
Based on the theoretical framework the main research proposition was formulated into three hypotheses which in a form of research questions aimed to address the problem under investigation (see Figure 9).
Figure 9 - Research questions and the hypotheses in the context of this research context
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However the literature review has revealed the existence of strong evidence that there is an organic relationship between freedom of the press and democracy and between state control and private ownership of the media (see Figure 10). Therefore for the purpose of this research a model was developed to reflect the following relationships of the various conditions on an increasing-decreasing scale:
Power state results in state-controlled media and increased restriction of freedoms of expression.
• Increased freedom leads to increased public space and therefore increased democratic conditions.
• The more power the state possesses the less democratic conditions exist.
• More freedom leads to free media.
• Aljazeera is increasing flow of information and awareness of democracy.
Figure 10 - Relation between freedom of press and democracy in Arab World media context
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These relationships are based on the premise that the presence of one condition necessitates the presence of the other condition and the absence of one condition obviates the presence of the other condition. The following section explains further the model and its aim.
The model
The model consists of a paradigmatic (vertical) relationship between democracy and power state on the one hand and a syntagmatic (horizontal) relationship between stated controlled media and privately owned media on the other (see Figure 10). It assumes a dynamic causative relationship between the paradigms (power state and democracy) and syntagms (state controlled media and privately owned media) on an increasing scale from zero-freedom of expression to increased freedom of expression and democratisation. This model aims to show the causal relationship between freedom of information and democracy and to capture the relationships between the dependent and independent variables
Figure 11- paradigmatic-syntagmatic relationship model of mass media
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This model is unique in the sense that no previous research in the literature at hand has tackled these dynamic factors in one integrative, interactive (multimedia) model. As such, support for this model was derived from the empirical inquiry rather than from previous theoretical research or secondary data.
In addition to the assumptions in the previous section, the model also assumes the following:
• Increased freedom of information, speech and expression leads to a broader public space and a heightened perception of democracy.
• Censorship or restricted freedom of information, speech and expression leads to a restricted public space and a lowered perception of democracy.
This model gives a bird’s-eye view of the conditions of media and democracy across the full spectrum of social and political variables identified in this research.
It is well established that the Arab world suffers from extreme censorship that limits creativity and political and social reform. While this condition may vary from country to country on a continuum from one extreme to the other, censorship is imposed more so on political expression than on other forms of expression. In this connection, Sakr (2000) confirms that
it is tempting, after nearly ten years of Arab satellite television, to interpret talk of ending a government broadcasting monopoly as an acknowledgement that tight control in this sector no longer works. In fact a veritable kaleidoscope of Arabic- language programming is now available, via satellite, on Middle Eastern television screens. This diversity has had some impact on the content of terrestrial television. But a mountain of legislation still weighs down on both satellite and terrestrial channels, perpetuating television censorship (p.2). Increasingly, viewers have turned to Aljazeera because it is seen to have given more latitude to a diversity of views, than most of the other Arab satellite television channels. This could be attributed to the fact that “the machinery of censorship was modified in Qatar when the current emir took power in 1995. First the post of information minister was left vacant
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and then in 1998 the ministry was abolished altogether, in line with the emir's policy of reform” (Sakr, 2000 p.2).
Utilisation of the model
This model has been used to develop the survey questionnaires used to collect the field data for the study. Development and utilisation of the model provided analytical outcomes that ensured a structured framework for further analysis of the research questions and variables identified in Chapter 1. More specifically, the model allowed evaluation of alternatives, as already discussed in Chapter 1, assessment of the paradigm shift from state-controlled media to privately owned media, as outlined in this Chapter, and investigation of the research problem as reported in the following chapters.
The model was also used to run various hypothetical scenarios and extract productive information from the data collected from the field study. It allows extrapolation of data within an integrative, interactive framework.
Relationship between variables in the research model
The identified relationships between the variables in the model are consistent with those identified and discussed in Chapter 1 and in the Literature Review.
Figure 12 shows these variables as they correspond to the research questions. Each research question was linked to three variables: dependent, independent and mediating, allowing these variables to be mapped onto the model and incorporated into the questions developed for the survey. This link also enabled Aljazeera’s programs to be linked to
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the research questions thus reinforcing the causative relationship between programs and variables.
Figure 12 - Research questions and variables Figure 13 below, maps further the research questions (hypotheses) onto survey questions categories. This visualisation helps in identifying the empirical relationships between these elements and enables a practical translation of the hypothetical assumptions about Aljazeera’s role.
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Figure 13- Survey questions categories and research hypotheses
Source: Developed for this research based on the Questionnaire which has been divided on 8 categories.
In order to understand the outcomes of the conditions of power state media depicted in the model, the same variables are mapped out onto the state-controlled media to show the outcomes and causal relationships between these variables under these conditions (see Figure 14).
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Figure 14-Conditions of Power State
Figure 15 below shows modes of mass communication and their relation to the Power State. In the Arab World these modes of communication are controlled either totally or partially by the government. Explicitly print media, radio and national TV in their majority are manipulated by the respective governments and have been used to promote their agenda. “Traditionally, Arab governments have used sticks and carrots to manipulate national media to their benefit” ( Abdul Ainien, n.d p.119). However, the satellite television and internet are partially controlled by the government and in their majority do not enjoy government sponsorship. But even though these modes of mass media “ have not really changed their relationship with the dominant social and political institutions” ( Abdul Ainien, n.d p.120).But because they were forced by the increasing competition of media outlets they became “more responsive to the audiences interests”
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Figure 15- State-controlled media outcomes
Model Rationale and Implications
Rugh (2004) identified four types of media, which were highlighted in the literature review and lend support to the model chosen here. These types of media are presented in Figure 16.
The research model developed for this study takes into account that the transition of media from state controlled to less stringent controls leading eventually to free media. This implies more freedom, less media control.
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As per the position taken throughout this thesis, Aljazeera is spearheading this transition towards free media across the Arab World.
Figure 16- Rugh's developmental path of Arab media (developed for this research)
The implication of this model is that the transition from state-controlled media to free media entails relaxation of media censorship laws and regulations and the transition of censorship from government organizations, such as the ministry of information, to the chief editor or policy monitor, at media networks.
A good example of this transition is the abolition of the Ministry of Information in Qatar around the same time Aljazeera was established. The increased level of democratization across society and within the media itself leads to self-censorship and self-regulation of the media. This allows for a culture change within the profession itself and the development of a new system of values free from the arbitrary decisions and serious threats of the State Censor.
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In the transition however, the danger lies in the transfer of powers from the State Censor to the chief editor. In the absence of a longstanding democratic culture, the transition becomes counterproductive. Therefore, for the conditions of democracy to exist it is not sufficient to have free and totally uncontrolled media, as is the case with off-shore satellite television networks, but free media that is bound by a system of values that subsume democratic values. In this context, Aljazeera cannot play the Fourth Estate role in the Arab world, nor can other media networks as long as these networks are limited by the financial constraints and governed by editorial policies that are often dictated by political considerations. One major criticism of Aljazeera’s avoidance of tackling Qatari issues is a prime example of the inability of such media networks to play the watchdog especially where there is an obvious conflict of interest.
In addition, in order to understand the relationship between the free media and democracy the model below was developed (see Figure 17).
Figure 17-Conditions of free media and democracy
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Furthermore, taking into account that technologies are changing the modes of communication, the model implies that the technology also determines the flow of information and increases the perception of democracy. In this light the diversity of opinions and views is an inevitable result of technology-facilitated information flows. With these aspects factored into the model, the survey questions and data analysis are able to focus on elements that are conducive to the framing of the questions within a transitional operational framework.
Figure 18 explains the relationship between the eight categories that were used to develop the survey questionnaire, with the issues which were raised within the hypotheses whether Aljazeera promotes democracy.
Figure 18 - Aljazeera satellite television outcomes and relationship between variables
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Figure 19 - Aljazeera satellite television outcomes
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Limitations of the research model
While the research model has proved to be effective in providing a basic overview of the conditions of media and democracy, it has its limitations. It is speculative and potentially biased. Because it is focused on the conditions of democracy in the media, other causative and contributing factors (political, economic, cultural, etc) have been intentionally excluded from the analysis and interpretation of collected data. Primarily, whilst this might sound contradictory to the concept of integration that the model assumes, these causative and contributing factors were deemed external to the media sphere within which the research operated. At any rate, to counter these weaknesses in the model, focus has been on perceptions of democracy rather than on real democracy as the conditions for real democracy do not exist in the Arab world. However, the post- positivist approach adopted for this research allowed a degree of objectivity by triangulation across multiple fallible perspectives (see Guba & Lincoln, 1994 and Trochim, 2003).
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Chapter Three Literature Review
Overview
The model presented in the previous chapter is based on the lines of argument in the current literature on the role of the media, Arab media in particular, in democratization. It is established that increased freedom of information and expression result in the creation of public spheres that contribute to democratization of societies. Well-informed democratic societies are less likely to engage in internal strife. The model is also based on the premise that democratization challenges existing power structures and that the transition to democracy depends on constant exposure to principles of democracy and on a free media that emphasizes human rights.
The causal relationship between the media and democratization has been a major area of interest in a variety of disciplines. The advent of Aljazeera in the nineties has been regarded as a democratization factor in the Arab world and the focus in media studies in Western universities has shifted towards a close examination of this new phenomenon and its effects on democratization of Arab societies.
Although Aljazeera had been hardly known outside the Arab world its rise to international media fame began on October 7, 2001 thanks to its exclusive coverage of Bin Laden’s series of tapes. Suddenly, everyone was talking about Aljazeera, trying to understand this all new media channel.
This chapter will attempt to survey landmark publications that have examined these concepts and the relationship between information dissemination and democracy within the Arab media context. Characteristically however, the literature reveals two main lines of
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argument vis-à-vis the role of Aljazeera in democratization in the Arab world. One that supports the view that Aljazeera promotes democratization and social change and one that looks at Aljazeera as the mouthpiece of anti-western groups. The review will also look at how Aljazeera differentiates from state-controlled media and what is its impact on these media outlets; in other words, how Aljazeera is effecting change not only in viewers’ perceptions but also in the responses of policy makers in state-controlled media.
Finally, while some of the arguments reviewed here might be persuasive, they are merely used to situate the study in the context of the research and do not necessarily represent researcher’s personal views on Aljazeera or pan-Arab media. As will become apparent in this section, a variety of content analytic studies have observed that Aljazeera is having a particular affect on the social settings of the Arab world. These arguments were mainly based on content analysis with very little empirical data, and in my view, have not been able to read the viewers’ response to Aljazeera.
By utilising survey methods in the present study, the field data collected further supported these content analysis studies and indicators were established that exceeded content analysis. More specifically, this research used a cross-sectional survey which enabled respondents to be approached on a single occasion. This type of survey provided a very high response rate allowing the collection of a large amount of information at one time. This method also enabled the researcher to target randomly selected respondents in the Arab World and Australian Arab viewers at “spot-check” locations such as shopping centers. This survey method also allowed culture specific idiosyncrasies, such as female and male differences to be taken into consideration. In order to allow the survey to be conducted with female respondents, females assisted in conducting the survey and they were trained in research methods and data collection procedures. The professional group of respondents came from Aljazeera and from other Arab satellite networks and media outlets. The survey method enabled these professionals to surpass their conflict of interest and
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professional solidarity considerations because of the anonymous nature of the survey collection methods and procedures.
State-controlled Media in the Arab World: A Chronological Account
It is common knowledge in the Arab world that from the time Arab media was established it has been under the control of the state. With the gradual departure of the colonial powers from the region, regimes that were either installed or usurped power immediately brought the media under their control or patronage. The media in its early forms—that is the press and radio—and prior to the launch of Aljazeera in 1996, had been used by the state for control and hegemony. As an arm of the ministry of information or equivalent in each country, the media has been the mouthpiece of the ruling regime and has been used as a propaganda machine or mobilization tool. Characteristically, the controlling state did not allow criticism of policy or different or dissenting views or opinions.
During the tide of pan-Arabism from the fifties to the seventies, led by the late Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, and the Arab-Israeli conflict that shadowed the pan-Arab project, the media was used to mobilize and crush opposing movements. This state of affairs is summed up by Saad Eddin Ibrahim (2004), director of the Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies, Cairo, and teacher at the American University in Cairo, who was incarcerated by the Egyptian government for speaking out against it, as follows
…in the last fifty years, the Arabs--the average Arab--was the victim of state controlled media that distorted his consciousness, that misled him, and that created at the end a general malaise, confusion, and alienation. These are not just words, these are again not only the result of direct observation but also the result of the systematic research people like myself have done in the last thirty years in the Arab world (p.1).
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Rugh (2004) identifies five types of media in the Arab world. These are:
1) Mobilization press of Syria, Libya, and the Sudan. 2) Loyalist press of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Palestine. 3) The diverse print media of Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco and Yemen 4) The transitional system of print media of Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and Algeria. 5) Offshore pan-Arab print media.
While the first and second types are state-controlled and have been used to vie with each other for media supremacy and influence in the Arab world, the diverse media, as Rugh (2004) confirms, is relatively free. Moreover the transitional type media is either in government hands fully or with controlling interests, or either privately owned, while offshore pan-Arab media is privately owned and largely outside the control of Arab governments.
Ayish (2001) claims that satellite television has introduced large variety of programs to Arab television screens, outside the realm of government control and concludes that “the main implication of [these channels] has been a dwindling government television audience and fiercer competition with print media for a limited advertising pie” (cited from El-Nawawy 2006, p.9).But despite the variety and innovation of programs, “satellite television networks tended to play it safe by avoiding political controversies and providing heavy doses of mind-numbing entertainment, sleepy and benign interviews and harmless talk shows that insulted the viewers’ intelligence”( El-Nawawy, 2006 p.9).
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This was the case till the launching of Aljazeera. El-Nawawy and Gher (2003) assert
Before Al Jazeera, there was little opposition to Arab government views on Middle Eastern airwaves, which have always been dominated by state-sponsored propaganda machines through the Arab ministries of information. Arabs used to express their political opinions behind closed doors and in many cases during informal gatherings at coffee shops, which are wide-spread in most Arab cities (p.1)
Aljazeera has broken the barriers of censorship and government control of local media. Aljazeera has been seen by Arab viewers as a medium for public discourse, where they “could express their views without inhibitions” and as “a breath of fresh air in a heavily censored environment” (El-Nawawy, p.10).
Commenting on Aljazeera’s effect on Arab world Saad al-Din Ibrahim an Egyptian political activist claims that “Al-Jazeera has done probably for the Arab world more than any organized critical movement could have done, in opening up the public space, in giving Arab citizens a newly found opportunity to assert themselves” (cited from Lynch, 2005 p. 37). This effect which could attribute to its editorial freedom is defined by some scholars as an early stage of the new Arab public sphere (Lynch, 2006).
Habermas (1989), a contemporary German philosopher, asserts that “public sphere constitutes a public stage for discourse regarding critical joint problems and topics of collective concern that are found in the public realm”. Moreover he states that public sphere “is the intermediate area between state and civic society, where, in theory at least, each person has equal weight (Habermas, 1989 cited from El-Nawawy and Gher, 2003 p.1).
“Access to the public sphere is open in principle to all citizens. … citizens act as a public when they deal with matters of general interest without being subject to coercion” (Habermas,1989 p. 231). Arab public sphere
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before the advent of Aljazeera “was reflected through face-to-face interactions of the man-on-the-street” (El-Nawawy and Gher, 2003 p.1).
The public sphere created by Aljazeera has been seen as a major development in the transition from state-controlled societies to democratic societies, which is what this thesis argues throughout. In this regard, El- Nawawy and Iskandar (2002) observe that
the emergence of Aljazeera is not simply that of yet another satellite television network, but rather the story of people’s quest for freedom of opinion and expression, a quest that if curtailed, will lead to the emergence of militant religious fundamentalism as a result of decades of oppressive regimes and the virtual non-existence of a public sphere where issues are discussed and resolved (p.x).
Media, Democracy and Informed Citizens
El-Nawawy and Iskandar (2002) referring to the satellite TV channels assert
How many people realized in the beginning of the nineties that launching satellite TV channels such as CNN would be an important event and a revolutionary era in modern history? In addition, how many of us realized - after a short time - that the launching of Arab satellite television channels would be the most exciting, important and revolutionary historical event for the Middle East. These Arab satellite channels were the point of initial penetration barriers of censorship and government control of local media which is bound to keep expanding among the existing Arabic media that serves the tyrant regimes (p.38).
In the late eighties Arab intellectuals were debating a foreign cultural invasion as a result of rapid advancement in telecommunication technology and the possibility of worldwide broadcasting without any limitations. At that point in time a small minority were fearful of those unforeseen forces of change and believed that the foreign cultural invasion was inevitable and an unavoidable danger facing the Arab world. But the majority were very optimistic and considered futuristic
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technological innovations would bring to the Arab world an opportunity to be exposed to the external world, causing interaction between their own and other people’s cultures without the domination of government politicized media strategies guided and directed by dictators ‘regimes’ (Feuilherade, 1995).This in fact contradicts those who label the Arab world as a coming enemy that would clash with other cultures in a struggle to win and impose its cultural values upon other parts of the world.
The launching of satellite TV channels in the nineties was awaited anxiously by the Arab world as it was thought that, change and freedom of speech would be the core activities of these channels. To most people, these television outlets were a great disappointment as they adopted the same approach of government-controlled media, in promoting those same ideologies that stand and support existing regimes. This is attributed to the source of funding for these TV channels, indirectly funded by these regimes through their allies. In addition, those television channels that dared to cross the set line were subjected to prosecution and closure. Khouri (2001) in his article “Arab Satellite TV: Promoting Democracy or Autocracy?” appearing on May 9 2001 in the liberal English-language daily Jordan Times, , argues “that while satellite television programs and their boisterous debates can be entertaining, they don't affect decision making in the highly authoritarian environment of the Middle East” (cited from Campagna, 2001 p. 88).
Despite this, satellite television channels have some positives associated with their operations. In contrast to government controlled TV channels which distanced Arab countries, satellite television channels connected different parts of the Arab world together despite the geographical distances and sometimes cultural differences and fostered mutual understanding and appreciation of divergent dialects spoken in different Arab countries. Moreover people became more aware of recent developments in each of the other countries and their ability to feel and think in a more united way was enhanced.
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In addition Al-Amoudi (1990) confirms also that Arab television channels have united the populations of these countries under one umbrella despite the regional barriers created by previous occupying powers and maintained by some subsequent governments as a precondition for their maintenance of political power.
The launching of Aljazeera TV as a channel specializing in news and current affairs in November 1996 was unprecedented in the Arab world. If CNN was the media leader that conquered the age of media satellite broadcasting in the world, then Arab satellite channels were the vehicles that brought the Arab world into the age of technology, despite the fact
that the standard of their existing programs still fall behind expectations (Taylor, 1999).
Aljazeera is considered the leader in its field among other Arab satellite television channels due to the professional standards it has maintained and continuously improving.
In the Arab world, Aljazeera is considered as a reliable and independent source of information and media coverage. The range of its programs that include education, politics, news, health and much more is considered outstanding in comparison to other Arab TV Channels. It has a neutral approach towards events and it was the only channel that has conveyed the Israeli point of view to the Arab world (Hirst, 2000). Through Aljazeera, Arab viewers were able to sample serious and responsible media, and this caused other channels that were only promoting entertainment and governments’ political agendas to take second place.
Aljazeera has caused a great deal of controversy in Arab countries and the rest of the world. In fact, there is clearly a ceiling on just how far Aljazeera dares to go in provoking Arab governments, especially Saudi Arabia - historically domineering toward Qatar. It has caused pain and headaches for many Arab regimes and often, those governments called in their ambassadors as act of protest and dismay. In some cases Arab regimes proceed with the closure of Aljazeera offices (for example Mauritanian and Jordanian government) while in other cases Aljazeera’s
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journalists were imprisoned (example Tayseer Allouni and Sami al-Haj) (Hirst, 2000).
The leading role Aljazeera played and its entry into many households without governmental permission redirected viewers from government TV channels, which caused those regimes to lose their strong grip and manipulation of propaganda through media.
Despite the mounting pressure, Aljazeera has continued to provide a window of opportunity to those who are unable to speak out for what they believe in, including their opposition to Arab regimes. If Aljazeera has been able to promote change within the Arab world and threaten regimes despite the pressures, then we can imagine how a TV channel that is totally free and independent would foster freedom of speech and democratization of the Arab world and what its impact could be on these tyrant regimes.
As the Arab regimes were the first to realize and foresee the dangers Aljazeera could inflict on their pre-existing and dominated TV channels, they all mounted a campaign towards strangling and paralysing Aljazeera. The Arab regimes have adopted different strategies including economic sanctions, political pressure and the closure of Aljazeera offices in their countries. Although the pressure was extreme, Aljazeera resisted these powerful forces and resumed the challenge which caused great embarrassment to other Arabic channels.
This in due course pushed these channels to give more freedom to their journalists in order to compete with Aljazeera and gain some credibility with the audience (Esposito, 2003). Aljazeera was a valuable lesson to many countries in the Arab world and paved the way for others to copy its successful business model when they realized the impact and the power of Satellite TV. "Aljazeera had virtually acted as the “news agency of the world” [and] has been credited with revolutionizing public opinion the in the Arab world by virtue of its resoluteness in maintaining its independence from the censor, something quite alien to traditional Middle Eastern media” ("Aljazeera: The Satellite," 2003). Therefore, Aljazeera
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became a successful trend, which expanded beyond these regimes' control, and the entire Arab population has realized that government- controlled media are now under a death sentence and only communicate with their own minority. Therefore, an independent media is the way to the future.
Writers who have argued for democratization in the Arab world have linked democracy to peace. According to Albrecht Schnabel (2003),
Successful democratization is essential to bring peace to the countries of the Middle East. Internal stability, development, justice, reconciliation, minority protection, and popular participation in the political process – all hallmarks of a stable, inclusive democracy – will in the long run help the region move beyond its many protracted intra- and interstate conflicts. The process of democratization cannot be either purely just or purely pragmatic: it facilitates the rebuilding of society by merging society- and institution-building, thus creating the foundations for inter-group trust and non-violent interaction and competition (p.25). The role of the media has been regarded as a critical factor in promoting democratization. As O'Neil and Rienner (1998) emphasize, it is widely understood that a strong connection exists between mass communication and democracy. They stress the following:
Simply put, the assumption is that for democracies to function, civil society requires access to information as a means to make informed political choices. Similarly, politicians require the media as a way in which they can take stock of the public mood, present their views, and interact with society. The media are thus viewed as a vital conduit of relations between state and society. But the media are not simply instruments of political actors, lacking their own independent power. Democracies are political systems that allow for the dispersal of power and public access to it, but liberal democratic theory also notes that such systems can be easily corrupted, thereby undermining participation and voice (p.1). The underlying assumption here is that the media play a public relations’ role that ensures communication between government and citizens. This realization has compelled leaders and heads of state in the Arab world and in the west to use Aljazeera as a platform for their views on a variety of political issues. Leaders such as the Syrian President Bashar al-Asaad, Libyan leader Mu’ammar al-Qaddafi, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, have all appeared on Aljazeera in the past ten years in a public relations exercise to “win the hearts and minds of the Arabs”.
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In Democracy and the News, Herbert J. Gans (2003) argues that journalism suffers from a conveyer belt mentality, or more precisely, assembly lines modes of production. He argues that journalists speculate when information is lacking. “They assign motives to the political actors on whom they report, and they pass on information, as well as misinformation” (p.57). He contends that citizen participation is democratic, but by itself does not solve the problems of the polity or the society. Citizen participation is consequently a process full of conflicts and while debates and discussions may inform citizens, they cannot make a direct contribution to democracy unless they lead to citizen participation and reach the elected officials.
Gans (2003) asserts also that when information is irrelevant people who inform themselves in order to exercise their democratic rights may suffer from information overload. In some respects, 24-hour news channels such as CNN and Aljazeera may cause this kind of information overload. He again concludes that “people in a democracy are distanced from politics and see themselves as untouched by government (p.125). In contrast, the majority of the people in the Arab world lives under authoritarian governments in the absence of democracy, and feel the brunt of draconian systems.
In Civil Society, Mass Media and Democracy in Post-Communist Countries, Dušan Reljić (2004) contends that the media are not as powerful as people think. He argues that the media are governed by market forces although what the media produce is important for the public. Communication channels that are established and operated by mass media are vital to society, but without free and balanced political communication, democratic institutions will become corrupt. At the end of the day, those who own the media will call the shots so to speak. Even in the West, the question of who owns the media is a debatable issue
According to Al-Obaidi (2003), the catchphrase in the Middle East in the beginning of the twenty-first century has been democracy. “The irony of this thought is that the West has acquired the infrastructure of a powerful
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media and the practice of democracy, almost instantaneous” (p.96). He argues that although concrete definitions and theories of communication were not proposed until the 20th century, the ancient Greeks encouraged the act of communication to share news and views. His argument is built on the definition of democracy and democratization as a long-term process. Al-Obaidi (2003) in this context asserts that “…practice of democracy is also based on knowledge and information. Informed citizens are able to participate in the political life and decision-making process. Reviewing a number of Middle Eastern websites reveals that there are several ways of discussing issues of relevance to the region in general and to each country (p.97)
While it is true that democratic practices may be traced back to the Greeks and that democratization is an incremental process, as Al-Obaidi’s argument suggests, one could easily argue that spotlights of democratic trends can be detected in other nations across history and the concept of democracy, while not new, is a modern conviction.
Nasrallah (2007) argues that “when journalists and the information media are free, the receptors can have a lot of information that is correct” (p.131). Talking specifically about the Arab world, he predicts that the next five years will represent a new stage during which Arab journalists will not accept incomplete information and will not be able to keep it that way, incomplete. He confirms that the Arab media outlets are in a real crisis, and so is the Arab public opinion, which has largely been ignored and has suffered from a lack of a democratic sphere. He warns that the West is now seeking to change the basic model of affiliation and identity upon which the Arab thought has developed. In Media Security, Nasrallah (2007) presents a case for Arab media security in a treatise-like book that has no internal citations or bibliography although he makes claims that the data presented is based on reports from various authenticated sources.
In this regard, Darwish (2005) has already argued that the entire Arab world is going through a difficult phase of a complete identity crisis that is touching all political, economic, social, intellectual and language
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aspects. Predating US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s statement that the a new Middle East was about to be born out of the pains of labour during the Israeli war on Lebanon in July 2006, Darwish (2006) observes that the Arab world is going through the beginnings of difficult pangs of labour that seem to be the beginning of the end of the Arab world as we know it today. However, he takes a different line of argument talking about social and cultural alienation. In his highly quotable book, Language, Translation and Identity in the Age of the Internet, Satellite Television and Directed Media, Darwish (2005) argues that the current crisis in the Arab world consists of an awesome tide of alienation, westernization and momentary living where people are turning away from Arabic because they deem it incapable of coping with modernity and where the Arab media are playing a critical role in changing the social tapestry of the Arab world.
In contrast to Nasrallah (2007), Yassin (2006) argues that when “the media changes from a human and cultural means of communication and knowledge to a game pre-designed for special purposes the concept of communication right is reduced to control of individual freedoms” (p.28). He contends that “standardization of the media is a means of confiscating the independent character of the individual and replacing it with a malleable character that cannot resist” (p.28). However, this assumption cannot be totally supported because standardization is an inevitable result of synthesis of professional practices.
In The Media and Arab Culture, Abu Arjah (2003) argues that “freedom of expression is one of the most valuable aspects of human beings and nations” (p. 11). The democracy, which is based upon intellectual and political diversity, guarantees the freedom of the press. He argues that “legislation protects freedom of the press but it can also curb it” because of media monopoly, advertising pressure, and authoritarian control of totalitarian and despotic regimes. He reports, that field studies in the Arab world have shown that “television has become the primary source of information, general education, entertainment and recreation” (p.113). He
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states that satellite television is used by the US administration as an effective means of spreading the American culture and lifestyle and the culture of money and trading. Distinguishing between cultural invasion and cultural communication, Abu Arjah quoting Sean McBride asserts that culture does not develop in insulation but rather through free exchange and interaction with other cultures. However, “such exchange must be at the same level in both directions and based upon mutual respect” (p.119). However, his study appears to be based on gratification theory, hence his findings. But Abu Arjah does not explain how these factors affect the viewers’ perception or the correlation between viewers’ desire to use television for education and their actual dependence on television for education.
Educators have argued to the contrary that for television to be a medium for education, the quality of programs should be examined. As Goonasekera (1987) argues, loosely, television has the potential for spreading knowledge, skills and even basic literacy among mass audiences but the use of television for educational purposes rests on the existence of program producers, technicians and researchers who are capable of producing focused programs with quality content. In other words, reality TV programs and adaptation of western style drama programs are not good examples of educational programs.
Zayani (2005) reports, that many viewers of Aljazeera think it are “grappling with democracy and hail it as a herald of democratization” (p.33). However, this statement is not derived from any empirical data; rather from limited interviews with people largely in the media industry. While perceptions may be inferred from such interviews, such responses by interviewees already working for networks such Aljazeera may also be dictated by policy and public relations motives. A case in point is Aljazeera’s Moscow bureau chief’s sacking after an unauthorized interview with the Russian television (Jabr and Ahmad, 2005).
Quinn and Walters (2004), confirm the view that Aljazeera has caused ripples in the Arab world.
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It has the advantage of a good reputation among Arab viewers, the benefit of being the first 24-hour news and talk station in the Arab world, and dedicated and well-trained staff. The major issue will be its ability to pay for itself and to keep key people. Despite having a smaller staff budget compared with CNN and BBC World, broadcasting remains an expensive business. Small staff numbers mean that reporters work long hours and it may prove difficult to retain staff over the long term if they are tired, and if richer channels come by with checkbooks open (p.15). They conclude that irrespective of whether the viewers see Aljazeera in a good or bad light, it has managed to attract attention and has put Qatar on the world map.
Browne (1998) argues that television influences society in many ways. People are easily influenced to accept a belief that they may not normally have unless expressed on television, since many people think that everything they hear on television is true. This, however, is not always the case. It has been observed that over the past twenty to thirty years, normal social behaviour, even actual life roles of men and women and media, regulatory policies have all been altered through the media.
Ayish in Political Communication on Arab World Television: Evolving Patterns identifies political communication patterns that shape television in the Arab world. In the traditional government-controlled television pattern, Ayish reveals the official government policies that inspire the form and substance of TV's framing of events and issues. Despite the fact that official positions set the parameters of news coverage, in the reformist government-controlled television pattern, professional news work practices in traditional government-controlled television do not exist. In the liberal commercial pattern, American-style journalism seems to define television's handling of events and issues. In support of his arguments, Ayish conducts a supplementary analysis of how three television broadcasters representing the three political communication patterns—Syrian Satellite Channel (SSC), Abu Dhabi Satellite Channel (ADSC) and Aljazeera Satellite Channel (JSC)—frame national and regional politics in their news programs.
For decades, the Arab world was forced to rely on the national press of various countries that were often monitored and controlled by strict
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regimes on Western media, such as BBC, CNN, etc. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of Arab newspapers and satellite television stations. None has been more successful nor more, controversial than Aljazeera (Esposito, 2003).
Aljazeera as a public political party
The entire bulk of literature on Aljazeera has focused on the question of whether it is providing an alternative to political parties in the Arab worlds. Summarizing this position, Kai Hafez (2004) argues that
The famous Arab news network Al-Jazeera has been considered one of the most important ‘Arab parties.’ Since most Arab countries have not yet established functioning democracies most relevant institutions, like political parties and a parliamentarian opposition, are still rudimentary, Arab satellite television seems to be taking over part of their designated role. As a mouthpiece of Arab peoples and ‘the common man’, Arab satellite broadcasting seems able to mediate between the state and society (p.1). She concludes that media does not follow but rather leads in the process of democratization. Moreover she asserts that
The mass media are surely no substitute for pro-active elites and oppositional parties and movements. On the contrary, they often seem to be preoccupied with organizational goals like market income or pure political survival. However, transnational Arab news networks operate in a regional Arab. Environment and the transborder situation make them more immune to many of the influences that classical transformation theory emphasized. (p.15) In this view, Al-Obaidi (2003) contends that
In the Middle East as elsewhere, without the public, neither the communication nor mass media nor democracy makes any sense. The public has the right to know, and this very fight, the right to know needs to be protected and provided by the means to be able to know” and that “democracy as a process in the Middle East is never completed (p.1). Ayish (2001) observes that: “the launch of commercial television in the Arab world has not only widened viewers' programming choices, but it has also given them access to new formats and styles rarely used in government-monopolized television. Professional rather than political considerations seem to be the driving force behind news work at private stations keen on establishing a foothold in a highly competitive media market. For them, what makes news is a host of values that relate to the event or issue and its significance for the audience…” (p. 2). He also asserts that
“In as much as Al-Jazeera has won the hearts and minds of millions of viewers, it has also incurred the anger of numerous Arab governments for its critical coverage of social and political issues. The service draws on a highly
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professional staff with international experience as well as on state-of-the-art digital production technologies. Al-Jazeera has been hailed as the only satellite television service in the Arab world to deal with issues of corruption and polygamy.”(p.3) There is concordance that Aljazeera is known for its forthright style, frank journalism and willingness to discuss taboo issues. As BBC reported, on 15th of November 2006, Aljazeera has managed to break a monopoly on information held by governments and state broadcasters
The Birth of Aljazeera and Free Arab Media
Several books and papers have been published about Aljazeera or Arab satellite television in general. The main books are:
• Aljazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East by Mohammed El-Nawawy and Adel Iskandar, 2002.
• The Aljazeera Phenomenon: Critical Perspectives on New Arab Media, by Mohamed Zayani, 2005.
• Language, Translation and Identity in the Age of the Internet, Satellite Television and Directed Media, by Ali Darwish. 2005.
• Aljazeera: How Arab TV News Challenged the World, by Hugh Miles, 2005.
• Voices of the New Arab Public: Iraq, Aljazeera and Middle East Politics Today, by Marc Lynch, 2005.
• Mission Al Jazeera: Build a Bridge, Seek the Truth, Change the World, by Josh Rushing, 2007.
Almost all researchers, including those above, agree that Aljazeera has radically transformed the television news landscape throughout the Arab world. Ayish (2002) observes that before Aljazeera, the concept of television journalism was virtually non-existent in Arab world television
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services, which for three decades had functioned more as government propaganda machines than as independent sources of information.
Aljazeera: Philosophy and policy
Aljazeera began broadcasting in November 1996, with a six-hour satellite transmission of news and public affairs in a Western journalistic style with the freedom to criticize Arab governments. In early 1999, Aljazeera increased its broadcasting to 24 hours a day introducing talk shows and other controversial programs tackling politically sensitive issues that enabled people to phone-in and participate, stunning both Arab governments and publics alike (Welch, 2003).
In Aljazeera: the world through Arab eyes, Hazem Saghieh (2004) argues that Aljazeera and other channels broke the Western and the American monopoly of news in the area. This outcome of the expansion in the range of the transmitters of information does not only counterweight the American-dominated coverage of news events; it also accustoms the Arab viewers with the criticism of their own rulers and governments, an unthinkable tendency until the nineties. Saghieh (2004) cites the presence of Aljazeera and other channels that promote activists and feminists of human rights as an example that represents a significant “normalisation” of political discourse.
One of the distinguishing features of Aljazeera is its open debate philosophy. In an interview conducted on 27th of July 2007, Aljazeera’s general manager Waddah Khanfar summarized Aljazeera’s philosophy as follows:
Free media “It was a matter of necessity, the world is opening. There is a new trend internationally of free media. There is a new emergence of electronic media, email, internet, and satellite and we would have never been able to live isolated from the rest of the world. So that emergence of Aljazeera was a necessity and it has happened. If we haven’t done it the others would have done it. It is the movement of history; actually, we have been hearing the position, that we should do something for the Arab world.”
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,Credibility “Aljazeera is trying to be at best standards of credibility and we are trying to get our conditions. If you have looked at the point mentioned in our code of conduct, if you have looked, that there are certain practical criteria not only rhetorical slogans: what is credibility? What are news sources how do you define it? How do you deal with it? You trust it or not when do you doubt it? And when you don't doubt it. How do you protect it? All these questions are answered in a very simple way and our journalists could deal with it”. A new era of news and of free news reporting “It is very important turning point in the Arab media because it is important. it is; actually, not only, it is the most turning point if you would like to say. it is the most important turning point because it was more free reporting, the beginning of a new era of news, of free news reporting in the Arab world so definitely that is a very important description”. Waddah Khanfar in this interview, referred also to Aljazeera’s code of ethics, issued in 2004. In this context he asserted that Aljazeera’s code of ethics summarises its philosophy as follows:
1) Adhere to the journalistic values of honesty, courage, fairness, balance, independence, credibility and diversity, giving no priority to commercial or political considerations over professional ones. 2) Endeavour to get to the truth and declare it in our dispatches, programmes and news bulletins unequivocally in a manner which leaves no doubt about its validity and accuracy. 3) Treat our audiences with due respect and address every issue or story with due attention to present a clear, factual and accurate picture while giving full consideration to the feelings of victims of crime, war, persecution and disaster, their relatives and our viewers, and to individual privacy and public decorum. 4) Welcome fair and honest media competition without allowing it to affect adversely our standards of performance so that getting a "scoop" will not become an end in itself.
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5) Present diverse points of view and opinions without bias or partiality. 6) Recognise diversity in human societies with all their races, cultures and beliefs and their values and intrinsic individualities in order to present unbiased and faithful reflection of them. 7) Acknowledge a mistake when it occurs, promptly correct it and ensure it does not recur. 8) Observe transparency in dealing with news and news sources while adhering to internationally established practices concerning the rights of these sources. 9) Distinguish between news material, opinion and analysis to avoid the pitfalls of speculation and propaganda. 10) Stand by colleagues in the profession and offer them support when required, particularly in light of the acts of aggression and harassment to which journalists are subjected at times. Cooperate with Arab and international journalistic unions and associations to defend freedom of the press. In the months that have followed the declaration of this code of ethics, Aljazeera still faced criticism for its “unfair” and “biased” reporting of various events in the Middle East and the world. Most of the criticism however comes from authoritarian or conservative regimes in the region and surprisingly from the West.
A recent European Union seminar: Euromed and the media, the roles of schools of journalism, identified accuracy, timelessness, freedom from bias and validity across borders as the pillars of good journalism. It also acknowledged that “in the cacophony of modern media with its abundance of formats and outlets, shared goals of good practice are often forgotten” (EU seminar, 2007). The seminar confirmed that Aljazeera’s in-depth reporting and often controversial style revolutionised journalism in the Arab world and as a result many more people became
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interested in the profession. “There was a need for training in journalism without bias,” said Moussa Nuseibeh, head of projects at Aljazeera’s Media Training and Development Centre. “We created our training centre to maintain the ethics and high quality of journalism at Al-Jazeera. We immediately had an influx of people from the Arab world and beyond.”(Press release, 2007).
When these western style codes are examined through the theories of Fourth Estate, the assertion of these codes raises the question whether Aljazeera is acting as the guardian of the public interest or as a watchdog on the activities of governments regionally and internationally. If the answer is yes, these codes become relevant in as far as making sure that Aljazeera is seen as objective, balanced and unbiased. In this regard, Kalinga Seneviratne (n.d.) laments the demise of the fourth estate asserting that “Today, over the ruins of this fourth estate, its main landlords—the CNN, Fox TV and the BBC—are all accusing one another of the destruction of its credibility (p.1).He concludes that
This is what the Arabic channel Al-Jazeera preferred to show to the world and Al-Jazeera believes that it has played a leading role during the war to highlight to the world that the Arab media have come of age and they are a major factor in shaping world public opinion. For that, it was bombed by US precision-guided missiles and one of its journalists was killed. (p.5) According to Conte (2007), “Al-Jazeera has shown its editorial independence through its criticism to the Arab governments and in raising debates on taboos topics such as, the role of women in society, the religious involvement in politics, the effectiveness of human rights and democracy in the region”(p.1). This enhances Al-Jazeera’s credibility as source of news in Arab World and Diaspora. Furthermore its launching created a new challenge for Western media. Supporting this view, Khalid Hroub (2006) argues that
the creation of a "regional media public sphere" has been central to Al- Jazeera's policy over the past 10 years. Motivated by the success of the Qatar- based station - envious too, no doubt - a number of trans-terrestrial Arabic- speaking television stations,[e.g Al-Arabiya and Al-Hurrah chiefly Saudi, Egyptian and Lebanese] were established in competition. Most of these modelled themselves on Al-Jazeera, in style if not in substance: challenging existing political, social and religious systems became the name of the new
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media game. The newly created virtual sphere of free debate and news access effectively rendered old-style state-controlled Arab media obsolete (p.23). Concluding this section, it is generally observed that Aljazeera’s programs strive to live up to these expectations.
A Brief History of Aljazeera
Aljazeera (which means "the peninsula" or "the island") was founded in 1996 in Qatar after the new Emir of Qatar, Shaykh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, obtained the rights to the Arabic TV division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) News Service. The BBC had been trying to develop an all-Arabic television station in conjunction with the Saudi-owned Orbit Radio and Television Service. The joint venture failed after the two parties could not agree on issues relating to the new station's editorial independence (El-Nawawy and Iskander, 2002). Despite its initial aim to be financially independent, Aljazeera is mostly reliant on Qatari government financing (approximately $100 million yearly). On the whole, the economics of Arab satellite TV in the Middle East makes it difficult for many stations to turn a profit. Aljazeera’s controversial programming may deter some advertisers from buying air time on the station. “Some observers have noted that the station only averages around 40-45 minutes of advertising per day” (Bahry, 2001 cited from Sharp, 2003 p.1).
Campagna (2001) observes Qatar’s wildly popular Aljazeera satellite channel as being one of the most important political developments in the Arab world at the end of the 20th century. There is no doubt that the 24 hour Pan-Arab news channel has revolutionized the news industry in a region where turgid, heavily censored television news is standard fare.
Since its launch in 1996, Aljazeera has emerged as the region's most influential news channel, due in large measure to its unrestricted news programs and debates that continually enrage Arab rulers (Zogby Poll, 2006). The response by Western journalists has been gushing. Thomas Friedman the New York Times columnist claimed that Aljazeera is "not
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only the biggest media phenomenon to hit the Arab world since the advent of television, it also is the biggest political phenomenon" (cited from Hudson 2005, p.3).
In ‘Aljazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East’ the first book to be published about Aljazeera is described the effect that Aljazeera has had on Arab listeners, not only in the Middle East , but also to those who live in the West (El-Nawawy and Iskander, 2002).
Broadcasting news about the West in an open manner seems to have broadened the views of some people in Middle Eastern countries. For those who have immigrated to North America, Aljazeera has been a way of keeping in contact with their homelands. El-Nawawy and Iskander, (2002) make an interesting distinction between the views of Arabic and Western newsmen regarding Palestinians who strap bombs to themselves in order to kill their enemies. As Agriesti (2002) state while Aljazeera network calls them martyrs, because the Arabs regard them as such, most of the Western media, like CNN, use the phrase “suicide bombers”
Reporting Priorities
In addition, Aljazeera presents the death toll of Palestinians in conflicts with Israelis, while, according to El-Nawawy and Iskander (2003), CNN rarely seems to do that. The Arab listener thus assumes the Western coverage of Middle Eastern affairs is not important with the world becoming an increasingly smaller place; it seems to be a good idea to keep as well informed as possible from a wide variety of sources. Fortunately, Aljazeera seems to be filling a great need (Agriesti, 2002).
Aljazeera is known for representing all sides of a question, even asking officials high in the Israeli government to appear. Because of this, some Arabic countries accused the network of being pro-Israeli and closed Aljazeera’s offices in their countries. Aljazeera gained fame in the West when it broadcasted a videotape of one of Osama bin Ladin’s speeches in the aftermath of the September 11 2001 attacks. There was some
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controversy when United States officials asked the network to refrain from broadcasting any more of his videos since they thought there might be hidden messages to underground groups in this country (El-Nawawy and Iskandar, 2002).
Therefore, when the Aljazeera satellite channel began its broadcasts in 1996 from the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, more than a digital revolution was born. “For the first time, Arabs were able to watch news programs and talk shows in their own language and assembled by independent journalists rather than by government propagandists” (MacLeod, 2004 p.1). With an estimated 50 million viewers (Miles 2004), the network has been emulated by competitor stations across the region.
Aljazeera has angered Arab governments by giving airtime to rebel movements and freedom advocates and tackling taboo topics like polygamy and apostasy. Arab opinion has also been immeasurably influenced by Aljazeera's coverage of the Palestinian Intifadeh and the U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (Timmerman, 2002). Sceptics sneer that the Emir has used Aljazeera to put his tiny country on the map. He insists that channel reflects a wind of change blowing through the Middle East. Arab regimes are certainly feeling more than a breeze.
The Arab Public Sphere
The concept of Arab public space is now talked about as a direct result of Aljazeera and the increased freedom of the media. Lynch (2006) argues that “the new Arab public should be understood in terms of the public arguments enacted by self-defined Arabs within a widely accessible new media” (p.29). He says that, the mere emergence of satellite television networks does not simply create a public space. It is only when Aljazeera turned away from entertainment to politics and political argument about Arab issues and identity that, it became a public sphere. On this note, Conte (2007) argues that it cannot be denied that a society based on a democratic sovereignty needs a system of full, correct, transparent and clear information in order to guarantee the accountability of its own
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political representatives, following the principle of deliberation. Conte (2007) also stresses that Aljazeera has had a global effect on the freedom of the press and global flow of information and that “thanks to the editorial freedom received from the Emir, was the first of Arab channels to face some taboo topics and to address international issues from an Arab perspective” towards a global citizen (p.3). Conte (2007) asserts also that
One thing is clear: satellite revolution started a process of growing global flow of information with the result of diversifying and enlarging the information apparatus. Now more people can receive more information from more different and opposite perspectives and points of view. This is of course a fundamental step for ensuring the right of access and freedom of the expression in the global knowledge society. Despite all of these positive elements, the increment in the flow of information needs to be implemented by an effort of intercultural communication, which means the ability to take the real perspective of who sends the message. If we continue to interpret messages from our own perspective we will never get the hidden meaning and we will always fall in a trance of miscommunication and misrepresentation. To become cosmopolitan citizens with a global view we should improve our cognitive flexibility starting with exploring the same fact from different conceptual perspectives and representing our knowledge in multiple dimensions (p.20).
In The Aljazeera Phenomenon: Critical Perspectives on New Arab Media, Zayani (2005) argues that Aljazeera is a relatively free channel operating in one of the regions that shy away from freedom of expression. Its insistence to challenge the culture of state-controlled media has prompted retaliations from various governments in the region that have viewed Aljazeera as a threat to their stability. He also argues that Aljazeera helps nurture a sense of community among the Arab Diaspora. This point is taken further in the current research in the survey of Australian viewers of Aljazeera, which confirms the common thread across all books and papers written about Aljazeera’s role as connector. Zayani (2005), however, contends that while the state media have responded to the challenge that Aljazeera has presented by giving public space to voices of opposition, those given access to air their views do not pose serious threat to the stability of these regimes (p.36).
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Miles’ (2005) book Aljazeera How Arab TV News Challenged the World is an important contribution to our understanding of the Aljazeera’s role as a catalyst of democratization in the Arab world. The book gives an account of how Aljazeera was conceived and how a tiny state in the gulf was able to galvanize the Arab world. Miles (2005) provides an analysis of Aljazeera’s coverage of the second Intifada, September 11, the Afghanistan war, and invasion of Iraq. He concludes that whatever happens we cannot turn back the clock. The information age is an irreversible phenomenon. He predicts that Aljazeera will play an even bigger role in the information flow.
Perhaps of importance here is Darwish’s (2005) book, Language, Translation and Identity in the Age of the Internet, Satellite Television and Directed Media. As observed by Abuselm (2006), Darwish (2005) examines this process in the Arabic media, in both the Internet and television. He explores issues of language, translation and identity as re- created by Arabic satellite television. This book, which consists of fifteen chapters, makes a compelling case for translation as a major factor in redefining language, culture and identity. The articles are organized around eight themes: (1) language, translation, and identity, (2) cultural and intellectual alienation, (3) cultural mismemes, (4) linguistic alienation, (5) Intellectual appropriation, (6) translation of war propaganda, (7) language and technology, (8) aspects of change in modern Arabic. Each of these themes is explored from different perspectives and supported by real examples that are analysed with wit and unparalleled penetration into the works of uninformed translators and journalists.
Appropriately, the book begins by setting the scene for the rest of the articles in the book. In the introduction Language, Translation, Identity and the Media, the author paints an Arab world that is being gradually, cumulatively and surreptitiously alienated from its own culture through translation-mediated knowledge transfer. As Darwish (2005) points out in the English section, the introduction
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…places the phenomenon of language and cultural alienation in the context of translation in the Arabic media. It touches upon important linguistic and socio-cultural aspects of this phenomenon and seeks to explain the reasons for the strong tendency to imitate foreign linguistic patterns. The article [introduction] examines the role of Arabic satellite television and the Internet in reinforcing specific usages and in accelerating the process of change, linguistically, culturally and socially, critiques the disgraceful practices of some publishers and translation agencies, and highlights the endemic problem of intellectual appropriation and plagiarism in the Arab world (p.441). Language, Translation and Identity in the Age of the Internet, Satellite Television and Directed Media is an authoritative treatise that covers a huge area of intricate language structures and translation idiosyncrasies in the media. It is a highly quotable and eloquent book that pursues its goals passionately and tenaciously throughout. The author’s unique, powerful and captivating eloquent style is unmatched in contemporary Arabic writing. It blends scientific findings with penetrating argument and sharp polemic that does what many other traditional books on language, translation and identity in the Arabic media fail to do. His clear and crisp style of writing is matched by the power of logic and supported arguments that the author presents.
In many respects, the book has evolved from articles and research papers that have been compiled into this beautifully designed volume. However, the articles are far from being a hodgepodge of disconnected thoughts. They carry one consistent theme that is reinforced throughout the book. These interconnected articles explore the crisis of language, translation and identity of the Arabic language in both the Internet and Satellite television within a contrasting coherent framework that uses framing theory and comparative analysis to analyse a large corpus of linguistic data and translation artefacts derived from the internet and satellite television broadcasts. What makes this book remarkable, in addition to the wealth of material presented, is that this is not a book about the media in the traditional sense. It is rather a scathing criticism and poignant commentary on the state of affairs in the Arab world vis-à-vis the impact of translation-driven satellite television on the character and identity of both the Arabic language and Arab culture. The book’s rigour and depth does not cause it to lose breadth. This is a daring multidisciplinary study
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of the new phenomenon of Arabic satellite television that pulls no punches and spares no one. It uses framing theory as its framework for analysis of the information content and discourses of Arabic media to examine the intricate relationship of language, translation and identity.
Finally, perhaps the reason for the special emphasis on this book is the fact that it has served me well as a principal reference in my research in this area that suffers from a dearth of publications on the role of translation in the media, especially in my analysis of reporting translated scripts discussed later in this thesis. Finding sources on the topic is almost impossible. Most books and references dealing with this phenomenon barely scratch the surface. I am sure this in-depth study will undoubtedly influence the practices of translators and journalists and will hopefully stimulate changes in their approaches to information presentation, as it does seem to have influenced leading Arabic satellite television outfits already.
In Voices of the New Arab Public: Iraq, Aljazeera and Middle East Politics Today, Lynch (2005) focuses on Iraq as the backdrop of his discussion of Arab media and Arab public space. He examines the structural transformation of the Arab public space. In the Aljazeera Era, Lynch discusses Aljazeera’s role in covering the invasion of Iraq and the public debates that ensued. He comments: “These open debates-heated, contentious, and contemptuous of the political status quo- constituted a public sphere…” (p. 127).
Mission Aljazeera, by Rushing (2007) presents an account of his own experience as a former US serviceman turned journalist. He relates his own story about his career in the Marines and his frustration with the political apparatus that determined US government relations with the media during the early days of the Iraq war. He is most critical of the state of American journalism and the hypocrisy of American media that turned into the mouthpiece of the official government line when the United States were preaching to Arab government the values of unhindered free
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speech and expression. Rushing(2002) concludes by hailing Aljazeera and declaring that the birth of Aljazeera marks the birth of new journalism.
Aljazeera and the competition
To counter Aljazeera’s influence on the Arab viewers, the US government launched its own Arabic television channel, Al-Hurra (the free one), in February 2004. This channel was designed to present the US version of events and to help combat “the hateful propaganda that fills the airwaves in the Muslim world and tell people the truth about the values and policies of the United States” as President Bush stated (cited from Snow 2004, p.1). But despite the American propaganda, Arab editorial world wide have been suspicious regarding Al Hurra’s mission.
Rami Khouri, a journalist with the Lebanese English language newspaper The Daily Star, in his article Facts and fantasies about Arab satellite TV, reporting on Al-Hurra, states that “This is a pan-Arab channel that was seen as an outsider and a hoax”. In addition Arab News, a leading English daily in the Middle East, states that for some viewers Al Hurra is "short on credibility and long on arrogance” (cited from Snow, 2004 p.1).
Similarly The Cairo Times claimed that “many Egyptians remain "guarded" in their reaction and are suspicious of the new station's propagandistic potential to shape news from a pro-U.S., pro-Israeli governmental perspective” (cited from Snow, 2004 p.1). Also Al Ahram, the most prestigious Arabic-language newspaper, reporting on Al Hurra says that “It is difficult to understand how the U.S., with its advanced research centres and clever minds, explains away Arab hatred as a product of a demagogic media and not due to its biased policies and propensity to abuse Arab interests (cited from Snow, 2004 p.1).
In the Counter Punch Newsletter Weekend Edition, in the article Second Invasion, Al Hurra, Mike Whitney (2004) confirms that Al-Hurra was clearly conceived to mould public perceptions in a way that was
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favourable towards the interests of corporations and policies of America. He argues that Al Hurra covers “the same stories as Aljazeera and Abu Dhabi TV, but in a way that disputes assumptions of aggression, occupation and plunder” (p.2). Whitney makes the following poignant observation.
Al Hurra's place in the imperial arsenal is unsurprising. Propaganda is always a reliable partner of war and occupation. It provides the soothing background noise that accompanies the rape and destruction of entire civilizations. This brings us to the real purpose of commercial media which is to ensure the smooth transition of wealth from one group to another. All the tricks that are employed to achieve that objective are just variations on the same theme. The heart of the matter is the need to increase the level of capital accumulation and profit. Al Hurra is simply the logical extension of this system, no different than the torture camps at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib; all jewels in the imperial crown (p. 4). Two months after Al-Hurra was launched, Professor Shibley Telhami (2004), in his testimony to the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, states that “US., should have a voice in the region and cannot be absent from the media market, as this market is evolving and will continue to evolve as a consequence of technological change and increasing competition. In that sense it is certainly useful to begin experimenting with television and radio programming that, may ultimately have an effect” (p.6). Referring to Al Hurra, Telhami (2004) stressed that in foreseeable future will not succeed to gain “a significant share of the news market in the region, nor be able to significantly affect public opinion on its own” (p.7). He emphasised that in order for Al Hurra “to gain enough trust overtime to have a positive, even if small, impact [need to be] conceived for now as having an American voice” (p.7).
Dickinson (2005) states that, the Arab opinion of United States policy in the Middle East is heavily influenced by the Arab media.
Images and sounds of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are captured and delivered by Arab satellite news channels, radio and near simultaneously by news services to millions of Arabs and Muslims around the World. United States policy is defined and debated over these mediums as it unfolds; generally, with no response, discussion or rebuttal by the United States government (p.7). Lynch (2005), has argued that the intense competition has reduced Aljazeera’s ability to single-handedly shape opinion in the Arab world
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although it is still clearly the dominant satellite television station, but it feels acutely the pressures of competition. “The demands of Arab viewers, who tend to channel-surf and compare content, increasingly shape the broadcasting strategies of all Arab television stations” (p.38). Competition can be seen as a positive sign. It forces Aljazeera to continually improve its programs and strive for innovation.
Another serious competitor to Aljazeera is Al Arabiya. This Dubai-based 24-hour satellite news channel has joined a growing band of international broadcasters beaming into the Arab world or from it to the rest of the Arab countries. It is styled after Aljazeera and takes a more pro-Saudi stance towards the region and the west. In many ways, this news channel is seen as Saudi Arabia’s answer to Aljazeera. But many viewers in the Arab world believe Al Arabiya is censored and biased. It has often been accused by Islamic groups that it has a pro-United States editorial line. Denying these “allegations”, Al Arabiya issued a statement in November 2004, saying “We have always strived to be neutral and balanced and avoid leaning towards any party in the conflict”. According to an ABC News report,
…the channel has often been attacked on websites used by militants for its perceived pro-US reporting on Arab affairs. Militants linked to Al Qaeda, led by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, last year launched a campaign against Saudi Arabia. Unlike its rival Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya is seen by radicals as sympathetic to the US-allied Iraqi Government and critical of Al Qaeda-style militancy (press release 2004) But according to a report by the BBC, Al-Arabiya has often been criticized by American officials for what they see as its incitement to violence against US troops.
Aljazeera, state-controlled versus free media
For decades, the political authorities in the Arab World have controlled the outgrowth of political, social and cultural processes and inhibited Arab people from having any significant role in determining the future of their societies. Furthermore, in a state controlled media context news
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media have been ignorant, biased, and established unreasonable rules for determining what can and cannot be said. Under state domination, media are prohibited to report freely and to exercise criticism on Arab regimes. As such they have been used as mere tools to further Arab governments’ objectives.
With the media market under government control for the past fifty years or so, Arab media is having trouble finding its place within the political changes currently sweeping through the Middle East. However the advancements in satellite technology brought to some degree some political changes The Arab world has witnessed rapid expansion in the number of satellite TV channels and is worthy to mention that in 2007, 450 broadcasting channels were received by more than 150 million people in the Arab world (Arab Advisors Group, 2005).
The escalation of satellite television channels has brought hopes that the new satellite technology will provide an opportunity for the Arabs to move towards free media voice and information. Some analysts speculate that the changing Middle Eastern political environment is tied with the success of freer pan-Arab satellite news stations and these satellite television channels will empower people and give them an accurate view of what happens behind the doors, illustrating a different representation of what Arab controlled media broadcast. With the advancement of the Internet state-run media will evolve into a more independent industry.
Traditionally, the state in the Arab world is an old style compared with other states in the developing world. According to a report on The State of the Arab Media 2004, the Arab state is generally far removed from reality and has lost touch with its people (Arab Press Freedom Watch, 2004). The Arab state, whether it is authoritarian, dictatorship or totalitarian, is still using the media to brainwash the people. But the state is now in a deadlock. It could not maintain the support for heavily indebted and increasingly inefficient media industry. Terrestrial radio and television stations (mostly the monopoly of the state in most Arab countries) have lost control to satellite TV and radio stations.
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Authoritarian governments have reasons to feared the free media, and justifiably so. Arab regimes are a case in point. While they exercise near total control over the country's print and electronic media, rapid technological developments make this increasingly difficult. Technologies such internet and mobile phones, making information more accessible. The internet especially has created a place where political opponents and human rights activists congregate to air their views. Dozens of websites, many of them operated by individuals still living in Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, provide a harrowing daily commentary on issues that are forbidden in those countries to discuss. However as argued by Banerjee (2003)
Asia is still discovering the Internet and issues of access, in a larger sense of the term, of censorship and regulation, and of de-politicisatization and self- censorship still restrict the political impact of the Internet in Asia (p. 22).
In essence the question of the role of the internet in democratization is debateable.
Since its inception, radio and television in the Arab world has been owned and controlled by governments (Rugh, 2004). So with the government point of view relates to its people, Arab world television was often regarded as inactive, centralized, gigantic, and unconcerned about its audience views (Ayish, 2000) and it was used as political instrument and point of destabilizing and empowerment of other Neighbourhoods countries (Korany, Brynen and Noble, 1998).
Television broadcasting in the Arab world began in the early 1950s, when Saudi Arabia launched its operation followed by Morocco, Lebanon, and Kuwait (Boyd, 1993). However, Gamal (2007) argues that Egypt experimented with television as early as 1951 and that Iraq was the first Arab country to launch its national television in 1956, followed by Lebanon (1959), Egypt and Syria (1960).
Ever since these early days, Arab governments have foreseen the opportunities of this type of mass communication (television and radio.) As such the government used it as platform for government propaganda
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and public mobilisation, under the pretext of protection of public national security against the internal and external enemies of the nation. This situation has continued to the present day with negative impact on the perception of viewers and flow of information in society As Ayish (2002) attests, for nearly four decades Arab television was monopolised by respective Arab governments for promoting their policies and suppressing public orientations. As a result television remained stagnant, centralised and apathetic to its audience views and information needs.
Rugh (1989) and Labib (2002) state that centralisation of radio and television in Arab countries aimed in promoting Arab culture, Arab unity and Arabism during the history-long Arab-Israel conflict and successive wars. According to Darwisha (2003), Arab nationalism was “a product of the twentieth century, and in spite of competition from contested communal identities—territorial patriotism, state nationalism, religion, tribe, sect, family, and gender—for mainstream, educated Arab publics it provided a framework for their hegemonic imagined community”(n.p). But as he argues, Arab nationalism was not easy or a simple. “It had to compete with a variety of identity frameworks and foci of loyalty”.
Commenting on Arab TV journalism, Schleifer (2006) asserts that, “little more than a decade ago there was no such thing as television journalism in the Arab world. He adds that although “state owned national television channels had news bulletins, but in the sense of news value… there was no such thing as TV journalism” (p.1). Schleifer (2006) attributes the lack of TV journalism to “technological disadvantages, related to limited power of transmission and limited production resources,[that] inhibited the development of the medium into a powerful force, able to influence the public opinion”(p.15).
The transformation of television in the Arab World began in the 1990s with the introduction of satellite TV channels. Newly independent states’ governments in 1960s monopolized television broadcasting and identified its importance in promoting political mobilization and economic development. Television was used as a medium for the
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development of national goals and as such remained stagnant, centralized, monolithic, and apathetic to audience views (Ayish, 2000 p.21). Under the control of ministry of information, television was funded by the government and its employers regarded as public officers. Autonomy of the television, which was not apparent, coupled with limited power transmission and resources inhibited its evolution as a means for public opinion for more than thirty years.
The revolution for television in Arab world took place in the early 1990s when BBC came with the idea of opening an Arabic TV division of BBC News. This idea was based on the assumption that the success of the BBCs Arabic radio network, which attracted more than 14 million Arab listeners in 1994, can be replicable on TV screens. Moving towards this initiative BBC counted on the financial support of the Saudi Corporation Mawarid. The foresights were very promising for the new TV service which aimed to be “the largest and more influential media force in Arab world”. However the plans collapsed due to disagreement between the BBC News Service and Saudi Arabian kingdom regarding the editorial independence of the new TV Service. As a result Saudi investors withdraw their financial support and the deal collapsed twenty months after it was signed (El-Nawawy and Iskander, 2003).
From the ashes of the terminated contract, Aljazeera was born. The staff that was trained for the Arabic division of the BBC News Service found place in this pure Arab network which was financed by the ruler of Qatar. Aljazeera success was attributed to the need of the Arab world for a network that could brake down information barriers.
The success of Aljazeera prompted other Arabic countries, especially the ones in the Saudi Arabian peninsula, to think about the risk of having only Aljazeera and the opportunities that existed to develop competitor networks. Thus the Arab Radio and Television Network (ART) in Egypt, Lebanese Broadcasting (LBC) in Lebanon were created. The inception of all these satellite stations magnified the need for major finances and the Saudi Arabians were interested financiers.
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Aljazeera and the Arab world
Aljazeera was first founded in 1996 under the direction of Sheik Hamad bin Kahlifa Al Thani who was keen to give Qatar a modern image. Aljazeera means the peninsula, referring to Qatar as a small state located on the Persian Gulf region. It employs 500 personnel, the majority trained at BBC and spread across 27 offices worldwide. Aljazeera provides Arab news from a different perspective other than that of the West and its broadcasting services reach many geographic locations
across the globe. (Gross and Costanza-Chock, 2004; Zednik, 2002).
The role Aljazeera plays in the Arab world is of an educational nature and effectively contributed to lifting decades of government control over media. It has given the opportunity to the Arab world viewers to exercise their basic human right to express freely their opinion and to represent their perspective on world events particularly those that are closely related to them.
Recently, the changing approach and the new face of Aljazeera proved that it is continuously renewing and rejuvenating itself to meet its viewers’ expectations. The level of technology adaptation is obvious particularly its recent expansion in providing Aljazeera Mobile Net and its strong presence on the internet through Aljazeera net. All these operations are fully integrated.
Aljazeera has established a direct relationship between those who work behind the scenes and the public by creating morning programs that enable them to educate the public about their interactive technology aspects related to their electronic presence. In addition it provides the public with the opportunity to share their special and personal video clips and images in order to bring the Arab world closer together.
Aljazeera’s news coverage along with CNN and other channels played a critical role in changing public opinions and forced Arab governments to
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defend their position. But it is still unknown to what degree this will influence in the future the policy makers in the Arab world (Eickelman, 2004 p. 62).
Arab audience are disheartened and pay no attention to state and other media sources that are fully supported by Arab regimes. However “the majority of the Arab audience were watching thoroughly the events as they were emerging on Aljazeera Satellite Television”. (Eickelman, 2004 p. 63)
The events of September 11th have unfolded key differences between media coverage of the events from different perspectives. The prolonged western media coverage standards should be re-examined in light of these different perspectives. “Arguments in political theory about the existence of open, critical debate in liberal societies in the West have to be re- examined, just like arguments about the impossibility of such debates in the rest of the world” (van der Veer and Munshi, 2004 p. 5).
The intolerance of the West towards the Arab media perspective particularly towards Aljazeera’s perspective became apparent during the coverage of Afghanistan war and the interviews with Osama Bin Laden in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks. Although Aljazeera broadcasted the videos of Osama Bin Laden, whereby he expressed his hatred and disgust towards US foreign policy, American media totally abandoned them due to propaganda promoted by US media that the video tapes had hidden embedded messages that instruct Al-Qaeda followers to carry out further attacks. In this context, Veer and Munshi, (2004) assert that while “Aljazeera was opting to provide open news coverage, American media was exercising self-censorship” (p. 20).
United States pressurized also Qatar policy makers to divert their approach towards the coverage of this event. But Qatari government was reluctant to respond to these pressures and expose Aljazeera to news censorship. Shaikh Hamad Khalifa al-Thani openly said that during his visit to US he has been asked by senior American officials to “toned down” Aljazeera (Veer & Munshi, 2004 p.5).
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Aljazeera gained it strong reputation not only due to the publicity surrounding its presence and coverage of the events but also due continuous attack from US officials against it. In regards to the Afghanistan war, significant American media channels such as ABC, CBS, and NBC have failed to report important issues, particularly the call by Amnesty International to carry out an immediate investigation on the indiscriminative attacks by US military against Afghan civilians. (Press release, October 26, 2001). Ignoring such news gave the opportunity to
several countries (for example Russia, Egypt, Israel, China, Zimbabwe, Malaysia and Uzbekistan) “to use the U.S.-led war against terrorism as
justification… to suppress their domestic opponents in the name of terrorism” (Gross and Costanza-Chock, 2004 p. 34).
Moreover US government’s endeavouring to control further the media coverage during the Afghanistan war purchased the rights to the Afghanistan war images for $1.91 million (Lumpkin, 2001).
Aljazeera’s unique approach in news coverage that neither followed the state controlled news coverage or that of the western media coverage raised its profile among its audience in the Arab world. The leading light of Aljazeera flared high during the events of September 11th. The attention grew beyond the Arab world as it was the only news channel that was permitted by the Taliban regime to cover the news in Afghanistan. Aljazeera was the key player in the Afghanistan war and had access to many rich news sources including access to key personnel in the Taliban regime and Osama Bin Ladin personally. Aljazeera’s profile and brand name can be attributed to this starting point. Acknowledging the importance of Aljazeera, Western leaders such as Tony Blair, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, and Condoleezza Rice, made themselves available for interviews with Aljazeera. (Gross and Costanza-Chock, 2004)
While Al-Hurra has been put forward as an alternative free media, funded by the US government, Aljazeera, which is funded by the Emir of Qatar, is also has been put forward as the alternative to state-controlled media.
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This parallel that exists between Al-Hurra and Aljazeera is actually blurring the distinction between state-controlled and privately owned media networks.
“The free access to Aljazeera and the free discussions on politics is seen as a move towards democracy for Arab audience” (El Nawawy cited from Dickinson 2005, p.11). But the discussions on Arab regimes politics provoked the anger of several Arab states (for example Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Bahrain and Syria) which stepped in by either recalling their ambassadors from Qatar or by shutting down the local Aljazeera offices. This is seen as a reaction to Aljazeera’s effect to transition the Arab media from state-controlled to free media. Despite this, Aljazeera is still seen as a Qatari voice. Yet as Joe Trippi (2005) writes in A Small Nation’s Loud Voice for Freedom, “Aljazeera is getting information to the people and the media controlled by the state cannot compete when people have a choice”.
Miles (2005) commenting on the establishment of Aljazeera observes,
The Emir of Qatar’s bold decision to create a new kind of television network was not the only revolutionary initiative undertaken in this conservative and relatively unknown Arab country. The Emir of Qatar, Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who seized control of Qatar from his father, introduced democratic elections for a number of authorities, created a new constitution, and established an elected national body. With all of these democratic reforms it is not surprising that the first uncensored Arabic news channel was set-up in Qatar. In March 1998 the Emir, abolished the Ministry of Information” (p.10). Referring to the Emir of Qatar Miles (2005) noted also, he “belongs to a new generation of Arab leaders more open to political and social ideas familiar in the West” (p.33).
Nonetheless, Dickinson(2005) and others have argued that although there are many other Arab satellite television channels that compete with similar format and style, Aljazeera remains the most influential in the Middle East today with its fourteen news talk shows. “Many officials in the United States government recognize Aljazeera as a powerful voice that appeals to a diverse and large audience” (cited from El-Nawawy and Iskander, 2003 p.175).
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The Role of the Media in Democracy
No debate of democracy can afford to avoid the role of the media in democratisation. Summarizing the main points in the debate, Ann Hudcock (1999), confirms that “access to information is essential to the health of democracy” because provides the citizens with the opportunity to “make responsible, informed choices” and ensures that the government officials carry out the wishes of those gave them the power.
She also points out that in certain societies, an antagonistic relationship between media and government represents a vital and healthy element of fully functioning democracies. However, she argues that in post-conflict or ethnically homogenous societies, such a tumultuous and tension-ridden relationship may not be appropriate. Nonetheless, the press plays a critical role in ensuring the flow of information to mediate between the state and all facets of civil society.
Removing barriers to information access begins with a transition from state-controlled media to privately owned media. As Svetlozar Andreev (2002) argues that
The role of mass media is today analysed alongside that of such major
institutions as parliaments, executives, political parties and elections. This is
so probably because, besides its main function to inform and shape public
opinion, media has been quite influential in determining the type of political
regime and, in particular, during the transition to and consolidation of
democracy” (p.1) He makes the distinction between two forms of media control: public and private and contends that “one of the crucial criteria in determining the relative independence of the media is being private and not being in the hands of state agencies” (p.2). He concludes that “Although competitive and private media may not always be at ease with the democratic process,
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nevertheless, most authors recognise that media can indeed contribute to the consolidation of democracy” (p.3).
Assessing the role of the media in post-communist Eastern Europe, he affirms that “the general impression is that media freedom frequently becomes a target of abuse and, at the same time, represents the most common means in the hands of autocratic rulers to vilify political opponents and manipulate public opinion”(p. 5).
Looking at Aljazeera as an independent, privately owned television station, one would consider the same elements to be found in its editorial policies and programming. On this score, Zayani and Sahraoui (2007) argue that “even with an increased margin of freedom in Arab media, Aljazeera remains plagued with a number of issues: first, its relationship to its sponsor is a liability. Second, it still cannot support itself financially; third, it cannot be conceived to be independent of the political issues surrounding it” (p.174).
Media and Cultural change
No one realised in the early nineties that the advent of satellite television networks such as CNN would cause a revolution in mass media that would mark the beginning of a new era in communications. These satellite channels were the point of an initial penetration which is bound to keep expanding among the existing Arabic media that serves the tyrant regimes (El-Nawawy and Iskander, 2002).
The success of Aljazeera as an Arab news channel has taken everyone by surprise. Aljazeera is regarded as the most exciting, important and revolutionary historical event for the Middle East.
In the late eighties intellectuals from Third World countries were debating a foreign cultural invasion coming from distant countries as a result of rapid advancement in telecommunication technology and the
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possibility of world wide broadcasting without any limitations. As Marshall McLuhan (1967) points out the technology of communication influences culture not only by defining new social relationships and social roles but also by affecting the psyche of the individuals. The media of communication is, in a psychological sense, an extension of man's senses such as the eye and the ear. This affects the way individuals think and act (McLuhan, 1962, 1964, 1967). It alters sense ratios and patterns of perception. At that point in time a small minority were fearful of those unforeseen forces of change and believed that the foreign cultural invasion was inevitable and an unavoidable danger facing the Arab world.
At the same time Goonasekera (1985) argued that in the face of this media invasion, the indigenous cultures of the Third World would disintegrate gradually and without resistance, and as such cultural autonomy will disappear and the countries of the Third World would move towards a universal. In this so-called cultural invasion, there is complicity of the governments and media professionals of the region. As the UNESKO report has observed, due to reasons of economy, those who manage the media, whether public servants or businessmen, for economical reasons "look for the cheapest time fillers which can often be equated with the lowest common denominator in consumer taste" (UNESKO, 1973 p. 21).. As Bitterman (1985) points out, "The villain view of culture exaggerate the power of the media as well as the arbitrariness and destructiveness of its influence and it ignores the necessary complicity of cultures in the process of changes" (p.54)
But the majorities of the intellectuals were very optimistic and considered futuristic technological innovations would bring change to Arab world. As Ithiel de Sola Pool (1977) points out, the introduction of foreign material can change the culture somewhat, because “it teaches the receivers, it enhances their knowledge, their capabilities and their potential autonomy" (p. 146). On other hand it would bring to the region an opportunity of being exposed to the external world, causing interaction between their own and other people’s cultures, without the domination of
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government politicized media strategies guided and directed by dictators' regimes (Feuilherade, 1995). This in fact contradicts those who label the Arab world as a coming enemy that would clash with other cultures in a struggle to win and impose its cultural values upon other parts of the world.
The launching of satellite TV channels in the nineties was awaited anxiously by the Arab world as it was thought that change and freedom of speech would be the core activities of these channels. To most, it was a great disappointment as they adopted the same path of government- controlled media, in promoting those same ideologies that stand and support existing regimes. This is attributed to the source of funding for these TV channels as indirectly funded by these regimes through their allies. In addition, those who cross the set lines be subjected to persecution and the closure of their channels. In his article "Arab Satellite TV: Promoting Democracy or Autocracy?" appearing on May 9 2001 in the liberal English-language daily Jordan Times, Khouri argues that while satellite television programs and their boisterous debates can be entertaining, they don't affect decision making in the highly authoritarian environment of the Middle East (cited from Campagna, 2001, p. 88).
Alternatively, these channels have some positives associated with their operations. They connected different parts of the Arab world together despite the geographical distances and sometimes cultural differences. People became more aware of recent developments in each of the other countries and their ability to feel and think in a more united way. In contrast, government controlled TV channels continued their operational media strategy with the same propaganda that distanced Arab countries in the first place due mainly to the mode and differences that often occurs among those in power in these countries (Evans, 2002).
Another advantage of the Arab Satellite TV channels is that they have fostered mutual understanding and appreciation of divergent dialects spoken in these different countries. Arab satellite TV channels united the populations of these countries under one umbrella despite the regional
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barriers created by previous occupying powers and maintained by some subsequent governments as a precondition for their maintenance of political power. It also has restored classical Arabic as the common language for all (Al-Amoudi, 1990).
The greatest surprise to the Arab world and indeed the whole world was the launching of Aljazeera TV as a channel specializing in news and current affairs, in November 1996. Taylor (1999) points out that while CNN was the media leader that conquered the age of media satellite broadcasting in the world, the Arab satellite channels were the vehicles that have brought the Arab world, in to this age of technology, even though the standard of their existing programs still fall behind expectations. Among these channels, Aljazeera is considered as the leader in its field due to its professional standards which are maintained and continuously improved.
Aljazeera also is considered in the Arab world as a reliable, independent source of information and media coverage. The range of its programs that include education, politics, news, health and much more is considered outstanding in comparison to other Arab TV Channels. “It has a neutral approach towards events and it was the first channel that has conveyed the Israeli point of view to the Arab world” (Hirst, 2000 p. 12). Through Aljazeera, Arabic viewers were able to sample serious and responsible media, and this caused the demotion of other channels that were only promoting entertainment and governmental political agendas.
Aljazeera caused a lot of controversy in Arab countries and the rest of the world. In fact, there is clearly a ceiling on just how far Aljazeera dares to go in provoking Arab governments, especially Saudi Arabia - historically domineering toward Qatar. It caused pain and headaches for many Arab regimes and often, those governments expressed their protest and dismay either by calling in their ambassadors or/and by closing Aljazeera’s offices and imprisoned its journalists (Hirst, 2000). Aljazeera’s leading role in the Arab media, accompanied by its free entry into many Arabic households, without governmental permission, redirected viewers from
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government TV channels. Due to this redirection Arab regimes lost their strong grip and manipulation of propaganda through media.
Despite the mounting pressure building on Aljazeera, it provides a window of opportunity to those who were unable to speak out for what they believe in, including the opposition to Arab regimes. If Aljazeera was able to promote change within the Arab world and threaten regimes despite the pressures, then we can imagine how a TV channel that is totally free and independent would foster freedom of speech and democratization of the Arab world and what impact it would have on these tyrant regimes. In this, add the scenario whereby opposition parties own and operate independent TV and Human Rights groups are able to establish their own broadcasting TV channels and imagine the impact in the Arab region (Prescod, 2004).
As the Arab regimes were the first to realize and foresee the dangers Aljazeera could inflict on their pre-existing and dominated TV channels, they all mounted a campaign towards strangling and paralysing Aljazeera. For this they have adopted different strategies including economic sanctions, political pressure and the closure of Aljazeera offices in their countries. Although the pressure was extreme, Aljazeera resisted these powerful forces and resumed the challenge, which caused great embarrassment to other Arabic channels and pushed these channels to loosen the margin of freedom to their journalists in order to compete with Aljazeera and gain some credibility with the audience (Esposito, 2003).
Aljazeera was a valuable lesson to many countries in the Arab world and paved the way for others to copy its successful business model when they realized the impact and the power of Satellite TV. "Aljazeera had virtually acted as the 'news agency of the world' " ("Aljazeera: The Satellite," 2003). It has been credited with revolutionising public opinion and the media in the Arab world by the virtue of its resoluteness in maintaining its independence from the censor, something quite alien to traditional Middle Eastern media (“Aljazeera: The Satellite,” 2003). Therefore, Aljazeera became a successful trend, which expanded beyond these
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regimes' control, and the entire Arab population has realized that government-controlled media are now under a death sentence and able to communicate only with their own minority. Therefore, an independent media is the way to the future.
Controversial programs
Perhaps at this point of the literature review it is appropriate to survey the main controversial programs at Aljazeera that have affected change in the perception of freedom of expression and democratisation, which the field work emphasised. These programs have been examined by other researchers from a content analysis perspective without paying attention to how viewers respond to them.
The study has identified four types of controversial programs:
1) Cross-fire and talk show debate programs
2) Interactive vox populi programs
3) Infotainment programs
4) Religious programs
Cross-fire and talks show programs This category of programs include: Al-Itijah al-Mu’akis (The Opposite Direction); akthar min ra’y (More than one Opinion), bila hudoud (Without Limits), and hiwar maftouh (Open Dialogue).
Al-Itijah al-Mu’akis (The Opposite Direction), a good example of this category, has been the most controversial program. Hosted by Faisal al- Qasem, this program is the Arab world's most popular program. It regularly features debates on controversial issues, pitting guests against each other: Islamist militants against secular liberals, supporters of the peace process with Israel against its opponents and so on, causing diplomatic rows between the host country Qatar and Arab and foreign governments.
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Figure 20-The Opposite Direction: Most popular program
Modelled after CNN’s Crossfire, the format of this program consists of having two guests pitted against each other, with the host acting as a moderator and instigator. But unlike CNN’s Crossfire, this program has pushed all boundaries. All programs are known to have set limits and boundaries except this one at Aljazeera. This program has been described as a boxing ring by commentators and observers of the Aljazeera phenomenon. This common observation is recorded by El-Nawawy and Iskandar (2003) as follows:
The Opposite Direction is not a program where guests simply indulge in rhetoric for its own sake. It is a forum for serious, brave discussion on off- limits issues, issues that have otherwise been unavailable to Arab viewers. Contrary to accusations of being a network that promotes radical Islamic views, in many instances the discussions on The Opposite Direction amount to outright blasphemy, even to moderate Muslims (p.99). Commenting on Aljazeera’s program Opposite Direction Qusaibaty (2006) observes the following characteristics:
• Subjective framing
• Host interrupts the speaker and influences the discussion
• Attempts to resolve differences
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Interactive Vox Populi
Programs in all four categories identified previously (p.114) allow viewers to call in and ask questions or express their views. However, one program dedicated to the viewers following a vox populi format is Minbar al-Jazeera (Aljazeera forum) with the slogan (Minbar al-Jazeera; the forum of those who have no forum). This program presents a host taking calls on camera from viewers who are able to air their views and comment of each other’s arguments and opinions on a specific topic. The topic for discussion is announced by the host and callers are asked to restrict their views to the chosen topic.
Figure 21- Minbar Al-Jazeera forum
This program has been a two-edge sword for Aljazeera. It has received a great deal of criticism from callers who accuse Aljazeera for bias and prejudice.
Infotainment programs
Infotainment programs include: Hatha as-sabah (This Morning) and Hatha al-Masa’a (This Evening). These programs present an assortment of topics and segments dealing with current affairs and family and social issues.
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Figure 22-Aljazeera This Morning promotional clip
Religious programs
The main religious program is Ash-sharia Wa al-Hayat (Islamic Law and Life). This program presents discussions on contemporary issues in an Islamic context. It also allows viewers to call in to ask questions relating to the topic.
Figure 23 - Ash-sharia wa al-hayat format
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Conclusion
This chapter attempted to capture the main arguments in the literature on Aljazeera, Arab media and democracy. Almost all of the literature available carries two lines of argument vis-à-vis Aljazeera and its role as a democratisation agent. There is no real point in rehashing these arguments that seem to have a common thread across the literature. Suffice to say that Aljazeera is regarded as positive phenomenon even by its worst enemies.
One thing is certain, Aljazeera continues to arouse interest. As Colonel Steven P. Carney (2006) puts it, Aljazeera has “sparked the concept of a public debate played on the Arab street via satellite airwaves and struck down the notion that an independent Arab news network could not survive and flourish in the Arab world”( p.5).
There seems to be a lack of resources and a dearth of primary research in the field of catalyst of democratization and social, cultural and political change - media relationships in the Arab world; and the existing research and analysis is inconclusive and conducted by foreign researchers who lacked cross-cultural knowledge about the Arab world. As a result, the analyses were neither conclusive nor factual. No known attempts have been made to link these two areas of academic research.
The literature review has subsequently been limited to a few landmark publications, which may guide the research to certain conclusions. Strikingly, almost all of the literature reviewed lacks primary or empirical data. The focus of these studies has been on content analysis of programs with little or no attention to field studies that take into account responses from viewers in relation to Aljazeera’s role as a democratisation agent. Simply put, most studies are impressionistic. One example of studies of this nature that has relied on statistical content analysis is Qusaibaty (2006). Qusaibaty has focused on the content analysis of the crossfire show Al-itijah Al-muakis (the opposite direction). She has examined the
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dichotomy this program presents and the subjective framing it employs. She concludes that in breaching taboos and addressing sensitive issues, Aljazeera has given room for forbidden discourse to be out in the open.
The empirical studies conducted so far have focused on percentages of hours viewed and how many satellite channels are watched and so on. How Aljazeera contributes to public debate and how it promotes diversity human rights and gender equality are questions not usually answered from the viewers’ perspective.
It is this shortcoming in the research that the present study addresses in this thesis as I discuss in the following chapters. Moreover, the main thrust of this thesis is to test the hypothesis that Aljazeera is indeed a catalyst for democratisation and social and cultural change. More specifically, given the argument put forth by al-Obaidi (2003) discussed earlier in this chapter, it is the perception of democracy rather than actual democracy that Aljazeera is promoting. Consequently, it is this aspect of the hypothesis upon which the research focused.
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Chapter Four: Reporting the Middle East
Overview
In Reporting the Orient, Alan Knight (2000) asserts:
“Journalists inhabit a culture of ideas which shape the way they report, select, edit and prioritise news. These ideas reproduce and reinforce themselves in the news making process, re-creating apparently flexible ways for imagining the world outside the newsroom.” (p.21). He argues that working journalists rarely discuss the assumption on which their work is formed except to make reference to vague notions such as of “freedom of the Press” (p.242). In other words, the theoretical basis of their reporting and editing is rarely examined and this lack of self-analysis is attributed, as Knight asserts, to the assumption that they believe their value systems are universal. As this chapter shows, their assumption could not be farther from the truth.
To situate this chapter in the context of the present research, the controversy over Aljazeera’s style of reporting of events in the Middle East and the severe criticism it received from both western governments and media networks is to a large extent related to how Aljazeera and western media interpret certain events and the different way they report from the Middle East. The old Arabic proverb, “Mecca’s people know better its alleys” could not be truer than in reporting the Middle East. This has been the underlying message of Aljazeera in its quest to tell the world that it is reporting the Arab world through Arab eyes. Local knowledge is important not only of the geography, history and politics but also the language. The following is an attempt to highlight this aspect of reporting that has been overlooked in western media studies.
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Self-reporting the Middle East
For Arabic media today, the flexible ways Knight informs us about are reshaping and re-creating the world in the minds of the Arabs in the Arab region and beyond, not only in news making but also in current affairs programs, political debates and pop culture. Writing in Language, Translation and Identity in the Age of the Internet, Satellite Television and Directed Media, Darwish (2005), argues that
…as Arabic satellite television gains ever-increasing prominence in the Arab region and internationally, its role as a controversial catalyst in the process of democratization and influential agent of social, cultural and political change in the region becomes all the more important in a rapidly changing world of democracy, globalization and shifting allegiances. Relying primarily on translation of news and other program contents from English and conducting program production in English and or French, Arabic satellite television stations are causing a cataclysmic change in Arabic language patterns and cultural representation (p.442).
The author paints an Arab world that is being gradually, cumulatively and surreptitiously alienated from its own culture through translation- mediated knowledge transfer. He points out that “…the phenomenon of language and cultural alienation, [could be placed] in the context of translation in the Arabic media” (p. 441). In his book Language, Translation and Identity in the Age of the Internet, Satellite Television and Directed Media, Darwish (2005), also discuses linguistic and socio cultural aspects and tries to explain the reasons behind Arab satellite TV’s “tendency to imitate foreign linguistic patterns”.
In addition the author examines the role of Arabic satellite television and the Internet in reinforcing specific usages and in accelerating the process of change, linguistically, culturally and socially,[and] critiques the disgraceful practices of some publishers and translation agencies, and highlights the endemic problem of intellectual appropriation and plagiarism in the Arab world (p.441).
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As Darwish asserts, the significance of translation in reporting the Middle East cannot be underestimated, especially because the value systems are not universal and the conditions of democracy are not present. In reporting the events from the Arab region both inhabitants and those outside the region are largely governed by the events and not by professional practices.
A case in point is the translation of the Bin Laden tapes by Aljazeera and other media networks. “We will attack you again!” is the headline of an article written by Roland Watson and Elaine Monaghan, published in the London-based newspaper The Times on 30 October 2004, one day after a new videotape of Al-Qaeda’s leader Osama Bin Laden was broadcast on Aljazeera Arabic News Channel. This provocative headline clearly indicated that Western media understands of the translated scripts of the Bin Laden videotape; simply that Al-Qaeda is “attacking again”! Is there any possibility that the Western media have missed the point? As a native Arabic speaker, I was able to watch Bin Laden’s videotape and listen to his speech in its original language from its original source, Aljazeera. Clearly, Bin Laden had more things to say than just “we will attack you again!”
But if all translation is considered approximate and relative (Darwish, 1998), how can we ever produce an accurate and exact translation of the original script? (Darwish, 1998). How can we ever determine what the level of accuracy is of any given translation? Can we ever construct a set of norms on which we can make such a judgment? Moreover, we may posit questions relating to policy and decision-making, such as: How can we ensure that policymakers and those in power get the right message of such transcripts? How can we prevent the misuse or manipulation of such transcripts especially when they are used to justify political decisions and military actions?
One of the most important questions dealing with accuracy and validity of translations is the question which translation we should depend on. Is it the translation originally provided by the source of the transcript along
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with the source language transcript—from Aljazeera in this instance—or the transcript produced separately in the target language, for example by CNN as per?. In other words, which translation is the most reliable, Aljazeera’s or CNN’s? Furthermore, would this mean that we should always rely on the translation provided by the source rather than the translation produced by the target? (Darwish, 2001, 2003)
These and other questions are essential for dealing with such a sensitive matter as script translation; and subsequently for producing more accurate, objective, and reliable translations of transcripts. Lepore and Ludwig (2005) assert that
If concepts such as those of meaning, belief, intention, and so on, are treated as purely theoretical, relative to some source of evidence, the interpreter's application of these concepts to himself must be treated in the same way. The difficulty with this is twofold. First, it requires an account of the interpreter's knowledge of evidence for the application of such concepts. The second, and, of course, connected difficulty arises from the observation that we typically take ourselves to know what we think and experience independently of any observations of our behaviour or interactions with our environment (p. 228).
Here I partially highlight the significance of transcripts translations especially when dealing with an event with worldwide interest such as the messages of Al-Qaeda’s leader, Osama Bin Laden. Another issue is that of the translator being a native speaker of the translated script and how this may affect the level of accuracy and validity of the content being translated. Hence, is there any difference when the translator is not a native speaker of the language into which he or she is translating? Such a question has proven to be of great significance especially when we could see the difference between the two translated scripts of Aljazeera and CNN and how this affected the overall meaning and interpretation of the Bin Laden video tape, although both translators for the above TV satellite stations are reported to be Arabic native speakers.
Another important aspect of script translation is that of the distinction between the translation itself of the original transcript and the inferences that we draw from it. In other words, it is very important to be able to
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distinguish between the transcript itself and the sort of conclusions we can draw from it. Therefore, which translation should we rely on and which understanding is the accurate understanding.
Moreover, this study flags the issue of security in reporting translated scripts and how this may affect the accuracy and the level of objectivity in broadcasting what could be considered embedded messages. This made the current US administration try to stop the broadcasting of the full Bin Laden video tape, which nearly led to a diplomatic tension between Washington and Doha.
To shed light to these issues, the three-tier model, developed by Darwish (2001, 2003) is used. This model is considered effective because it detects the levels and degrees of departure from the original script (see Figure 22). The examples used to illustrate the issues raised may emphasize the importance of establishing a normative system that we can use to evaluate and judge the efficiency of the translation.
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Figure 24-The three-tier model, developed by Darwish (2003, p.70)
What did Bin Laden really say in his speech? Was he actually threatening the American voters and individual American states with his new video if they voted for Bush, or was he threatening individual world states? The answer to these questions depends on how we understand his speech, given that what the Western media reported was a translated transcript and not the speech itself. Since then the Western media through “Osamontology” has engaged in providing the best possible meaning of his speech that Western audiences are able to comprehend.
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The issue of translating and communicating political news and messages across cultures and languages is one of high importance because of its significant impact on public opinion. It is not just about “communicating” the message to the public; but it is also about forming, influencing and shaping the public opinion and perhaps creating and directing collective political attitude and awareness. Further, it is expected that the media should be both professional and objective in reporting, commenting on and analyzing such scripts, because of the central role that the media plays in open societies.
It is crucial to be aware of the sensitivity of this matter, and consequently be able to report carefully and accurately such translated scripts and to communicate effectively the true underlying messages.
The Question of Translation The aim of this section is to compare selected excerpts from the 29 October 2004 speech of Al-Qaeda’s leader Osama Bin Laden that was broadcast on Aljazeera Arabic News Channel with some of those broadcast by CNN. This is an attempt to highlight similarities and differences between Arabic media and English media in reporting translated transcripts. The comparison is restricted to the semantic aspects of the selected excerpts and how they were translated into English.
In analyzing how these excerpts were presented through translation, I adopted a model of translation, developed by Darwish (2001, 2003) to explore the notion of intervention and interference in translation. According to Darwish (2003), this model consists of three levels of operation: primary, operative and interpretive, which vary in intensity and salience within the same text and across translations (see Figure 22).
The Primary level relies heavily on literal and lexical meanings derived from dictionary-based data at three structural levels: word, sentence and paragraph. The Operative level is concerned with functional meanings derived from the communicative intention of the text. The Interpretive level is concerned with the informative intention of the source text and the function of the translation in the target language (pp 81, 82).
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This three-tier model allows for the explanation of script manipulation through translation. Furthermore Darwish (2003) identifies two types of interference in translation: active and passive, “Active interference occurs when the translator intentionally modifies the text to meet specific extra- textual requirements. Passive interference occurs when the translator unintentionally distorts the intentions of the original text” (pp.82, 83). This notion is important in analyzing translated scripts both at the macro and micro levels of text,
since the distance between any two languages varies on a continuum from close convergence to wide divergence, any given text that is submitted to the process of translation is bound to vary in terms of transparency to target language. Therefore, the translator is also bound to vary his or her approach within the same piece of text and to operate at different levels of rendition (Darwish, 2003 p. 80). The rationale for this model is derived from the notion that translation is “a process of approximation driven by constraints”, and that “the ultimate goal of any translation strategy is to solve the underlying problem of translation-mediated communication and to remove the external and internal constraints imposed on the translation process in order to unlock potential alternatives” (Darwish, 2003, pp.117,118) and “…to achieve optimal approximation between the source and target versions of text in terms of utility and appeal” (p.112).
Philosopher and cognitive scientist Stephen Stich (1990) writes,
In light of the strong parallelism between the project of translating a speaker's sincere assertions and the project of interpreting or intentionally characterising his mental sentences [his beliefs] it should come as no surprise that the principles governing and constraining translation will be mirrored by principles governing and constraining intentional interpretation (cited in Jones, 2003 p.46). The model provides an effective framework to determine the degree of such interpretation.
Another important aspect of translation is that of “abusive translation”. Lewis (1985), for example, respects the usages neither of the source language text nor of the target language though he is careful to insist that the translator must not abuse just anything, but gravitate towards each "key operator" or "decisive textual knot" that arises, those "specific nubs
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in the original … that stand out as clusters of textual energy" (p. 133). He is counseling, in other words, not random abuse but a measured modulation of both the source language text and the target language so as to bring about significant shifts in meanings, tonalisations, expectations and outcomes. Additionally Robinson (1997) claims that
No doubt the project we are envisaging here is ultimately impossible: the translator's aim is to rearticulate analogically the abuse that occurs in the original text, thus to take on the force, the resistance, the densification, that this abuse occasions in its own habitat, yet, at the same time, also to displace, remobilise; and extend this abuse in another milieu where, once again, it will have a dual function on the one hand, that of forcing the linguistic and conceptual system of which it is a dependent, and on the other hand, of directing a critical thrust back toward the text that it translates and in relation to which it becomes a kind of unsettling aftermath (it is as if the translation sought to occupy the original's already unsettled home, and thereby, far from "domesticating" it, to turn it into a place still more foreign to itself (p.133). Lewis (1985) notes that translation is so much more complex an undertaking than these questions presume, that this "complicity" is really far less of a problem than it logically seems. In practice the difficulties, the aporias, the "operators of undecidability", and also the potential for abuse will be mapped differently in the source language and the target language (p.41) But Lewis also outlines a hierarchy of sorts, with three rungs:
1) at the bottom the weakest sort of translation, which seeks to restore or naturalise abusive turns from the target language in the source language, so that the target language text conforms to standard target language usage, and becomes what Venuti (1994) calls "invisible" or "domesticated";
2) in the middle a stronger sort that seeks to reproduce in the target language the author's abuses of the source language, producing a strange or foreignised or visible text that manifestly abuses the target language but stands in a problematically complicitous relation to the source language text; and
3) at the top the strongest and most forceful kind of translation, what we might call abusive translation proper, which introduces its own target language abuses into the abusive source language text, generating a
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text that abuses both the source language text and the target language linguistic system.
According to Gentzler and Tymoczko (2002), “most contemporary translation studies scholars view the process of translation as heterogeneous with different issues addressed by different translations and different translators at different times and different places, depending on the specific historical and material moment” (p. xx).
In the age of satellite and cable television, reporting translated scripts presents its own problems. Apart from the usual translatability problems associated with translation in general, and the process of fragmentation of reality that takes place in reporting news, the reporting of translated script as illustrated by the 2004 Bin Laden’s video tape, is subject to further fragmentation and selectivity: first in terms of what is translated and how it is translated and second in terms of what parts of the translated script are broadcast and how.
More importantly for this argument, whether the translators are native speakers undeniably makes no difference to the translation. In fact, as far as can be ascertained, the majority of translation documents are produced by native speakers of the source language.
But what did he really say? Days before the American Elections 2004, Al Qaeda released a videotape amounting to an endorsement of the democratic candidate, but this endorsement, lost in translation, was largely missed by the American media. Although John Kerry was asserting throughout his campaign that he would pursue Bin Laden and his like, oddly enough the properly translated contents of Bin Laden speech clearly implied a desire for the victory of Democrats (Gitz, 2005).
Aljazeera satellite TV, once more is facing new US criticism for broadcasting Osama Bin Laden’s election-eve bombshell believed to have been received by Aljazeera on Friday 29 October. Although Washington, according to a US State Department official, had asked the Qatari
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Government to stop the airing of Osama Bin Laden’s videotape, Aljazeera refused and its spokesperson defended the decision by saying "We don't believe anyone can argue about the news worthiness of this latest Osama Bin Laden recording. Any news organization would have aired the tape if they had received it".
The translated script of Osama Bin Laden’s message examined in this paper is purported to be 18 minutes long. Yet only a brief excerpt of six minutes of the script was broadcasted by Aljazeera and a shorter segment by CNN. CNN aired its own version of Osama Bin Laden’s videotape transcript translated by CNN senior editor for Arab Affairs Octavia Nasr at 02:05 GMT while Aljazeera’s English transcript was translated by their own team and posted on Aljazeera’s English website on Monday 01 November 2004, 16:01 Makka time, 13:01 GMT. Both translations show discrepancies with the original Arabic script and with each other. Both translations were prepared by Arabic native speakers.
The striking difference between Aljazeera’s English translation and CNN’s translation lies in the former being a crude literal translation operating at the primary level of rendition as defined in Darwish’s three- tier model above, and the latter being an adaptation operating at the interpretive level of rendition, with occasional lapses into the primary level resulting in stilted English expressions for example “The resemblance started” when [former President George H. W. Bush], the father visited the area…”
The first major difference between Aljazeera’s version and that of CNN was that Aljazeera retained the religious references of the original message, such as “Peace be upon he who follows the guidance”, “all praise is due to Allah”, “as for the results, they have been, by the grace of Allah, positive” and so on. The CNN version on the other hand has several omissions, with all religious references removed. This manipulation of script is significant in that it voids the original message of any religious content, which is an attempt to further demonize America’s number one enemy or to block what they deemed to carry coded
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messages. A classic example was published by NBC on 28 June 2005: “A US terror alert in late 2003 that interrupted about 30 overseas flights was triggered by a CIA analysis of what were thought to be hidden messages broadcast on Aljazeera TV”.
The second and more crucial difference between the two versions is the rendition of the last statement in the script, which centers crucially on the ambiguities with the English and Arabic term for “state” and “nation”. Aljazeera rendered the statement as follows: “Your security is in your hands. And every state that doesn’t play with our security has automatically guaranteed its own security”. This is a primary rendition of the original script.
The CNN version of this statement reads as follows: “Your security is in your hands. Any nation [emphasis added] that does not attack us will not be attacked”. This is an interpretive rendition of the original script, which clearly shows active interference with the message, and therefore wilaya” as“ (وﻻﻳﺔ) manipulation. The rendition of the Arabic word “nation” instead of “state” in the sense of an administrative division within a country is not justified. By convention, the Arabic usage of the word “wilaya” in the context of the original script always means “state” an administrative division. CNN’s rendition of this statement is clearly a mistranslation that for all intents and purposes is active or passive interference.
However, one or two arguments got it right. According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) based in the USA, the videotape of Osama Bin Laden was designed to influence the outcome of oncoming USA elections and included a specific threat to each US state. They (أي وﻻﻳﺔ) claimed that “The U.S media in general mistranslated the words “ay wilaya” (which means "each U.S. state") to mean a “country” or “nation” other than the U.S. In fact, the word "wilaya" would never refer to an independent country, as the Arabic terminology for such country is dawla”. Therefore, MEMRI concludes that the threat was directed“ (دوﻟﺔ) specifically at each individual U.S state. MEMRI also contended that Bin
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Laden’s meaning of the message was lost in the general American .”al-wilaya” as “the state“ (اﻟﻮﻻﻳﺔ) translation of the Arabic word Primarily, the word “state” refers to “nation”, but if Osama Bin Laden had intended to mean “nation” he would have used the word “dawlah”. Ramona Smith (2004) said in Philadelphia News 11/2/2004 “supposed warning to ‘red states’ was lost in muddled American translations released with the video last week as the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) claimed. But whether there were translation problems or not, experts at a variety of prominent think tanks disagreed with the idea that Bin Laden was preparing to sort out safe states from target states”(n.p).
In addition, the Islamic web site Al-’Qala 2/11/2004 explains the message as a warning to every US state separately. It claims
…when Osama Bin Laden said that every state will be determining its own security it means that any U.S state that will choose to vote for the white thug Bush as president has chosen to fight us, and we will consider it our enemy, and any state that will vote against Bush has chosen to make peace with us, and we will not characterise it as an enemy. Therefore, while Osama Bin Laden was threatening each U.S state he was also offering an election deal to the American voters. He was attempting to prevent the re-election of the US President George W. Bush by warning prospective red states and offering immunity to prospective blue states. By this characterization, Bin Laden wants to drive a wedge into the American policy to weaken it, and he wants to divide the American people themselves between enemies of Islam and the Muslims, and those who fight for us, so that he does not treat all American people the same. But here again the translation provided by Al-’Qala in its explanation of -al“(اﻟﻌﻠﺞ) Osama Bin Laden’s message is not accurate as it uses the word ilj”, which is translated as infidel, atheist and nonbeliever. Yet MEMRI translated it as “thug”.
إن أي وﻻﻳﺔ ﺗﺨﺘﺎر أن ﺗﻨﺘﺨﺐ اﻟﻌﻠﺞ ﺑﻮش رﺋﻴﺴﺎ هﺬا ﻳﻌﻨﻲ أﻧﻬﺎ اﺧﺘﺎرت ﻣﺤﺎرﺑﺘﻨﺎ وﺳﻨﻌﺘﺒﺮهﺎ ﻋﺪوة ﻟﻨﺎ .
ay welaya takhtaru an tantakhiba al-‘ilj Bush ra’isan hatha ya’ni annaha ikhtarat muharabatna wa sa na’tabiruha ‘aduwatan lana. This translated
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to:“Any state that chooses to elect the infidel Bush president this means that it has chosen to fight us and we will regard it as an enemy to us”.
Cole (2004) argues that the Arabic word (wilayah) used by Osama Bin Laden does appear to be an archaic usage and that what Osama Bin Laden wants to points out is that “your security doesn’t depend on which candidate you put in, your security depended on whether you leave Muslims the hell alone”(p.3). Therefore, Bin Laden is not threatening individual American states if they vote for Bush.
Supporting this interpretation, Bruce Hoffman the director of Rand Corp’s Washington office, confirms that “Bin Laden’s main message was not about affecting the results of the election, particularly, since both Bush and Kerry have vowed to track him down”.
But despite the translation inaccuracies, many prominent thinkers disagree with MEMRI’s interpretation of Bin Laden’s message. They disagree with the idea that Bin Laden was sorting out safe blue states from the targeted red ones as “his gripes against the US have never stopped at state lines- and aren’t likely to now” (p.2).
Taspinar, an expert in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution, agrees that for Osama Bin Laden, there is no difference between any of the 50 US states and that “Al Qaeda would attack where it is going to attack” and “if he [Osama Bin Laden] wanted to target states, he would have easily said ‘any state that votes for Bush is on our list of target’ ” (p1.). Aljazeera interpreted the final part of the message as “the security of the Americans depends on the policy that they execute despite the winner of the elections.” Osama Bin Laden promised that any state that does not toy with our security automatically guaranteed its own security, but the Arabic word for state was misunderstood by US news outlets as country at least until (MEMRI) pointed out that what Bin Laden very clearly meant was one of the 50 states of the union and that he intended to convey that states going for Kerry would be immune from attacks (Muravchik, 2005).
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Osama Bin Laden through his message was attempting to prevent the re- election of George W. Bush, by sending a warning to prospective red states and offering immunity to prospective blue states. The states that would vote for Bush would be targeted and those that vote for Kerry would be safer. Although Islamists see America as a “Great Satan in their struggle to purify Islam, they perceive Americans as more threatening to their design than others” (Gitz, 2005, p.6). Their perception suggests that Bush has inflected greater damage upon terrorist organizations than his detractors are acknowledging and that the claim of Bush’s critics that his bellicosity has only “played into the hands of the terrorists” is not shared by Al Qaeda’s leader (Gitz, 2005).
Concluding Remarks
Issues of reporting translated scripts are crucial in examining how intercultural communication is manipulated in the media. “Hierarchy, hegemony and cultural dominance are often said to be reflected in translations, especially those which are done during the colonial period. These features are also said to be present in translations which are being done now in the postcolonial period. The translation of foreign texts may also reflect the ideological and political agendas of the target culture” (Rubel and Rosman, 2003 p. 6).
As Bassnett (1995) notes,
All rewritings, whatever their intention reflect a certain ideology and a poetics and as such manipulate literature to function in a society in a given way. Rewriting is manipulation, undertaken in the service of power and in its positive aspect can help in the evolution of a literature and a society (Basnett 1995cited in Venuti 1995, p. vii). Further, Cronin (1996) states that “Translation relationships between minority and majority languages are rarely divorced from issues of power and identity, that in turn destabilise universalist theoretical prescriptions on the translation process” (p. 4).
In conclusion, the issue of proper and accurate translation of transcripts is approximate and relative. It is subject to various factors that will influence the translation and affect its level of accuracy including
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translator’s ideology, dominance, power, political debates, and political gains are all factors of critical importance.
Aljazeera turning the tables: a comparison with western media
So how does the reporting of news in the Middle East compare with that in the West? In the Middle East the news are more focused on what is happening in that part of the world and highlight injustices done by foreign powers or internally by the each country's government. It also focuses on the side that we don't see on western news channels.
In my view, there are three components of such comparison: Language, Context, and Details. However, these are not the only components of conducting such a comparison and they can’t be generalised among all Middle Eastern and Western media because there will always be some exceptions. Language in the Middle East news reporting has a strong impact and a deep influence on the Arabic audience. It uses a variety of terms, words, and descriptions that really trigger the oppressed feelings whether negative or positive towards the war and conflicts in Iraq and Palestine in particular and in the rest of the Islamic and Arabic world in general.
Also there an opposite analogy is being used by Western media Arab media. For example Western media refers to terrorism in Iraq and Palestine while in Arab media this is reported as resistance; Western media also refers to Coalition forces lead by the Americans in Iraq but these forces are reported and perceived as occupying forces by the Arab media…etc. On the other hand, to outsiders Western media seems to be concerned with being “politically correct” rather than “realistically accurate” in regards to the use of language in reporting the news.
One could see the level of caution and awareness of the use of language in describing the war in Iraq or when talking about the different events that have occurred in Iraq and Palestine. It is very much similar to the
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official political statements of the coalition forces rather than describing what is actually going on in the battle field.
The other component of this comparison is context. It can be argued that Middle East media tends to report the news in the context of the current Arabic political, economical and cultural situations. In other words, it actually acknowledges the specific issues and concerns of the contemporary Arabic societies and how the majority of the public views the war. It is very sensitive to the level of anger, frustration, and disappointment from both the official Arabic governments and from the American promises of peace and prosperity. On the other hand, the Western media seems to be totally ignorant of such a context. It actually reports news with no proper context to the history of the war and conflict, the parties involved in the conflict, or the sensitive and crucial issues of the Arabic and Muslim societies. It actually imposes the context which the coalition or Israel have formulated or/and assumed to be the case and actually based the reporting of the news and the analysis of events on that which is really not entirely accurate.
The final component of comparisons is that of details. Middle East media tends to be very detailed in terms of images, analysis, dialogues, and interviews’ regarding what is going on in Iraq and Palestine. However, it is still shy when it comes to providing a thorough understanding of the official and governmental stand of the Arabic states on the current war in Iraq and Palestine. The use of extensive images and live broadcasting is yet another example of the tendency to provide a detailed coverage. Also, the ability of many outlets of the Arabic media to broadcast exclusive videos, images or interviews with different sides of conflicts, whether from the coalition, political Islamists, the public or the Arabic governments is often underestimated. Also, the level of emotions and drama is significantly high compared with the Western media, which seems to be dry and right to the point. On the other hand, western media is very much lacking details and was not successful in providing a more thorough understanding and/ or information on what is actually happening
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especially from the Arabic perspective. It is very much descriptive and less emotional when it comes to reporting news and is constrained by limitations of broadcasting images or videos to the public.
How is the unfolding news story of the physical and sexual abuse and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib Prison for example being told in Arab countries? How is the Arabic media in the Middle East reporting the scandal? What images are being shown? The images have been shown as per the pictures similar to those shown on western media channels. There was no difference in the story between both sides. All images shown in Arabic news channels are the same shown by Western media and contain lots of emotional components and use of exaggerated words that reflect massive anger, frustrations and disappointment. Arabic media has been very explicit in terms showing the images or in conducting the interviews. A sense of shock was always there, yet it was very much expected from many Arabic political forces and analysts.
All of these images were disturbing particularly those whereby human dignity was degraded and violated. The most disturbing ones are those of the prisoner being attacked by the dogs while they were naked. What is painful is to see the soldiers enjoying the pain and the agony of prisoners without any feelings of remorse or shame.
I believe that all of these aspects were shocking and devastating. However, the worst side of this whole incidence is the psychological and emotional impact that was left in people’s reaction. The general sense of shock and anger that was overwhelming among many Arabs.
So what sort of interrogation tactics have Arab authorities used on prisoners? Not that I was personally introduced to any of them, but rumors are rampant and many previous political prisoners especially those from the Islamic or Communist political backgrounds have reported and documented in their biographies some of these inhumane practices. The tactics are similar to those seen on the TV against the Iraqi prisoners and that is a pattern used with the blessing of what is so called the civilized world.
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There are different opinions in regarding the issue of responsibility. However, this scandal is perceived as an extension of what is being planned and managed in the White House. Many believe that the whole notion of war is in itself a problem that resulted in such scandals. However, the general feeling is that TV apologies from Bush or Rumsfeld are simply not enough (Carter, 2004).
“Coverage of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse story by Arab satellite television stations showed how far the regional media have come in terms of their professionalism. It also revealed the weakness of the US public information effort during the scandal. If nothing else, this situation reflected an amazing reversal of fortunes” (Badran 2004, p.1)
The Arabic satellite TV didn't blame any rank in particular but showed the questioning in congress and House of Common. No accusations directed to a particular person.
What has been the reaction to Mr. Bush's promise that those responsible will be "brought to justice” in a transparent way? No reaction; the media simply reported what he had said. He was not able to keep his previous promises, so why should he be trusted now? That is probably the general reaction. Also, is the issue about bringing them to justice, or the whole mess that has been created by the occupiers?
The fact that the US military is undertaking investigations and is holding court martial of six military police guards will not do anything to change the viewers’ perception. This is just minor punishment; if the US was genuinely committed to world standards they should have signed the International Crime Convention Agreement in 1949.
The main focus is on what do these Iraqi prisoners deserve? How can their dignity and rights ever be accessed? Who cares what goes on behind the closed doors? What the people want is procedures in the field…reality not fiction, actions, not words.
The public interviewed on Arab TV channels did not ask for an eye for eye revenge. On the contrary, they were disgusted by those who call themselves the leaders and the liberators of Iraq. There are growing
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feelings of anger, disappointment and sense of revenge, but these are just feelings that may not be expressed in action – except for some of the organised resistance/ terrorists groups (Telhmi, 2004). However, the main question remains. What do Americans really want from Iraq and the Middle East?
Back home
Recent global events have taken a devastating toll on Australia’s Arabic and Muslim communities. Since September 11, media coverage of events around the world particularly those related to Arabs and Muslims has played a significant role in forming public opinion in Australia which caused tremendous impact on this segment of the Australian society.
Media can do some major damage, especially in a multicultural society where by the composition of the population is made up of different ethnic and cultural groups. While Australia’s government invested heavily in promoting cultural harmony and diversity through laws, policies and regulations; media coverage on the other hand can diminish and debilitate these long and tedious efforts which incite racial and religious vilification and collective panic (Cantril, Gaudet and Hertzog, 1940).
Roland Jabour the Chairman of the Australian Arabic Council in a seminar conducted on the 8 of May 2002 at the Center for Arab Islamic Studies he states that “ Recently a Melbourne paper published a comment stating that Australia should "Nuke all the Arabs". The next day the same phrase is repeated in graffiti at a train station. The publication of such views legitimises them, and allows others to feel free to express racist sentiments” (p.5).
Jabour (2002) observes that also “..we have seen in the past that event in or involving the Middle East, result in the incident rate peaking in Australia”(p.3). Moreover he asserts that “The Australian Arabic Council
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(AAC) has reported that racial vilification is not isolated, but rather widespread and on the rise. The AAC had a 20 fold increase in report of seen vilification following September 11. AAC has comprehensively documented attacks on individuals on places of worship and on businesses, as well as verbal and physical attacks on individuals” (p.4).
Regarding the Australian media Jabour (2002) comments that it continues to anger and frustrate Arabic and Muslim Australians as it is considered directly responsible for the increased hostility, racial animosity and rejection by some sectors of the Australian society by stirring up issues of difference and fear, downplaying the integrity of the social Australian fabric. He concludes that “The link between vilification and media content has never been clearer as seen in the past four years, while the media continues to tell the Australian public they merely publishing “what the people think”, and they have no responsibility for inciting racial abuse, evidence tells a different story” (p.2)
Although Australia has been committed to what is referred to as ‘Multiculturalism’ there has been a frequent lack of harmony between the different linguistic, regional and religious groups in the country. Of these cultural discords the relationship between Australians and Muslims has been particularly salient after the 11th of September 2001. Muslims are Australian’s smallest religious minority; they make up about 1.5 percent of the population, which translates into about 285.000 people. Their presence in Australia can be traced back to migration.
The media coverage of events involving Muslims and Arabs invariably invokes an emotional response from Muslims and forms attitudes of non Muslims, depending on their knowledge of Islam.
Generally, Muslims are very sensitive about negative coverage of Islam and Arabs because they know that the average person in the West relies heavily on media reporting to get their information about Islam. It is this average person that is quite often excited or triggered into a violent backlash or into various forms of harassment of Muslims.
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Anecdotally it is painful for a Muslim to see Islam being misrepresented or to see Arab culture misrepresented. Whilst Muslims and Arabs in general are able to distinguish between media misinformation, the young generation cannot so distinguish, there is a phenomenon where young people are being made to feel ashamed of their Islamic heritage and Arabic background through the sheer volume of peer pressure.
Conclusion
This chapter presented a diversity of arguments on a number of issues relating to the way Aljazeera and Western media report the news from the Middle East and news of Arabs and Muslims in Australia and elsewhere. The arguments highlighted the vast gap that exists in perceptions about the region and in the way stories are reported. More importantly, it alerted to the dangers of relying on translation to report foreign news. The Bin Laden example is a sobering one and so too is the interview-like discussion of the comparison between Aljazeera and Western media. To tie the discussion to how Australian media covers the events in the Middle East, issues relating to Arabs and Muslims living in Australia were also discussed.
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Chapter Five: Methodology
Introduction
The methodological assumptions underpinning this study are related to the research questions explored in this research.This chapter outlines the overall methodological approach. It introduces the post positivism/realism paradigm which shapes the research thinking and particularly the research methods. Then, it describes and justifies the methodology by which data was collected to test this research theoretical framework. Next, it highlights survey procedures which include instruments design and use, selection of respondents, and conducting of interviews. It continues to discuss the procedures used for data analysis; talking about research quality in terms of reliability and validity of the findings. It then justifies the use of international media reports to collect data about Aljazeera. Ethical considerations of the study are also discussed and affirm the researcher's commitment to policy and ethical research procedures of the Queensland University of Technology. Finally, it concludes this quantitative methodology.
Theoretical Paradigm
Maxwell (2005) asserts that the research design is guided and justified by the paradigmatic stance of the researcher. Therefore it is important for the researchers to identify their ontological and epistemological perspectives and consequently make explicit the paradigm the research will drown on. “Without nominating a paradigm as the first step, there is no basis for
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subsequent choices regarding methodology, methods, literature or research design” (Mackenzie and Knipe 2006, p. 2).
According to Guba and Lincoln (1994), a paradigm “represents a worldview that defines, for its holder, the nature of the ‘world’, the individual’s place in it and the range of possible relationships to that world and its parts” (p.107). Further, Bogdan and Biklen (1982) define paradigm as “a loose collection of logically held together assumptions, concepts, and propositions that orientates thinking and research” (p. 30).
A paradigm is constituted by three principals - ontology, epistemology, and methodology- which are branches of philosophy and addressing interrelated issues (Guba and Lincolon, 1994; Denzin and Lincoln, 2005; Krauss, 2005). Ontology is concerned with the nature of the reality and address the question “What is there that can be known?” (Guba and Lincoln, 1996 p.159). Epistemology is concerned with the origin, nature and limits of knowledge and addresses the question “How can do we be sure that we know what we know?” (Guba and Lincoln, 1996 p.160) while methodology, the more practical branch of the philosophy, identifies the procedures particularly used to attain knowledge of the reality and addresses the question “How can we go about finding out things? (Guba and Lincoln, 1996 p.159).
Guba and Lincoln (2005) describe four research paradigms, namely positivist, constructivist/interpretative, critical and post-positivist. In adopting any of these paradigms researchers are constrained to the ontological, epistemological and methodological positions of the selected paradigm. The following paragraphs discuss the limitations of each of the three paradigms and the selection of the fourth paradigm as suitable for this research.
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Positivist researchers assume that out there exist one reality which is objective and driven by generic laws. Hence they ignore people’s ability to reflect on the situation and act upon it (Robson, 1993) and assert that all people experience the world in the same manner (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000; Lee, 1992; Olson, 1995). They assume that reality is independent and external to the researcher. In fact the researcher must remain emotionally neutral towards the research participants in order to eliminate bias (Smith, 1983). Positivists seek to investigate and discover the objective nature of the reality, in order to predict and control phenomena. Burrell and Morgan (1979) assert that positivist paradigm’s objective is “to explain and predict what happens in the social world by searching for regularities and causal relationships between its constituent elements” (p.5).
Further, positivists adopt deductive mode of research and formulate hypotheses that are subjected to empirical testing through quantitative methods. Quantitative methods are outcome-oriented rather than process oriented and are “measuring variables and analysing the relationships among them with descriptive and inferential statistics” (Reeves and Hedberg, 2000 p. 19). In brief, research under positivist paradigm search for law-like generalizations, and precise causal relationships through statistical analysis (Candy, 1991; Crotty, 1998; Kim, 2003) in order to provide an objective, value free, context free and unambiguous interpretation of the reality (Blaike, 1993; Guba and Lincoln, 1994; Mertens, 2005).
This research seeks to identify whether or not Aljazeera promotes democracy in the Arab World. In doing so it investigates people’s subjective opinions and beliefs. Since positivist paradigm asserts that reality is apprehend able and measurable with zero error (Sweeney, 2000) this paradigm does not fit well with this research as reduces people to numbers and is concerned with abstract laws and formulas that are not applicable in real life (Neuman, 2003).
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Interpretative paradigm asserts that is important not only to observe humans’ external behaviours but also to understand the intentions, values, attitudes and beliefs that underlying these behaviours (Candy, 1991). This is because individuals perceive the world differently and construct their realities reflecting on their experiences rather than following generic laws (Blaike, 1993).
Furthermore interpretative paradigm assumes that “it is impossible to separate the inquirer from the inquired into” (Guba and Lincoln 1996 p.163) because both researcher and participants are integral part of the research process (Holloway, 1997). As Orlikowski and Baroudi (1991) assert “[R]eality, as well as our knowledge thereof, are social products and hence incapable of being understood independent of the social actors (including the researchers) that construct and make sense of that reality” (p.13). This implies that the researcher should be participant within the world being investigated in order to understand participants’ reality.
Since reality is a product of human action and interaction it does not exist separate and external to individuals but rather is internally constructed (Orlikowski and Baroudi, 2002). Hence reality is neither apprehend able and neither measurable in an objective or universal way. However, this research is set to measure media performance and establish causal relationship between predefined dependent and independent variables. Therefore interpretative paradigm is not suitable for this research because it does not predefine the variables but rather is focused on the full complexity of how humans making sense of a situation as it emerges (Kaplan and Maxwell, 1994).
Critical theorists are interested to understand how external forces and struggles can shape individual’s interpretation of the situation (Plack, 2005). They assume that people consciously act to change their realities, but various forms of domination, constrain their ability to do so. Hence they believe that it is important for the researchers to look how these forms of domination (social, political, cultural, economic, ethnic, racial, and gender), have lead to the development of their perceptions about the
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phenomenon of study, rather than simply looking at individual’s interpretation of the reality (Plack, 2005). Critical theory acknowledges that the life of humans in society can be improved by challenging oppression and questioning the status quo (Candy, 1991; Crotty, 1998; Kincheloe and McLaren, 2000).Therefore the goal of critical researcher, according to Kincheloe and McLaren (1994) is to “expose the social injustices and inequities that occur in society” (c.f Plack, 2005 p.233). In doing so critical theory researchers, who are involved with the participants in an “equally knowing” manner, (Freire, 1972 p. 131) aim at critiquing and transforming social, political, cultural, economic, ethnic and gender values. However, this research does not seek to change the values of media professionals and Arab viewers but rather to identify the relationship between democracy and media performance. Hence critical theory is not suitable paradigm for this research.
Post positivism or critical realism is a paradigm that has elements from both positivist and interpretative/constructivist paradigms. In fact it was developed to overcome the disadvantages of positivist paradigm (Guba and Lincoln, 1994). “A critical realist believes that there is a reality independent of our thinking about it that science can study. Post-positivist critical realist recognizes that all observation is fallible and has error and that all theory is revisable” (Trochim, 1999 p.27).
Post Positivists reject the idea that humans can see the world perfectly as it really is and argue that people’s perception of this world is not reality but rather “is a window on to reality from which a picture of it can be triangulated with other perceptions” (Perry, Reige and Brown, 1998, p.1952).Further they assert that “all observations are theory-laden and that since scientists (and everyone else, for that matter) are inherently biased by their cultural experiences, world views, and so on” (Trochim, 2006 p. 2) their observations are biased. Chauvel and Despres (2002) maintain that, “Post-Positivists hold that realities are multiple rather than singular, objectivity is a myth, that action arises from interactions in circumscribed situations, and that the meanings ascribed to the words we use are
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imperfectly shared at best” (p. 209). The current study shares the post positivists’ views that “total objectivity is unattainable” (Guba and Lincoln, 1994 p.110) therefore rather than striving to discover the objective nature of the reality, this researcher triangulate across multiple fallible perspectives to obtain probabilistically comprehendible reality (Trochim, 1999; Perry, Riege and Brown, 1999). Therefore this researcher will adopt this approach throughout the research.
. Quantitative Research Methodology
Methodology focuses on the best means of acquiring knowledge and covers decisions about data collection methods, scaling procedures and measurement, sampling and data analysis (Aaker,Kumar and Day, 2001). According to Guba and Lincoln (1994) the methodology must be consistent with the ontological and epistemological assumptions that underpin the research. In the same vein Mertens (2005) asserts that “researcher’s theoretical orientation has implication for every decision made in the research process including the choice of method (p.7).This is because researcher’s world views influence the research methodology selected to study the phenomenon under investigation as well as how data are collected and treated (Bullock, 1993; Henderson, 1991). This link between paradigm and research methodology implies that the methodology for this study in order to be aligned with the post positivist paradigm should be preferably quantitative. Mertens (2005) maintains that “although qualitative methods can be used within this paradigm, quantitative methods tend to be predominant . . ." (p. 12).The selection of the quantitative methodology is in accordance with the research objectives presented in Chapter 1 in this dissertation; namely to examine the relationship between democracy and the recent phenomenon of Arab satellite television (Aljazeera) as a catalyst of democratisation and social
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change in the Arab World, in order to prove or reject the research hypothesis, as presented in Chapter 1.
Explicitly since this research begins with a hypothesis, the key objective of the research is to identify the independent and dependent variables related to the research problem and the relationship among them. In doing so the researcher follows a deductive mode and in the course of the research translates the variables, which are abstract ideas, into concepts and through statistical measurements he establishes connection between concepts and data. The data, which are in numerical form, can prove or reject the hypothesis. The foregoing coincides with the goal of quantitative research which is to test the causal relationship between the variables (Davis, 1996). Variables and relationships according to Lincoln and Kalleberg (1990) and Neuman (2003) are the building blocks of the quantitative research.
The adoption of post positivist paradigm deems the probability of researcher’s bias. The adoption of quantitative methodology within the post positivist paradigm however decreases the probability of researcher’s bias, (Emory and Cooper, 1991 ) and as such to large extend addresses problems related to reliability and validity (internal and external) of measures and procedures (Guba and Lincoln, 1994). Therefore quantitative methodology is the best fit for this research because it coincides with the selected paradigm, the objectives of the research and because it increases the quality of the research outcomes.
Survey is one of the methods that quantitative research mode employs to collect data and is the method that this research utilises to address the research propositions.
Survey method
Surveys are considered to be an efficient data collection method that provides quick, inexpensive and accurate information about the
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population. They are designed to measure knowledge, behaviour and opinions (Zikmund, 2003; Malhotra, 1999) and more particularly self- reported beliefs or behaviours (Nueman, 2003). The data collected through surveys can be analysed by means that are statistical in nature (Neuman, 2003).According to Wimmer and Dominick (2000) the survey is one of the most widely used methods in media research, primarily because of its flexibility and has been used to explore possible connections between exposures to mass media materials and shaping of public opinion.
Hakansson and Snehota (1995) argue that survey method is an appropriate method for the studies that investigate built up relationships. The foregoing coincides with the objectives of this research i.e. to explore the possible connection between Aljazeera and democratization in the Arab World. Another argument in support to survey methodology for this research is the fact that it does not require to assign respondents into control and treatment groups on a prior arrangement basis neither requires the manipulation of the variables of interests as other quantitative data collection methods (Emory and Cooper 1991). However although surveys are not equipped to demonstrate cause-effect relationships between the variables they may provide indications whether such relationship exists. As Gunter (2002) asserts “such methodologies are appropriate where the researcher is interested in examining the historical links, if any, between variables” (p. 244).
However the adoption of post positivist paradigm, as a suitable paradigm to conduct this research, implies that the researcher needs to triangulate the data across multiple fallible perspectives in order to obtain probabilistically comprehendible reality. Therefore this researcher collects data from two sources: Arab media professionals and Arab public viewers. The first source, Arab media professionals, should provide insights regarding the relationship between Aljazeera and its effect on freedom of speech and expression in the Arab World as being viewed and monitored by them. This source includes Aljazeera’s staff members as
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well as other Arab media professionals from other Arab media outlets and corporations in the region. The second source is that of Arab public viewers who should provide new data representing the viewers' perspective. This perspective should provide a platform for comparisons with the first population i.e. Arab media professionals. The comparison will be concerned only in determining whether the media frames utilized by Aljazeera are initially in congruence with and representative of the individual frames of its viewers or are in dissonance.
Research Design
The research design is the “blueprint or plan” on how to gather the information to address the research problem (Frazer and Lawley, 2000 p.8). Denzin and Lincoln (1998) define the research design as “a flexible set of guidelines that connects theoretical paradigms to strategies of inquiry and methods for collecting empirical material” (p.28). They suggest that the selection of the research design should be informed by the followings:
• The mode of research
• The research paradigm
• The research methodology
• The selection of the data collection method(s)
• The selection of the data analysis method(s)
However the research design of this research has adapted the model suggested by Sarantakos (1998). This model includes 3 steps:
• Paradigm selection
• Research methodology
• Methods for data collection and analysis methods.
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Since the foregoing sections have justified the selection of the post positivist paradigm as the most suitable paradigm and the survey method as the best fit within quantitative methodology, the following sections of this Chapter are concerned with the development and administration of reliable and valid research instrument. The purpose of the instrument is to gather data from Arab public and Arab Media professionals that would address the research propositions presented in Chapter 1. The Figure 25 presents a chart outlining the steps taken in developing and administration of the research instrument.
Figure 25 - The design of the research process
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Instrument design and administration
This section explains the design and development of the research instrument. Luck and Rubin (1987) claim that well formulated instrument facilitates the collection of accurate and complete information about the research problem. The research instrument for the purpose of this research is taking the form of a structured questionnaire that contains closed ended questions. Zikmund (2000) asserts that the questionnaire design is one of the most critical stages in the research process since it is concerned in translating research objectives into a series of questions that address the research problem. Thus the researcher must develop questions that fall within the scope of research and moreover comprehendible questions that motivate respondents to cooperate and complete the questionnaire (Malhotra, 1993). The steps followed in the design of this research survey instrument and are illustrated in Figure 26.
Figure 26- The questionnaire development process.
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Domain of Constructs
The first step in the questionnaire design as shown in the Figure 24, to identify and define the constructs i.e. the concepts related to the research problem. Zikmund (2003) defines concept (construct) as “a generalized idea about a class of objects, attributes, occurrences, or processes”.
Davis and Cosenza (1993) Zikmund (2003) and Neuman (2003) maintain that the researcher must identify the concepts relevant to the research problem prior to the measurement and data collection. In the current research, which seeks to determine whether or not Aljazeera is a catalyst for democratisation and socio-political change in the Arab World, the main concept relevant to the research problem is democracy and for the purpose of this research it is considered as the depended variable. However democracy is a vague and abstract construct and an intensive search in literature has identified various definitions as presented in Chapter 1.
Conceptualisation process Sekeran (2000) maintains that researchers need to provide specific and instantly recognizable definitions that are linked to the theoretical framework and the context of the research. Thus amongst all the available definitions the researcher needs to adopt the definition that best addresses the research questions. Therefore for the purpose of this research the researcher adopted the following definition of democracy:
Democracy is a system of government by and for the people that respects human rights and gender equality, freedom and diversity
The process of refining a construct “by giving it a conceptual or theoretical definition", is called conceptualisation (Neuman, 2003 p. 172).
The foregoing definition of democracy explicitly identifies that in this research the role of Aljazeera as a catalyst for democratisation and socio- political change in the Arab World will be examined in relation to how
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well it promotes aspects such human rights and gender equality, freedom and diversity. These aspects represent the operational definitions of democracy in the current research i.e. the independent variables, which the researcher uses to observe the phenomenon under study (see Table 5). Operational definitions of a concept enable researchers to link a conceptual definition to a specific set of measurement techniques or procedures. As Neuman (2003) asserts operational definitions links the language of theory with the language of empirical measures. In other words operational definitions facilitate the observation and thus the measurement of a concept (construct). Measures or items are used to determine the amount of variable a construct possesses (Emory and Cooper, 1991).
This research investigates how Aljazeera promotes the aspects that for the purpose of this research are referred to as democracy’s operational definitions. However the researcher in order to have clearer interpretation of the relationship between democracy and its operational definitions considers the role of other variables These variables are called mediating variables and for this research are Aljazeera’s: explicit campaigns towards human rights and gender equality; promotion of women’s issues; employment policy; representation of women within Aljazeera; public debates; taboo subjects; opposition interactive shows; infotainment; documentaries; news and current affairs; special programs and talk shows (see Figure 27).
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Figure 27 - Independent, dependent and mediating variables for each research issue.
(Source: developed for this research)
Item generation process
Since the conceptual and operational definitions of the democracy have been identified, the next step is to generate a pool of items that would address the Research Questions presented in Chapter 1. Namely:
Is Aljazeera promoting human rights and gender equality?
The items generated to address this research question refer to respect to human rights and dignity and gender equality. These items would be investigated based on Aljazeera’s explicit campaigns, programs referred to women’s issues, Aljazeera’s employment policy and women representation.
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Is Aljazeera promoting public debate?
The items generated to address this research question refer to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of information, freedom of movement, freedom of religion. These items would be investigated based on Aljazeera’s public debates, the raising of taboo subjects, the representation of the opposition views, the talk shows, news and current affairs, interactive shows, documentary shows and infotainment.
Is Aljazeera promoting diversity?
The items generated to address this research question refer to how Aljazeera promotes diversity, government rotation, power sharing and the minorities’ rights through its special programs and explicit campaigns.
All the foregoing items were used to develop a questionnaire that contains 60 questions (see Table 6) divided in eight categories. These items deem to measure Aljazeera’s role in the democratisation and socio-political change in Arab World. However the questionnaire contains also 10 demographic questions that are positioned in the Category A. The remaining eight categories are presented as follows:
Category B. An overall evaluation of Aljazeera’s performance (contains seven questions).
Category C. Integrity of information (contains questions).
Category D. News coverage (contains eight questions).
Category E. Talk show programs (contains seven questions).
Category F. Editorial policy (contains seven questions).
Category G. Gender and human rights (contains three questions).
Category H. It contains two sub-sections: H1. Attitudes and perceptions (contains nine questions) and H2. Live programs (contains 10 questions).
In addition there are four open-ended questions only in Australian- Arab viewers’ survey (see Appendix C).
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Figure 28 - Research issues, constructs, definitions, survey questions and scales used in the
development of this research.
Source: developed for this research)
Type of the Survey method
The next step in the development of the survey instrument is the specification of the type of the survey that will be used to gather data to address the research objectives. Davis and Cosenza (1993) and Malhotra (1993) identify four types of conducting a survey: face to face structured interviews, mail, over the telephone and online. Malhotra (1993) claims that none survey method is superior to the other, and that the choice of the most suitable technique depends on a balance of research objectives and constraints. However in deciding on the type of the survey method this researcher has considered the advantages and disadvantages of each type. As shown in Table 4, the personal interviews achieved the most ‘excellent’ ratings followed closely by mail and internet. But factors such as time and cost constrain, availability of facilities and quantity of data were also
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considered. Taking in consideration that this researcher resides in Australia and only visited Arab countries for the purpose of this research, the application of mail and on line technique was considered as not feasible. Therefore personal structured interviews were selected.
Emory and Cooper (1991) suggest that the greatest value of the personal structured interviews lies in the depth and the details of information that can be secured. They also argued that the interviewer can control the quality of information by noting the conditions of the interview (Emory and Cooper, 1991). In this context Sekaran (2000) claims that the main advantage of personal structured interviews lies on the fact that the “researcher can easily adapt the questions if necessary, clarify doubt, and ensure that the responses are properly understood by repeating or rephrasing the questions”. He concluders that “the presence of the interviewer increases the number of respondents who are willing to participate” (Sekaran, 2000 p.144)
In spite of the numerous pros, personal interviews have shortcomings as well. These shortcomings are related to high costs and interviewer bias (Neuman, 2003). To minimise the costs of travelling to the houses of respondents, the interviews were conducted in shopping malls. Mall interviews were appropriate for this research as the demographic factors are not likely to influence the survey findings (Zickmund, 2003). Adopting this technique the researcher firstly had to train the interviewers properly as not to let their personal beliefs and opinions to influence the respondent (Zickmund, 2003). Interviewers for this research were trained to be patient and give time to the respondents to answer all questions. In addition they have been asked to approach public in a good manner. Because bias is one of the disadvantages of the personal interviews the interviewers were asked to minimise verbal interaction with the respondents to the purpose of the question.
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Table 4 - Comparisons among surveys methods
Source: Synthesised for this research from Emory & Cooper 1991; Malhotra 1993; Sekaran 2000; Zickmund 2003)
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Question development
At this stage of the questionnaire development the researcher is concerned with the selection of suitable techniques for question construction that would increase the validity and reliability of the instrument (Enomy and Cooper, 1991. Explicitly he needs to pay attention to the content and the wording of the questions in order to avoid bias and random error that would threaten the validity of the data (Alreck and Settle, 1995; Cavana, Delahaye, and Sekaran, 2001).
Thus, in developing questions that would ensure the collection of information relevant to the research issues, he adopted the techniques proposed by various sources (e.g. Emory and Cooper 1991; Sekaran 1992; Zickmund 2003; Trochim 2003). In relation to the content of each question the researcher considered only questions relevant to the research propositions. Double barrelled, sensitive questions, biased and leading questions were avoided. Abbreviations or incomplete sentences were not included in the questionnaire and the language used was accessible without any jargon.
Question wording was given extra attention to ensure that the words used have only one meaning; simple language was used to ensure that respondents have clear understanding of the question and biased words were not included. The survey was written in plain English and was translated in Arabic by professional translator to avoid misinterpretation of the words. The translation of the survey in Arabic language was considered essential because the survey was conducted in Arabic countries where Arabic is the mother tongue and the level of English language command may vary. The questions were short and in their majority were closed ended. However demographic questions were multiple choice questions. In multiple choice questions, all alternatives were listed.
Close ended questions for this research required from the participants to identify the extend of their agreement or disagreement regarding the provided statements In this research a 5-point Likert scale was selected
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for most of questions. Table 5 demonstrates question content and wording techniques, followed in this research to maintain a high content quality.
Table 5 - Question content techniques
Developed from Emory & Cooper (1991); Sekaran (1992); Zickmund (2003); Trochim (2003).
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Measurement scale
Researchers need to be competent in selecting appropriate scales and , understanding which scales are valid and fit well with the purpose of the research because this enable them to make meaningful inferences from data (Wren, 1997). In addition, the measurement scale indicates how a variable was measured and subsequently determines what analysis can be performed on the variable. DeCoster (2000) asserts that “[T]he purpose of scale construction is to design a questionnaire that provides a quantitative measurement of an abstract theoretical variable” (p.1).
This research investigates the role of Aljazeera in the democratisation of the Arab World and seeks to identify people’s beliefs regarding this matter. Simmons (2001) asserts that “beliefs can usually be assessed by asking whether something is seen as true or false” (p.92). However de Vaus (2002) maintains that false/true answers “on some issues they can create false opinions either by giving an insufficient range of alternatives from which to choose or by prompting people with “acceptable” answers” (p.98). However interval scaling in the form of numerical scale was considered as the most appropriate measurement scale for this research. Numerical scale has a number descriptions rather than verbal as response options. The selected number represents participants’ opinion (Zickmund, 2003). Hair et al (1995) asserts that interval scale has the capability to provide the highest level of measurement precision and is very suitable to test hypothesis (De Vellies, 1991) as in this research.
The Likert Scale is an interval scale and was selected as the most appropriate scale to measure Arab viewers’ and Arab professionals’ opinions regarding Aljazeera as a catalyst for democratisation and socio- political change. Likert scale is a multi-item scale, not a single item. It consists of a series of statements that are designed to elicit the participant’s perception towards a particular topic (Aiken, 1997). Participants answer the question by stating the extent of their agreement
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or disagreement for every statement. Data gained through Likerts’ scale is easily amenable to factor analysis.
By selecting Likert scale as measurement scale it is important to decide whether using 5 or 7 scale responses. Cox (1980) claims that ‘… the magic number seven plus or minus two appears to be a reasonable range for the optimal number of response alternatives’ (p.420). He also asserts that the number of chosen responses needs to be enough to obtain the required information, yet not too refined to cause errors.
For the purpose of this research a series of statements relevant to research problem were developed. Aljazeera’s viewers were asked to rate each statement on a five-point Likert scale (See Table 6) to which numerical values were attached. A five-point numerical scale was used for two reasons; firstly because it is widely used by the researchers (Morgan and Hunt, 1994) and secondly because it permits the level of intensity and feelings to be expressed (Luck and Rubin, 1987). Finally the responses in the Likert scale can be easily coded and are appropriate to different statistical techniques (Luck and Rubin, 1987).
Table 6- Five-point numerical scale (Developed for this research)
Pilot testing
Before administering any research instrument is necessary to ensure that is valid and reliable. Therefore the pilot testing of the questionnaire is the first step of its practical application and the last step before its administration. Pilot study can be defined as "pre-testing" or "trying-out" (Baker 1994, p.182, 3) of the techniques related to content, wording and structure of the questions and scales. Sudman and Bradbum (1982) suggest that “[T]he pilot study can be used to indicate questions that need
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revision because they are difficult to understand and it is also indicates questions that may be eliminated.”(p.284). Pilot studies save time, money and frustration because provide an early indication about possible errors that left unaddressed could void the entire analysis (Wimmer and Dominick, 2000). Anderson and Gerbing (1991) and Stratman and Roth (2002) demonstrated that pilot testing is a very useful step in the scale development process because it may picks out invalid measures. Thus De Vaus (1993) advises "Do not take the risk. Pilot test first" (p.57).
Teijlingen and Hundley (2001) maintain that “One of the advantages of conducting a pilot study is that it might give advance warning about where the main research project could fail, where research protocols may not be followed, or whether proposed methods or instruments are inappropriate or too complicated” (Teijlingen and Hundley,2001 p.1).Furthermore they assert that by pilot testing the research instrument researcher are:
Developing and testing adequacy of research instruments Assessing the feasibility of a (full-scale) study/survey Designing a research protocol Assessing whether the research protocol is realistic and workable Establishing whether the sampling frame and technique are effective Assessing the likely success of proposed recruitment approaches Identifying logistical problems which might occur during data collection stage Estimating variability in outcomes to help determine sample size Collecting preliminary data Assessing the proposed data analysis techniques to uncover potential problems Developing a research question and research plan Training a researcher in as many elements of the research process as possible (p.2).
Teijlingen and Hundley (2001) assert also that although pilot study does not guarantee the success of the main study it increases the likelihood of
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its success. However, pilot study may maximise internal validity of the instrument and thus increase the usefulness of collected data. Polit et al (2001) asserts that the pilot study maximises internal validity by identifying and eliminating ambiguities and difficult questions that may cause misinterpretation of the information needed.
The pilot study in this research was conducted through three stages. First, prior to the pilot study, the questionnaire was initially tested by five mass media and communication academics. Issues in regard to the questionnaire length, wording, repetitious statements and question focus were raised. To address these issues, the academic staff was asked to give feedback by answering the following questions:
Is the length of the questionnaire appropriate? Are the instructions for instrument completion clearly indicate how the participants should respond? Does each item represent each variable appropriately? Are the questions well constructed and unambiguous? Should any items be added, deleted or modified? Does the questionnaire seems to cover all the important issues related to the topic and addresses the research questions? Does the questionnaire measures all the relevant dimensions of the identified concepts?
Second, following this academic feedback, a meeting among postgraduate media and communication students was held to analyse the comments and highlight relevant issues. This process enabled the questionnaire to be further improved based on the issues mentioned previously. The participants in this stage were asked to provide feedback in relation to the followings:
• Clarity of the instructions • Clarity of the questions • Layout of the questions • Length of the Survey • Language used • Length of the questions • Scales used
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The participants in the pilot study were also asked whether they wanted to raise any other issues not included in the current version.
In this stage the pre-test there were suggestions regarding the appearance and layout of the questionnaires which were implemented before the third stage of the pilot testing was initiated.
In the third stage 58 questionnaires were distributed among the Arabic community in Australia. The next section discusses the final stage in details.
Last stage of the pilot study
Glass (1997) has classified pilot studies into three categories based on the nature of the implementation that the pilot study follows. Firstly there is the rigorous category where the implementation is very important, secondly, the moderate where the implementation is of an average importance and finally, the informal approach where implementation is of low importance. However the rigorous approach has been selected to conduct the third stage of the pilot testing. According to Glass (1997) the rigorous approach increases the precision of the pilot testing findings’ because it helps researchers to identify possible flaws that if remain unattended may risk the quality of the data collected in the main study. The Figure 29 presents the steps taken at the last stage of the pilot study.
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Figure 29 - Key steps for the rigorous approach (Synthesised from Glass 1997 )
1. Planning stage The purpose of the pilot study is to confirm the validity and reliability of the scales developed to measure the phenomenon under investigation. The pilot testing of an instrument may ensure that the measures are free from errors and therefore produce consistent results (Zickmund, 2003). In the context of this study, Aljazeera’s performance towards democratisation and socio-political change in the Arab World will be measured using multiple-items scale. Multiple-item scales are deemed suitable to measure complex phenomena firstly because improve the level of measure (Gold, 2001) and secondly because in comparison to single item scale they have better exploratory power (Peat et al, 2002). An instrument is considered reliable if produces consistent responses.
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Internal consistency is important to determine the construct reliability of an instrument (Neuman, 2003). The most widely used method to determine internal consistency is by measuring Cronbach's alpha coefficient (Nummaly and Bernstein, 1994). The Cronbach alpha coefficient provides a stable measure of reliability and is easy to be calculated (Carmines and Zeller, 1979). According to Nunnally and Bernstein (1994) the value of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient must be greater than 0.70 for a scale to be reliable. However a value 0.70 may determine the minimum acceptable value for internal consistency (Carmines and Zeller 1979; Nunnally and Bernstein 1994). Zander and Kogout (1995), claim that the value of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient may increase by the average correlation or the number of items. Henryson (1971) claims that an item-to-total test correlation should be over 0.3 to be included in a survey. Thus items with value of less than 0.3 on the item- to-total test correlation need to be deleted from the instrument.
The validity of the instrument can be measured through various methods. The extent that the instrument measures what it is supposed to measure, it determines its content validity, while the extent that the instrument meets theoretical expectations it determines its construct validity. The content validity for all multi-items constructs in the survey instrument may be tested by the item-to-total-test correlation (Lee and Choi, 2003). Another way to validate an instrument is through discriminant validity. To conclude, in the planing stage the methods to be used to establish the validity and reliability of the instrument were considered. The reliability and validity test of the instrument in the pilot testing gives an indication regarding the consistency and appropriateness of the questionnaire items in measuring the proposed concepts.
2. Design stage At the design stage the researcher has to decide on the sampling procedure and on the size suitable to conduct the pilot testing of the instrument. Morgan and Hunt (1994) emphasise that the pilot study participants must be representative to the sample of the participants in the
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main study. In regards to the size of the sample, Hunt et al (1982) suggest that a sample of 12-30 participants is suitable number for the purpose of the pilot. However, the results are more accurate as larger the sample is (Emory and Cooper, 1991).
Since the pilot study was conducted in Australia, the population of interest included Aljazeera’s viewers from Arabic background. Thus the pilot study was conducted with a sample of 58 Australian Arabs who claim that were Aljazeera’s viewers.
The more effective and efficient way to reach these viewers was through Arab community social clubs located in the main Australian cities. Decision was taken to conduct the pilot study with members of these clubs. The clubs are family oriented and the age of members is ranging from 18 to over 70 years of age. This implies that the younger members may be were born in Australia and their first language is English. Therefore the questionnaire was presented in two languages: English and Arabic. By presenting the questionnaire in two languages made it possible the ambiguities in the content and wording of the questions to be identified in both languages. However since a convenient sample was used for the pilot study results cannot be generalized to the overall population, but may indicate what patterns may emerge from a study on a larger scale.
3. Conducting Stage This stage outlines the administration of the pilot survey. The researcher has visited Arabic community social clubs in the six main Australian cities during weekends when functions were organised in these clubs. Permission to contact club members was sought from the leaders of each club. The pilot study participants were selected randomly among the members in the functions. Consideration was given to include in the study participants from different age groups. The pilot study participants were interviewed face to face during different times to ensure the consistency of the obtained results over time. The pre-notification technique was used in this pilot study. Turley (1999) explained the importance of pre-
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notification and advised that it should include introduction about the research. Accordingly, a brief explanation about the research purpose was explained to the participants prior to their participation approval to ensure that they were aware of the survey content.
Data was collected within two months. After completing the survey, respondents were asked to give overall comments as recommended by Hunt, Sparkman and Wilcox (1982) about the survey presentation, problematic items, wordings, and any difficulties encountered. After the completion of the pilot study some of these comments were incorporated into the questionnaire to overcome the major deficiencies.
Once the pilot study meetings were completed, the data were entered into SPSS. As soon as any respondent completed the survey, it was given a number for future identification and marked with the date of completion. No survey was discarded because respondents were encouraged to complete all of the questionnaire sections (see Table 10). At the end of this stage the data are ready for frequency, reliability and validity test. Actual analysis of the pilot study was explained in the next stage, completing the purification step of the research process.
4. Evaluation stage Fifty eight Arabic community members were interviewed in the pilot testing of the survey. The demographic data of the pilot survey respondents indicated that 53.4% of the respondents were female and 46.6% were male (see Table 8). The percentage of the participants in relation to age group is presented in the Table 9 and is as follows: 25.9% were 18-24, 34.5 % were 25-34, 17.2% were 35-44, 19% were 45-54, 3. 4% were 55-64. Among them 36.2% indicated as their level of education, high school and college (see Table 10).
Table 7- Number of participants in the pilot study
Statistics
Gender Age Education N Valid 58 58 58
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Missing 0 0 0
Frequency Table
Table 8 The demographics:Gender
Cumulative Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent Valid Male 27 46.6 46.6 46.6 Female 31 53.4 53.4 100.0 Total 58 100.0 100.0
Table 9 - The demographics: Age
Cumulative Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent Valid 18-24 15 25.9 25.9 25.9 25-34 20 34.5 34.5 60.3 35-44 10 17.2 17.2 77.6 45-54 11 19.0 19.0 96.6 55-64 2 3.4 3.4 100.0 Total 58 100.0 100.0
Table 10 - The demographic data of the pilot survey respondents Education
Cumulative Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent Valid Less than high school 1 1.7 1.7 1.7 High School graduate 3 5.2 5.2 6.9 Some college, undergraduate 17 29.3 29.3 36.2
College graduate 15 25.9 25.9 62.1 Some post graduate 10 17.2 17.2 79.3 Post graduate 12 20.7 20.7 100.0 Total 58 100.0 100.0
All questionnaires were included in the analysis, as respondents were encouraged to complete all of the questionnaire sections. Once the data was entered in SPSS 15 the reliability and validity of the instrument was examined.
Reliability refers to “[T]he extent to which results are consistent over time and an accurate representation of the total population under study” An
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instrument is considered as reliable “if the results of a study can be reproduced under a similar methodology” (Joppe, 2000, p. 1).
In accordance with the recommendations in the planning stage, Cronbach alpha coefficient was used to test the reliability of the instrument. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient implies that all of the item-to-total-test correlations should be of a value over 0.3 to be included in the survey instrument (Henryson, 1971; Zander and Kogout, 1995). The reliability test for this research was conducted to consider only the most reliable items to be included in the main study. All scales and all factors and constructs were tested. Cronbach alpha coefficient indicated a value greater than 0.7. A value, greater than 0.7 implies a good initial reliability for the used scales.
“Validity of a measurement instrument is the extent to which the instrument measures what it is supposed to measure” (Leedy and Ormond 2001, p.31). To be effective, an instrument must adequately define important aspects of the construct, must include relevant constructs (Cook and Campbell, 1979) and comprise discriminant capability. Discriminant capability is the ability of the instrument “to ‘readily and unambiguously [permit] placing of conference content into discrete and useful categories” (Fahy, 2001, p. 3). The content validity of the multi-item constructs was examined by using the score to total test correlation (Lee and Choi 2003).This test proved that all scales were within an acceptable range. Regarding discriminant validity Zander and Kogut (1995) they assert that when the number of the items is greater than the number of respondents as in this study (70 items, 58 respondents) or when the average correlation between items within a scale is greater than the average correlation between items in two different scales discriminant validity is reasonably established.
5. Use stage The sample was too small to apply other statistical techniques. However, the pilot study gave an indication that the scale can be used to test the study hypotheses. Overall, the pilot study was necessary to review and
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modify some potential problems with the items. The reliability of the instrument was calculated by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and its value proved that the scales were within the acceptable range of values for the social science. The discriminant and content validity were determined by simple methods, but it gave a reasonable indication of the scales validity.
The final draft of the questionnaire The last stage of the pilot study confirmed the suitability of the instrument’s content and wording. However 4 items were removed from the instrument since they were not suitable for the research. Initial reliability and validity tests gave to a certain extent, some evidence of appropriateness of the items to measure the proposed constructs. Finally after the changes were proceed, 1000 questionnaires were printed out ready to be distributed for the main study. Each copy of the Questionnaire was presented as a nine-page document. It included a cover letter in both Arabic and English language and 8 pages with questions. The contents of the document were printed on the facing side of each page to avoid the risk of missing responses. The questionnaire was divided in 8 sections and had the demographic questions at Section A.
The cover letter in the research instrument contained information about the purpose of the research, the approximate time for its completion and the voluntary nature of the participation. In the cover letter respondents were informed that their individual responses would be kept confidential and only a summary of the results would be reported in the thesis.
The inclusion of the university’s letterhead and contact details on the covering letter prove to increase participants’ willingness to complete the questionnaire. Finally in the questionnaire, instructions were given to participants in every section how to rate each statement. Questions on the same subject were positioned orderly (Salant and Dillman, 1994).
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Data collection and preparation- main study The next step was to define the subjects that were to be interviewed to attain information related to the research questions. In this research the sample population included viewers from the following countries: Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Oman and UAE. The study also included a sample of Arab- Australians. However, in selecting the research subjects the researchers has adopted the four steps proposed by Zickmund (2003), Nueman (2003), Emory and Cooper (1991), and Malhotra (1993).These steps are the following:
Step 1: Population issue To obtain a good representative sample, it is important to determine the target population which is the main source of data (Zikmund, 2003). The population is the total number of subjects that have been identified for the research problem (Sekaran, 1992). “A good informant is the one who has the knowledge and experience the research requires, has the ability to reflect, has the time to be interviewed and is willing to participate in the study” (Morse, 1994 p.228) The main objective of this study is to investigate Aljazeera’s role in the democratic process performance in the Arab World. Accordingly, in this research, the population consisted of Aljazeera viewers’ in the Arab World and in Australia. This definition is reliable given the research problem and thus avoids population specification error (Tull and Hawkins, 1993).
Information about the population may be obtained by taking census of all members of the population, or by selecting samples of the population (Zickmund, 2003). The best sample is the one which is a good representative to the population (Malhotra, 1993)
Step 2: Selecting the sample frame The researchers in social research select their respondents from the population. Cox and West (1986) define population “as a well-defined group of people that share common characteristics” (p.29). However since researchers can not include all the members of the population in their
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research they select on a representative sample. A sample is a subset of the population that has been chosen to be studied (Cox and West, 1986) while the group of individuals who had a real chance of being selected for the sample, is called sampling frame (Neil, 2003). Due to face to face interviews, time, and cost constraints, selecting all areas in the Arab world to conduct the interviews was not feasible. Therefore the sampling frame included customers in the shopping malls of the main cities in Jordan, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar. However when a certain sample elements are not adequately represented in the frame sampling frame error occurs (Zickmund, 2003).But the sample frame in this research, was considered to be accurate since was selected from various areas in Arab World.
Step 3: Selecting a sample technique In selecting the sample researchers may apply either probability or non- probability techniques (Zikmund, 2003). A probability sample technique was used in selecting the research sample in this study. This technique is considered as the best sampling method and implies that every member of the population has equal probability (Neuman, 2003) or non-zero probability of being selected (Zikmund, 2003). However the sample for this research was selected randomly among city mall shoppers with the criteria they were keen to participate in the research.
Step 4: Determining sample size Zikmund (2003) defines sample size as “the number of observation or cases specified by the estimated variance of the population, the magnitude of accepting errors and the confidence level” (p.425). The most important factor in determining sample size according to Gay (1996) is how homogenous or heterogenous is the population. In this research the population in the Arab Word in general is homogenous in many aspects (language, religion, culture etc).
In determining the sample size Leedy and Ormond (2001) assert that “The basic rule is the larger the sample the better” (p.221). Similarly
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Emory and Cooper (1991) maintain that the larger the sample is, the more accurate the research results are. However in this research, the restrictions of budget and time confined the sample to 600-800 people
Assuming the higher response rate due to face to face interviews is 50 per cent, a size of 1000 was used to provide a sample of 580.
Data treatment This section describes briefly how data were treated prior to the detailed analysis in Chapter 4. The assessment of the measurement scales and the test of the hypothesised relationships represented in the conceptual model were conducted with the use of SPSS 15. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted using SPSS 15. Then, the measurement model was assessed with confirmatory factor analysis to test hypothesised relationships.
Ethical Consideration
This research followed the ethical research procedures provided in the Ethics Guidelines of the Research and Higher Degree Committee of the Central Queensland University. Ethical clearance was obtained prior to conducting the research.
During the data collection stage, the respondents from the selected Arab countries as well as the Arab-Australians were approached in a pleasant manner and were asked for their participation in the research. The people acted on their free will. No pressure was exercised (Zikmund, 2003). The ones who decided to participate in the study were presented with a copy of the research and information sheet. To comply with the requirements of the ethics committee the Arab-Australians were given a consent form to sign. All participants were informed about the purpose of the study and they were ensured about their anonymity. No names were asked. The interviewers also informed the participants that their participation is
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voluntary and that they have the right to conclude the interview if they wish so.
Conclusion
This chapter explained the paradigmatic orientation and the methodology adopted to conduct the research. The selection of the survey method was justified as the most suitable method to address the research questions. In addition the selection of the personal interviews as the most appropriate type of survey was justified as well. Further in this chapter were explained the steps taken in the design and development of the survey instrument as well as and the steps taken for its pilot testing. Furthermore the sample for this research was defined and identified and the ethical guidelines that underpin this research were presented.
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Chapter Six: Data Analysis
"When you can measure what you are speaking about and express it in numbers, you know something about it. But when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind" "Popular Lectures and Addresses” 3 May 1883 Analysis of Survey Data
The results of the three case studies will be comprehensively described and analysed.
Introduction
In Chapter 5 were discussed the methodology and method to be adopted to gather data regarding the research problem. It described also the instrument that was used to collect data and outlined its design and development as well. This chapter firstly describes the process of preparing the collected data and then examines and analyses the data. The analysis of the data will either reject or support the Research Hypothesis presented in Chapter 1.Namely:
Aljazeera is a Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-Political Change
This chapter as Figure 30 indicates is divided in three sections. The first section describes the preparation of the data that includes coding, data cleaning and screening. The second the data is analysed and the findings are discussed. Finally the researcher draws conclusions from the data.
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Figure 30-Outline of chapter 4. Source: developed for this research
Data Preparation The main aim of this section is to decode the collected data into appropriate set for analysis (Luck and Rubin, 1987). This procedure taking place after the completion of the data collection and implies that once data enters into program database the researcher needs to code the
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data and simultaneously proceed with the cleaning of data and accounts the missing responses (Malhotra, 1999).
Coding the data The coding process in this research has been started by assigning a code to each item or question in the questionnaire (Malhotra, 1999). This research questionnaire had almost pre-coded questions. However, the question codes have been slightly adjusted by adding a letter to the question code number when it was entered into SPSS software to reflect the section that it came from. For example, I have added a letter C to the codes which represented viewers’ perceptions regarding Aljazeera’s integrity of information. To maintain the consistency of coding, the answers to the 60 questions were examined and coded after data was collected, so the new coding was consist with the pre-coded questions (Davis and Cosenza, 1993). There were six questions in the demographic section that had answers with the ‘other’ category. The category ‘other’ is an open-ended question. For each ‘other’ case codes were noted and allocated during data entry process. For example, Question 3 which was about the citizenship that the viewers’ held, a new code was given to any citizenship that was not in the provided list.
The raw data was transferred from the questionnaires directly into the computer program SPSS. To keep the consistency of transferring data, some standards were followed such as data should be almost complete, legible and accurate (Churchill, 1995). More precisely, of the 790 collected questionnaires, 50 were considered unusable because of inconsistency or being incomplete. It was assumed that these respondents were not willing to fully participate in the study and were therefore excluded from the final dataset.
Data Cleaning Process After the raw data had been transferred into the computer, a process of cleaning and screening was conducted to check for possible errors. The main purpose of this process was to ensure that the data was transcribed accurately by determining outliers, inconsistent responses and missing
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data (Malhotra, 1999). In this section two main problems are discussed; the accuracy of the data input, outliers, missing values, response error, and distribution issues such as normality (Hair et al, 1995).
The first category of problems was minimised in this research by checking and editing data onscreen. Frequencies were run using a SPSS for every variable to check for outlier responses, missing data, and response error.
Outliers are observations that appear to be surprisingly inconsistent with the rest of the dataset (Barnett and Lewis, 1994). One of the main steps in cleaning the data is to consider such values. There are different types of outliers (Hair et al, 1995). Some outliers arise from errors in data entry or coding, and in this research these have been corrected at data entry stage. Some other types of outliers could result from extraordinary events that can be explained or extraordinary events that cannot be explained. None of these were found in this research. Another category of outliers contain observations that fall within an ordinary range of values on each variable but are unique in their combinations of values across variables.
To identify the possible outliers, univariate detection was considered. Z scores in the range of 3 & 4 was a rule of thumb to determine any potential outliers (Hair et al, 1995). In this research, SPSS was used to calculate Z scores for all variables in the proposed models and none was above 3, representing that there were no possible outliers in the dataset (Norusis, 1998).
Missing data is considered because most of the multivariate analysis requires a complete data (Afifi and Clark, 1996). Missing values which are greater than 10 percent of the dataset indicates a problem in the result accuracy (Malhotra, 1993). However the missing data for this research was limited due to the adoption of personal interviews As such has not been considered as a serious problem. This method of conducting surveys helps researchers to obtain complete and valuable information (Zickmund, 2003). Some missing data was found in the demographic information as Table 11 shows.
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Table 11 - Missing data in demographic information
Item age education work area In what country do you live
Number of missing cases 5 3 9 4
Source: analysis of survey data collected of this research
Only three cases of missing values were found in these items which represented viewer's satisfaction with Aljazeera services. Therefore, no particular way of missing values treatment (for example, means values and data imputation) was needed in this research.
Non response error: The main purpose of checking the non-response error is to ensure that the non respondents didn't have a particular characteristic that may affect the validity and bias the results of this research (Kervin, 1992). Moreover, the non response error check was done to confirm the representativeness of the sample (Oppenheim, 1992). The strategy which has been chosen in this research to test the non response error was to test weather there was a significant difference between those who answered the survey in the early and later stage of data collection (Doney and Cannon, 1997).
Normal methods of testing for non-response bias could not be used in this research. The usual method of comparing early and late respondents could not be used because the assumption that late respondents responded less readily and only after prompting, did not apply in this face-to-face administered survey. Nor could the respondents be compared with the population from which the sample was drawn because there were no other surveys or data about the viewer population of Aljazeera available.
The non-response error was tested using the non-metric Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance. All Chi-squares were less than the critical value (3.84) indicating that the non response error was not a problem in this research.
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Normality: The next step of data cleansing process was to assess the normality for each variable on the proposed two models. It is almost impossible to find data which are normally distributed and when the sample is large enough as in this research, any goodness of fit test will result in rejecting the null hypothesis (Nourusis, 1993). However, a normal distribution test was conducted among the main variables in the proposed two models to check the extent to which the main variables meet the normality assumption. Assessment of the skewness and kurtosis indicates the normality of the variables (Tabachnick and Fidell, 1996). SPSS have the facilities to give Skewness and kurtosis statistics as well as standard errors. The normality of a distribution can be evaluated, if both of equations 1 & 2 below give a z value less than +/-1.96, then the distribution can be treated as normal (Tabachnick and Fidell, 1996)
Equation 1 Z= Kurtosis/standard error of Kurtosis
Equation2 Z= skewness/standard error of skewness
No variables had a critical ratio less than ± 1.96 on both skewness and kurtosis; therefore normality errors were not a problem in this research.
After conducting a preliminary analysis to ensure the quality of the data and its suitability for such statistical tests, demographic statistics were also analysed to establish an overview of the characteristics of this research sample. Table 12 summarise the main demographic information of the sample respondents.
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Table 12- Frequency table for the demographic information
Age Group Australian Arab Media Viewers Viewers Professionals
14 years and under 6 % 0% 0%
14 – 17 years 15% 9% 0%
18 – 24 years 39% 23% 0%
25 – 34 years 14% 27% 25%
35 – 44 years 15% 11% 33%
45 – 54 years 6% 20% 20%
55 – 64 years 1% 10% 22%
65 years and over 4% 0% 0%
Citizenship Australian Arab Media Viewers Viewers Professionals
Arab National * 34% 66% 71%
Lebanese 54% 20% 9%
Third Country National * 12% 14% 10%
Other 0% <1% 0%
Not Specified 0% 0% 10%
Arab National Region Australian Arab Media Viewers Viewers Professionals
The Levant * 3% 54% 60%
North Africa * 0% 30% 12%
The African Horn* 3% 14% 8%
Arabian Peninsula* 0% 1% 20%
Not Specified 94% 0% 0%
Occupation Australian Arab Viewers Viewers
Student 15% 11%
Full Time Employment 11% 44%
Part Time Employment 42% 8%
Homemaker 13% 10%
Retired 12% 9%
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Volunteer 7% 4%
Not Employed 0% 14%
Highest Education Australian Arab Media Level Completed Viewers Viewers Professionals
Less than High School 51% 14% 0%
High School Graduate 9% 15% 14%
Some College, Undergraduate 14% 21% 22%
College Graduate 8% 30% 23%
Some Post Graduate 9% 11% 0%
Post Graduate 9% 9% 32%
Other 0% <1% 0%
Not Specified 0% 0% 10%
Arab Media Work Area Viewers Professionals
Administrative 15% 8%
Management 22% 17%
Advertising 15% 14%
Business Development 16% 17%
Creative, Design & Media 10% 6%
Consulting 1% 21%
Customer Service, Support <1% 4%
Education 12% 2%
Other 9% 0%
Not Specified 0% 10%
Years of Service Australian Arab Media Viewers Viewers Professionals
Less than one 13% 9% 19% year
1 -3 years 34% 26% 25%
More than 3 years 38% 36% 25%
From inception 13% 29% 20%
Not specified 2% 0% 11%
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Country Arab Media Viewers Professionals
Arab National * 46% 18%
Qatari 33% 23%
Third Country* 11% 19% National
Other 11% 30%
Not Specified 0% 10%
Source: analysis of survey data
*See Appendix A for definitions
Total Respondents: A total of 100 Australian viewers of Aljazeera (13%), 530 Arab viewers (72%) and 110 media professionals (15%) took part in this survey.
Gender: Overall, 48% of respondents were male and 52% female. The vast majority (66%) of the Australian viewers responding to the survey were male, whereas somewhat less than half of the Arab viewers (45%) and the media professionals (46%) were male.
Age: The majority of the Australian viewers of Aljazeera were in the 18- 24 age-group. There were very few below the age of 13 or 45 years or older. Of the Arab viewers, most were in the 25-34, 18-24 and the 45- 54 age groups. The media professionals’ age ranges were relatively evenly distributed between each age group from 25-64 years, with the majority being in the 35-44 age brackets.
Citizenship: The majority of Arab viewers and Media Professionals were Arab Nationals, whereas the majority of Australian viewers were Lebanese (see Table 12). Only small percentages of Australian and Arab viewers and media professionals were Third Country Nationals.
Arab National Region: There may have been some confusion amongst respondents as many that did not specify their citizenship as Arab National, still specified an Arab National Region. Of the Arab Nationals, the largest percentage of Arab viewers and media professionals specified
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the Levant as their Arab National region, whereas only 3% of Australian viewers came from this region (see Table 12). However, a very large percentage of Australian viewers did not specify a region.
Occupation: Most Australian Viewers were employed part time (see Table 12) and most Arab viewers of Aljazeera were employed full time. Very few were retired volunteers or unemployed.
Highest Education Level Completed: The majority of Australian viewers of Aljazeera had not completed High School (see Table 12), with the next greatest percentage having undergone some college undergraduate education. The largest percentages of Arab viewers were college graduates or had completed some undergraduate education. Similar percentages of Arab and Australian viewers had post graduate qualifications or some post graduate education. Of the media professionals, a significant portion (32%) had completed post graduate education, and large percentages were either college graduates or had completed some college undergraduate education. 10% of the media professionals declined to respond to this question.
Primary Functional Work Area: The majority of Arab viewers of Aljazeera were in management, business development, administrative, and advertising areas of work (see Table 12). The majority of media professionals were in consulting, management and business development areas. 10% of the latter group did not specify.
Languages Spoken: In regards to languages spoken, as would be expected, all Arabic Aljazeera viewers spoke Arabic, as did the Australian viewers, whereas 67% of media professionals did. 11 of the latter did not indicate whether or not they spoke Arabic. 82% of the Australian viewers spoke English, as did 71% of Arabic viewers. None of the media professionals were asked this question. 7% of Australian and 12% of Arab viewers spoke French, and again media professionals did not have to answer this question.
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Years of Service: The majority of Australian and Arab viewers of had Aljazeera for more than 3 years (see Table 12). A substantial percentage of both groups had the service for 1-3 years. A large percentage of Arab viewers also had the service from its inception. Similar percentages of Media Professionals had the service for each length of time categorised in the survey, with most having it for either 1 -3 years or for more than 3 years. 11% of Professionals did not specify.
Country of Residence: Most of the Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals lived in The Levant 54% and 60% respectively while substantial amount lived in North Africa 30% (see Table 12)..
This figure indicated a good representative sample because it captured all point of views from a different age group, so this decreased the bias rate.
Table 13- Loading and item to total correlations values
Item description Factor Corrected Item- Total Correlation loading values
Aljazeera is a neutral media broadcaster (B1) .573 .653 Aljazeera is an independent media (B2) .651 .750 Aljazeera is state- controlled (B3) .632 .716 Aljazeera promotes democracy in the Arab world .714 .766 (B4) .530 .557 agent for political and social change (B5) .675 .776 instigate Arab peoples to overthrow their regimes (B6) .647 .742 interested in self- promotion (B7) 0.909 Cronbach alpha
Source: analysis of survey data
As is obvious (see Table 13), the internal reliability of the refined scale satisfied Nunnally and Bernstein’s (1994) requirement for reliability, where the reduced scale is still > 0.7 and all total items correlation is > 0.3.
After reducing the scale to 5 items, an item parcels method was conducted to represent the latent constructs. 4 parcels were formed in which 3
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parcels have 2 items and the last has 3 items. To develop these item parcels, the researcher ordered items on the basis of their lodgings on this factor and assigned items to parcels so as to equate the average loadings of each parcel of items on the factor (Russel et al, 1998). Specifically, for this example, the 7 items that represent the perception of Aljazeera viewers’ factor are ordered according to their factor loadings as per Table 14.
Table 14- Ranking items based on factor loadings
Rank Item Factor loadings
1 B5 0.530
2 B1 0.573
3 B3 0.632
4 B7 0.647
5 B5 0.651
6 B6 0.675
7 B4 0.714
Source: data analysis survey
These items were then allocated into 4 parcels as follow:
Overall evaluation to Aljazeera performance (OEAP) Parcel 1 (OEAP1) – B5, B4
Parcel 2 (OEAP 2) – B1, B6
Parcel 3 (OEAP 3) – B5
Parcel 4 (OEAP 4) – B3, B7.
Next, 4 new variables were created to represent these 4 parcels by computing the means of the variables in each parcel. For this overall evaluation to Aljazeera’s performance (OEAP) factor, the 4 new measurement variables are named OEAP 1, OEAP 2, OEAP 3, and OEAP 4. When this procedure is used, the resulting item parcels should reflect
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the underlying construct of overall evaluation of Aljazeera’s performance (OEAP) to an equal degree (Russel et al, 1998).
Integrity of Information: To establish the credibility and accuracy of information presented across Aljazeera programs integrity of information was found originally to be represented by six items. After conducting exploratory factor analysis, all items had a good load (>0.5) on the significant factor and they were highly reliable, as Table 15 shows. Therefore, no item has been deleted.
Table 15- Loading and item to total correlations values Integrity of information (IOI)
Item description Factor loading Corrected Item-Total values Correlation
CI (is objective and unbiased) .767 .785 C2 (is biased) .737 .773 C3 (promote a specific agenda) .603 .698 C4 (do not promote a specific agenda) .767 .800 C5 (information broadcast is incorrect and .529 .659 inaccurate) .705 .786 C6 (is correct and accurate) 0.908 Cronbach alpha
Source: analysis of survey data
Aljazeera Survey Report
Introduction
Aljazeera is a significant yet controversial phenomenon in satellite television and is watched by more than 50 million people around the world (Miles, 2005). Its influence is significant and is seen by many political and media commentators as a catalyst for democratization in the Arab world.
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The literature in the area has found that mass communication and democracy are strongly connected. After all, the public needs to be exposed to information to make informed political choices. In addition, politicians require the media in order to understand the general feelings of society as well as to present their political views to the public (O’Neil, 1998). Therefore the media can have quite a large influence on the way the public views their political system, by framing the information that is disseminated.
Media framing is the active construction, selection and restructuring of information to organize a particular reality in a meaningful manner. An example of this is if the media cover a protest and only show a small section of the demonstrators, this gives the public the impression that only a small amount of people are unhappy. This belies the true scale of discontent and the public would be less likely to see the issue as a concern.
Aljazeera prides itself on being a catalyst for democratization and like many Arabic satellite television networks, is influential with regards to political and social change (Darwish, 2005). It is ostensibly free from state control and therefore has an amount of freedom to expose viewers to discussions on topics that were previously thought to be taboo, such as opposition politics, sex and religion (Alterman, 2004). In general, Arab satellite television takes a Western approach to news reporting in terms of style, presentation and format. In fact some programs are conducted in English and/or French. This is in itself has been thought to have caused changes in “Arabic language patterns and cultural representation” (Darwish, 2005).
Previous research on the influence and nature of Aljazeera has been conducted based on analyses of the program content of the network. To date, no studies have directly assessed the actual impact and influence of Aljazeera on the Arab world. This study seeks to redress this oversight, and assess how the satellite television network is perceived by Arab viewers both in Arab countries and abroad (specifically in Australia), and
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what influence it has on their opinions. It also seeks to obtain this information from an industry perspective by gauging the views of Arab media professionals (not including those that work for Aljazeera).
Comparisons between Arab and Australian viewers will provide an insight into contextual effects on a national scale. Experiencing life in a democratic society may lead Australian Arabic viewers to view the freedoms of speech and expression afforded viewers in a different way. Comparisons between Arab viewers and media professionals will afford insight into how the public’s view of the network differs from the views of people in the profession that are contributing to the nature and content of Arab news and current affairs. This will also be the case for comparisons between Australian viewers and media professionals, only with the added variable of differences in political regimes.
Method
The Survey Groups
Three surveys were constructed with:
• Arab viewers in the Arab world (530 respondents from countries including Jordan, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman)
• Arab media professionals (110 respondents)
• Arab migrants living in Australia (100 respondents). (See Figure 27)
Survey Group 1, Arab Viewers, was aimed at gauging the opinions of Arab viewers in five Arab countries (Jordan, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman). Survey group 2, Australian Arab viewers, aimed to survey the views of Arabs living outside the Arab world and in a democratic and free country, Australia. Survey Group 3, media professionals was aimed at surveying the opinions of Arab media professionals working for Aljazeera or in Arab journalism in general. These groups are further discussed in the Discussion section.
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Figure 31-Survey Groups by number The three surveys had most of the same elements demographically with some exceptions. Australian viewers were not asked what their primary functional work area was because it was deemed irrelevant for the purpose of this research as migrant demography was not the focal point of the survey. The Australian viewers group was included in the survey to provide contrastive data only.
Arab viewers and media professionals were not asked about the sources through which they obtained their news and current affairs information because the focus of the survey was on Aljazeera as predominant news and current affairs source in the Arab region and the survey sought to be exclusively about Aljazeera since Aljazeera was the case study of the research.
The main body of the surveys were identical, and were divided into eight sections:
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• An overall evaluation of Aljazeera;
• Integrity of information;
• News coverage;
• Talk show programs;
• Editorial policy;
• Gender and human rights;
• Attitudes and perceptions;
• Live programs; and
• Open ended questions.
For a copy of the survey items see Appendix A, B and C. Originally the survey was constructed in English and then translated into Arabic. Both languages were included on the same forms.
Participants were obtained via convenience sampling in shopping centres and marketplaces. Respondents were informed of the nature and purpose of the survey and that their responses would be confidential. They were then asked to sign a consent form before they participated in this research, in accordance with the ethical standards of the Central Queensland University. The researcher collected all the data with the assistance of a female volunteer, who voluntarily collected data from female respondents. This was necessary due to cultural sensitivities, as in the Arab world it is considered inappropriate for a male to approach a female in public.
Issues encountered The aim was to obtain 600 to 800 completed surveys in Arab countries, however many factors made this target impossible. Firstly, the ease and time taken to collect the data was affected by the level of literacy of the respondents. Secondly, the Arab people are not used to being approached this way and were very reluctant to participate. In fact, the researcher was stopped on numerous occasions by police officers as people were
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gathering around out of curiosity and interest. Obtaining completed surveys from Media Professionals was also quite difficult as they were frequently disinterested, too busy or reluctant to participate. Aljazeera media professionals were also contacted via post and email and asked to complete the survey, however none responded.
As this research is the first of its kind, it was necessarily exploratory. The study aimed to get a greater understanding of:
1) Attitudes towards Aljazeera held by Arabs living in Australia, Arabs living in the Middle East and media professionals; and
2) Demographic factors which may influence attitudes towards Aljazeera.
The attitudes of interest concerned the role of Aljazeera in the Arab world. This included the impact on gender and human rights and the impact on democratisation. Attitudes were also sought around the objectivity or bias in Aljazeera television. In particular the news coverage was of particular interest, but information also of interest included talk shows and Aljazeera Live programs.
While Aljazeera has received both positive and negative comments from political and social commentators, the present study wanted to obtain the opinions of actual Arab viewers. These perceptions will likely influence the success of Aljazeera in communicating a message. Such perceptions will also likely influence the way Aljazeera is consumed by these viewers.
Analyses Overview
Statistical analyses were performed using the statistical package SPSS 15. A significance level of .05 was used for statistical tests.
The results involved reporting frequency counts and percentages for the demographic variables. T-tests and ANOVAs were used to compare group differences on attitude based measures with Tukey's post-hoc test to further explore significant group differences where there were more than two groups. Correlations were used to explore relationships between different continuous scales.
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Scale construction In order to get a general picture of people's attitudes to Aljazeera, composite scales as per Table 16 were created based on the items in the survey. Items that were worded in the negative (e.g., "Aljazeera is biased") were reversed prior to averaging the items in the scale. Some items within a set were not included in the composite scale because their content did not clearly relate to the overall scale concept.
Table 16- Scale testing against the questionnaires
Scale Scale Positive Items Reversed Excluded Code items
B1 Aljazeera as democratic force B4 B5 B6
B2 Aljazeera Independence B1 B2 B3 B7
C Integrity of Information C1 C4 C6 C2 C3 C5
D Objectivity in News Coverage D1 D4 D5 D7 D2 D3 D6 D8
E Objectivity in Talk Shows E1 E4 E6 E2 E3 E7 E5
F Objectivity in Editorial Policy F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7
G Positive role in Gender and Human G1 G2 G3 Rights
H Positive Attitudes towards Aljazeera H1 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H2
I Positive Attitudes towards Aljazeera Live I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 I6 I7 Programs I8 I9 I10
Scales Analysis The scales analysis examined the scale construction in order to determine the validity and reliability of the participants’ responses and whether misunderstanding of the questions affected the participants’ interpretations.
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Scale Construction
Overview In addition to the scales used to measure attitudes to Aljazeera, scales were constructed for hours of news consumption and percentage of time allocated to different networks.
Factor analyses and examination of correlation matrices indicated that hours of consumption and percentage of time allocation formed single scales.
A. Hours per News Consumption Medium In relation the medium of news consumption, the three items all correlated above .65. The first principal component accounted for 85.7% of the variance in the three items. Thus, a single scale was computed by averaging the individual scores. This indicates that some respondents engage with news more than others.
B. Percentage by News Source In relation to percentage of news from different sources, it also followed a single factor structure. The first principal component accounted for 79.8% of the variance in the 11 items. This pattern of responding would suggest that many respondents have interpreted the question as how much they actually consume the particular news network and not as a percentage relative to other news networks. Because of the unidimensionality of the measure, an overall scale was created by averaging the 11 items.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 205
The Respondents
Total Respondents: A total of 100 Australian viewers of Aljazeera (13%), 530 Arab viewers (72%) and 110 Media Professionals (15%) took part in this survey.
Gender: Overall, 48% of respondents were male and 52% female. The vast majority (66%) of the Australian viewers responding to the survey were male, whereas somewhat less than half of the Arab viewers (45%) and the media professionals (46%) were male.
Age: The majority of the Australian viewers of Aljazeera were in the 18- 24 age groups. There were very few below the age of 13 and 45 years and older. Of the Arab viewers, most were in the 25-34, 18-24 and 45-54 age groups. The media professionals age ranges were relatively evenly distributed between each age group from 25-64 years, with the majority being in the 35-44 years group (see Table 17).
Table 17- Percentage of Australian and Arabic viewers and Media Professionals responding in each age group
Age Group Australian Arab Media Viewers Viewers Professionals
14 years and under 6 % 0% 0%
14 – 17 years 15% 9% 0%
18 – 24 years 39% 23% 0%
25 – 34 years 14% 27% 25%
35 – 44 years 15% 11% 33%
45 –54 years 6% 20% 20%
55 – 64 years 1% 10% 22%
65 years and over 4% 0% 0%
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 206
The Figure 32 maps these percentages across viewer categories.
40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% Australian Viewers 10% 5% Arab Viewers 0% Media Professionals
Figure 32 - Percentage of Australian and Arabic viewers and Media Professionals responding in each age group
Citizenship: The majority of Arab viewers and media professionals were Arab Nationals, whereas the majority of Australian viewers were Qatari (see Table 18). Only small percentages of Australian and Arab viewers and media professionals were Third Country Nationals.
Table 18- Percentage of Australian and Arab Aljazeera viewers and Media Professionals that were Arab Nationals coming from different regions
Citizenship Australian Viewers Arab Viewers Media Professionals
Arab National 34% 66% 71%
Qatari 54% 20% 9%
Third Country 12% 14% 10% National
Other 0% <1% 0%
Not Specified 0% 0% 10%
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 207
Percentage of Australian and Arab Aljazeera viewers and Media Professionals that were Arab Nationals coming from different regions 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% Australian Viewers 20% 10% Arab Viewers 0% Media Professionals
Figure 33- Percentage of Australian and Arab Aljazeera viewers and Media Professionals that were Arab Nationals coming from different regions
Arab National Region: There may have been some confusion amongst respondents as many that did not specify their citizenship as Arab National, still specified an Arab National Region. Of the Arab Nationals, the largest percentage of Arab viewers and media professionals specified the Levant as their Arab National region, whereas 63% of Australian viewers came from this region (see Table 19). However, four per cent of Australian viewers did not specify a region.
Table 19-Percentage of Australian and Arab Aljazeera viewers and Media Professionals that were Arab Nationals coming from different regions
Arab National Region Australian Viewers Arab Media Viewers Professionals
The Levant 63% 57% 60%
North Africa 13% 24% 12%
The African Horn 17% 13% 8%
Arabian Peninsula 3% 5% 20%
Not Specified 4% 1% 0%
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 208
Occupation: Most Australian Viewers were employed part time (see Table 20) and most Arab viewers of Aljazeera were employed full time. Very few were retired volunteers or unemployed.
Table 20- Percentage of Australian and Arab viewers of Aljazeera responding in different occupations
Occupation Australian Viewers Arab Viewers
Student 15% 11%
Full Time Employment 11% 44%
Part Time Employment 42% 8%
Homemaker 13% 10%
Retired 12% 9%
Volunteer 7% 4%
Not Employed 0% 14%
. Figure 34 maps these percentages across viewers.
Percentage of Australian and Arab viewers of Aljazeera responding in different occupations
50% 40% 30% 20% 10% Australian Viewers 0% Arab Viewers
Figure 34 - Percentage or Australian and Arab viewers according to their occupations
Highest Education Level Completed: 51% of Australian viewers of Aljazeera had not completed High School and only 14% have undergone some college undergraduate education. The largest percentages of Arab viewers were college graduates or had completed some undergraduate education. Similar percentages of Arab and Australian viewers had post
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 209
graduate qualifications or some post graduate education. Of the media professionals, the majority had complete post graduate education, and large percentages were either college graduates or had completed some college undergraduate education. 10% of the media professionals declined to respond to this question (see Table 21).
Table 21. Percentage of Australian and Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals responding having completed or partially completed various education levels
Highest Education Level Australian Arab Viewers Media Completed Viewers Professionals
Less than High School 51% 14% 0%
High School Graduate 9% 15% 14%
Some College, Undergraduate 14% 21% 22%
College Graduate 8% 30% 23%
Some Post Graduate 9% 11% 0%
Post Graduate 9% 9% 32%
Other 0% <1% 0%
Not Specified 0% 0% 10%
The Figure 35 maps these percentages across viewers.
Percentage of Australian and Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals responding having completed or partially completed various education levels.
100% 80% 60% 40% 20% Media Professionals 0% Arab Viewers Australian Viewers
Figure 35 - percentages across viewers
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 210
Primary Functional Work Area: The majority of Arab viewers of Aljazeera were in management, business development, administrative, and advertising areas of work (see Table 22). The majority of media professionals were in consulting, management and business development areas. 10% of the latter group did not specify.
Table 22 - Percentage of Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals responding in
different primary functional work areas Work Area Arab Viewers Media Professionals
Administrative 15% 8%
Management 22% 17%
Advertising 15% 14%
Business Development 16% 17%
Creative, Design & Media 10% 6%
Consulting 1% 21%
Customer Service, Support <1% 4%
Education 12% 2%
Other 9% 0%
Not Specified 0% 10%
The Figure 36 maps these percentages across viewers.
Percentage of Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals responding in different primary functional work areas.
0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 Arab 0 Media
Figure 36-Percentage of Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals responding in
different primary functional work areas.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 211
Languages Spoken: As would be expected, all Arabic Aljazeera viewers spoke Arabic, as did the Australian viewers, whereas 67% of Media Professionals did. 11 of the latter did not indicate whether or not they spoke Arabic. 82% of the Australian viewers spoke English, as did 71% of Arabic viewers. None of the media professionals were asked this question. 7% of Australian and 12% of Arab viewers spoke French, and again media professionals did not have to answer this question.
Years of Service: The majority of Australian and Arab viewers of Aljazeera had accessed the service for more than 3 years (see Table 23). A substantial percentage of both groups had accessed the service for 1-3 years. A large percentage of Arab viewers also had accessed the service from its inception. Similar percentages of media professionals had accessed the service for each length of time categorised in the survey, with most having had it for either 1-3 years or for more than 3 years. 11% of media professionals did not specify.
Table 23-Percentage of Australian and Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals responding that had the service for different lengths of time
Years of Service Australian Viewers Arab Viewers Media Professionals
Less than one year 13% 9% 19%
1 -3 years 34% 26% 25%
More than 3 years 38% 36% 25%
From inception 13% 29% 20%
Not specified 2% 0% 11%
The Figure 37 maps these percentages across viewers.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 212
Percentage of Australian and Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals responding that had the service for different lengths of time
40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Less than 1 ‐3 years More than From Not one year 3 years inception specified
Australian Viewers Arab Viewers Media Professionals
Figure 37- Percentage of Australian and Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals responding that had the service for different lengths of time
Country of Residence: Most of the Arab viewers of Aljazeera lived in Jordan, and a substantial amount in Egypt (see Table 24). The majority of Media Professionals lived in Qatar, and similar substantial amounts in Jordan, Egypt, and UAE.
Table 24-Percentage of Arab viewers of Aljazeera and Media Professionals Country of Residence
Country Arab Viewers Media Professionals
Jordan 46% 18%
Egypt 33% 23%
UAE 11% 19%
Qatar 11% 30%
Not Specified 0% 10%
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 213
Australian Media Habits
Engagement with Television, Radio News and Newspapers: The majority of Australian respondents watched television for 2-6 hours a week (see Table 24). Most respondents spent considerably more time (in excess of 8 hours) reading the newspaper or listening to the radio news each week.
Table 25-Percentage of Australian respondents engaging with news via television, radio and newspaper for different lengths of time
Media Habits 0-2 2-4 4-6 6-8 Over 8 Hours Hours Hours Hours Hours
How many hours do you watch television each week? 15% 19% 43% 23% 0%
How many hours do you hear radio news each week? 0% 16% 26% 14% 44%
How many hours do you read a newspaper each week? 0% 11% 27% 18% 44%
The Figure 38 maps these percentages across viewers.
Figure 38-Percentage of Australian respondents engaging with news via television, radio and newspaper for different lengths of time
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 214
Source of News: Australian respondents got most of their news from newspapers or Aljazeera (see Table 25). SBS was also a popular source, and online sources of news were by far the least popular.
Table 26- Different amounts of viewing time – Australian viewers
Source 0% Up to Up to Up to 75% More than75% 25% 50%
Channel 9 6% 18% 44% 20% 12%
Channel 7 6% 26% 22% 36% 10%
Channel 10 10% 32% 26% 20% 12%
Channel 2 6% 18% 49% 17% 10%
SBS 4% 18% 20% 50% 8%
CNN 6% 56% 18% 13% 7%
Aljazeera 2% 16% 12% 28% 42%
AlArabia 6% 18% 54% 12% 10%
LBC 6% 45% 18% 17% 14%
Online ource 40% 28% 17% 15% 0%
Newspaper 2% 16% 8% 30% 44%
The Figure 39 maps these percentages across viewers.
Source of News
80% 70% 60% 50% 0% 40% 30% Up to 25% 20% 10% Up to 50% 0% 2 7 9
Up to 75% 10
SBS LBC CNN More than Source
AlArabia Aljazeera Channel Channel Channel Channel Newspaper Online
Figure 39- Different amounts of viewing time – Australian viewers
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 215
Reliability of the Survey
Some questions in the survey were included as both positively and negatively worded items. For example: “The programs broadcast by Aljazeera promote a specific agenda” and “The programs broadcast by Aljazeera do not promote a specific agenda”. The relationship between these positively and negatively worded items provides an indication of the consistency in people’s responses, and hence the reliability of the measurement of opinions. Correlations were performed between each set of negative and positive items, and results indicated that the survey’s were reliable (see Appendix D). However, it should be noted that many of the negative and positive pairs of items were presented one after the other. This would make it quite obvious to respondents that they are the same question from two different perspectives, and they may have simply reversed their scores for the second in the pair. However, the fact that the correlations were only moderately strong and not close to perfect relationships, suggests that respondents did not behave this way.
Analysis
Differences between Groups and Gender
Inferential statistical tests were performed to analyse the significance of any differences found between males and females as well as between the three groups: Arab viewers, Australian viewers, media professionals. Details of the results can be found in Appendix D. Only significant results will be reported for parsimony.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 216
Part B – General Perceptions
Aljazeera is a Neutral Media Broadcaster Arab viewers and Media Professionals tended to agree on average that Aljazeera is a neutral broadcaster, whereas Australian viewers were more neutral (see Table 26). The results of statistical analysis showed that Arab viewers agreed significantly, more so than Australian viewers.
Female respondents tended to agree with the statement, whereas males were more neutral although leaning towards agreement (see Table 28). Females agreed significantly more than males.
Aljazeera is an independent media
Arab viewers and media professionals tended to agree that Aljazeera is independent media, whereas Australian viewers were more neutral on average (see Table 26). The latter agreed significantly less than both Arab viewers and media professionals.
Female respondents tended to agree with this statement and males were again more neutral, leaning towards agreement (see Table 27). This was a significant difference.
Table 27 - Average level of agreement (and standard deviations in brackets) by Arab and Australian viewers and Media Professionals responding regarding different aspects of Aljazeera
Aljazeera… Arab Australian Media Sig. is a neutral media broadcaster 3.72 (1.09) 3.37 (1.03) 3.55 (1.12) * is an independent media 3.65 (1.03) 2.95 (1.02) 3.80 (1.01) * is state controlled 3.38 (1.08) 2.97 (1.16) 3.11 (1.48) * promotes democracy in the Arab world 4.07 (0.91) 3.42 (0.98) 3.37 (1.13) n.s. is an agent for political and social change in the Arab world 4.03 (1.22) 4.00 (1.13) 3.52 (1.11) n.s. seeks to instigate Arab peoples to overthrow their regimes 4.09 (0.99) 3.01 (1.15) 3.51 (1.20) n.s. is only interested in self-promotion 3.23 (1.15) 3.41 (1.01) 3.06 (0.94) *
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 217
Table 28-Average level of agreement by male and female respondents regarding different aspects of Aljazeera
Aljazeera… Males Females Sig.
is a neutral media broadcaster 3.47 (1.15) 3.81 (1.01) *
is an independent media 3.46 (1.07) 3.68 (1.04) *
is state controlled 3.25 (1.21) 3.33 (1.11) n.s.
promotes democracy in the Arab world 3.94 (0.93) 3.83 (1.05) *
is an agent for political and social change in the Arab world 3.94 (1.12) 3.97 (1.27) *
seeks to instigate Arab peoples to overthrow their regimes 3.89 (1.15) 3.84 (1.08) *
is only interested in self-promotion 3.24 (1.12) 3.23 (1.10) n.s.
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Aljazeera is state controlled All three groups had quite neutral opinions regarding Aljazeera being state controlled. There was a considerable lack of consensus amongst media professionals as evidenced by the large standard deviation. There was only a significant difference between Australian and Arab viewers, with Australians agreeing significantly less (see Table 27).
Male and female respondents were also both quite neutral towards this statement and no significant difference was found (see Table 28).
Aljazeera promotes democracy in the Arab world Arab viewers tended to agree that Aljazeera promotes democracy in the Arab world, and both Australian viewers and media professionals tended to be more neutral although leaning towards agreement on average (see Table 27). Statistics showed that Arab viewers agreed significantly more than both Australian viewers and media professionals.
There was no significant difference between the genders (see Table 28), as both tended to agree with the statement. Interestingly, the distribution of responses for male Arab viewers was skewed towards “strongly agree”, whereas female Arab viewers tended to have bipolar views as their distribution of responses was somewhat bimodal (see Figure 40).
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 218
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 40-Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera promoting democracy in the Arab world for Males and Females
Aljazeera is an agent for political and social change in the Arab world All three groups tended to agree that Aljazeera is an agent for political and social change (see Table 27). It was interesting to note that the distribution of responses to this question for Arab viewers was strongly skewed towards agreement (see Figure 41), and not evenly distributed as would be expected in a large sample of viewers. Media professionals were found to agree significantly less than both Arab and Australian viewers.
There was a substantial amount of variability in responses from female respondents as shown by the large standard deviation for their group. No differences between male and female responses were found (see Table 28) as both tended to agree with the statement.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 219
300
250
200
150 Frequency
100
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 Aljazeera is and Agent for Social & Political Change in the Arab World
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 41-Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera being an agent for social and political change in the Arab world
Aljazeera seeks to instigate Arab peoples to overthrow their regimes Arab viewers tended to agree that Aljazeera seeks to instigate Arab peoples to overthrow their regimes (see Table 27), whereas Australian viewers were neutral on average. Media professionals also tended to agree but were very close to neutrality. Arab views agreed significantly more than both Australian viewers and media professionals. The latter agreed significantly more than Australian viewers also.
There was no difference between the average agreement of males and females, as both tended to agree with the statement to similar levels (see Table 28).
Aljazeera is only interested in Self-Promotion All three groups tended to be neutral on average towards the statement that Aljazeera is only interested in self-promotion. There was only a significant difference between Australian viewers and media professionals with the latter agreeing significantly less (see Table 27).
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 220
Both genders tended to be neutral towards this statement also, and there was no significant difference between the two (see Table 28).
Part C - Integrity of Information
The information broadcast by Aljazeera is objective and unbiased There was no significant difference between the groups (see Table 29) and all three tended to agree that the information broadcast by Aljazeera is objective and unbiased.
Both genders also tended to agree, and there was no significant difference found (see Table 30).
The programs broadcast by Aljazeera promote a specific agenda Arab viewers and Media Professionals tended to agree on average that the programs broadcast by Aljazeera promote a specific agenda, whereas Australian viewers were neutral (see Table 28). Arab viewers displayed a small amount of variability in responses. All three groups differed significantly from one another. Australian viewers agreed significantly less than both Arab viewers and media professionals, and Arab viewers agreed significantly less than media professionals.
Male respondents were quite neutral towards this statement whereas females tended to agree (see Table 298). There was also quite a deal of consensus amongst females as evidenced by the small standard deviation. There was no significant difference between the two however.
Table 29-Average level of agreement by Arab and Australian viewers and Media Professionals responding regarding the integrity of information broadcast by Aljazeera
Arab Australian Media Sig.
The information broadcast by Aljazeera is 3.68 (1.17) 3.84 (0.95) 3.97 (1.17) n.s. objective and unbiased
The programs broadcast by Aljazeera 3.52 (0.79) 3.02 (1.12) 3.86 (0.94) * promote a specific agenda
The information broadcast by Aljazeera is 3.77 (1.41) 3.84 (0.95) 2.82 (1.16) * correct and accurate
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 221
Table 30-Average level of agreement by male and female respondents regarding the integrity of information broadcast by Aljazeera
Males Females Sig.
The information broadcast by Aljazeera is objective and 3.77 (1.19) 3.71 (1.10) n.s. unbiased
The programs broadcast by Aljazeera promote a specific 3.41 (0.95) 3.58 (0.82) n.s. agenda
The information broadcast by Aljazeera is correct and 3.71 (1.32) 3.59 (1.40) n.s. accurate
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
The information broadcast by Aljazeera is correct and accurate Arab and Australian viewers tended to agree that the information broadcast by Aljazeera was correct and accurate, whereas media professionals were more neutral and leaning towards disagreement (see Table 29). There was a large amount of variability in Arab viewers’ responses indicating a distinct lack of consensus within this group. Interestingly, the distribution of responses for Arab viewers was somewhat bimodal indicating there were strong views for and against the correct and accurate nature of information broadcast (see Figure 42) The statistical tests found that media professionals agreed significantly less than both Arab and Australian viewers.
Male and female opinions did not differ significantly as both tended to agree with the statement at similar levels (see Table 30). There was also a considerable amount of variability within male and female responses for this item as evidenced by the large standard deviations.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 222
300
250
200
150 Frequency
100
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 The information broadcast by Aljazeera is correct and accurate
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 42-Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding the information broadcast by Aljazeera being correct and accurate.
Part D – News Coverage
News coverage is balanced and fair All three groups tended to agree that Aljazeera’s news coverage was balanced and fair and there was no significant difference between them (see Table 31). There was a large amount of skew in the responses towards the agreement end of the scale for Arab viewers (see Figure 39).
There were no significant differences between genders, with both tending to agree with the statement (see Table 32). There was a fair amount of variation within female responses indicating a lack of consensus.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 223
300
250
200
150 Frequency
100
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 News coverage is balanced and fair
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree
Figure 43 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding the news coverage by Aljazeera
being balanced and fair.
Table 31-Average level of agreement by Arab and Australian viewers and Media Professionals responding regarding Aljazeera’s news coverage.
News coverage… Arab Australian Media Sig.
is balanced and fair 3.76 (1.19) 3.71 (1.01) 3.98 (1.18) n.s.
is biased 2.13 (1.27) 2.86 (1.19) 3.96 (1.17) *
promotes democracy 3.97 (0.85) 3.37 (1.07) 3.65 (0.91) *
of Arab-Israeli conflict is balanced and 4.12 (0.95) 3.98 (1.16) 2.77 (0.98) * unbiased
of Iraq is balanced and unbiased 4.04 (1.15) 3.40 (1.05) 3.93 (1.10) *
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 224
Table 32 - Average level of agreement by male and female respondents regarding Aljazeera’s news coverage
News coverage… Males Females Sig.
is balanced and fair 3.71 (1.09) 3.86 (1.24) n.s.
is biased 2.54 (1.38) 2.42 (1.42) n.s.
promotes democracy 3.84 (0.82) 3.84 (1.00) n.s.
of Arab-Israeli conflict is balanced and unbiased 3.93 (1.08) 3.91 (1.10) n.s.
of Iraq is balanced and unbiased 3.96 (1.01) 3.92 (1.27) n.s.
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
News coverage is biased Media Professionals tended to agree that Aljazeera’s news coverage was biased whereas Arab viewers tended to disagree and Australian viewers were more neutral in their opinion (see Table 31). Interestingly, there was a substantial amount of variability found in Arab viewers’ responses, and their views were somewhat skewed towards agreement rather than being evenly distributed as would be expected in a large sample of viewers (see Figure 44). Media professionals agreed significantly more than Arab and Australian viewers, and Australian viewers agreed significantly more than Arab viewers.
There was no difference between the genders, which both tended to disagree (see Table 32). A considerable lack of consensus was found amongst both males and females as can be seen in their large standard deviations.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 225
300
250
200
150 Frequency
100
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 News coverage is biased
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 44 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding the news coverage by Aljazeera
being biased.
News coverage promotes democracy Arab viewers and media professionals tended to agree that Aljazeera’s news coverage promotes democracy whereas Australians were more neutral (see Table 31). Arab viewers agreed significantly more than both Australian viewers and media professionals.
There were no differences between the genders (see Table 32), who both tended to agree with the statement. There was a considerable amount of consensus amongst male respondents for this item which was noteworthy.
News coverage of Arab-Israeli conflict is balanced and unbiased Arab and Australian viewers tended to agree that Aljazeera’s news coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict is balanced and unbiased, whereas media professionals disagree (see Table 31). Media professionals disagreed significantly less than both Arab and Australian viewers.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 226
There was also no difference between male and female respondents who both tended to agree (see Table 32).
News coverage of Iraq is balanced and unbiased Arab viewers and Media professionals tended to agree that Aljazeera’s news coverage of Iraq is balanced and unbiased, whereas Australian viewers disagreed on average (see Table 31). The distribution of responses for Arab viewers was skewed towards disagreement, rather than being symmetrical as expected (see Figure 45). Australian viewers were found to agree significantly less than the other two groups.
Both genders tended to agree with the statement, and no significant difference was found (see Table 32).There was a considerable amount of variation in responses for female respondents indicating a lack of consensus.
300
250
200
150 Frequency
100
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 News coverage of Iraq is balanced and unbiased
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 45-Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding the news coverage of Iraq by
Aljazeera being balanced and unbiased.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 227
Part E – Talk Show Programs
Talk shows promote democracy Arab viewers tended to agree that Aljazeera talk shows promote democracy, whereas Australian viewers and media professionals had neutral opinions (see Table 32). Arab viewers agreed significantly more than both Australian viewers and media professionals.
Males and females tended to agree with the statement. There was no significant difference between the genders (see Table 33).
Talk show promote foreign interests All three groups tended to have neutral opinions regarding Aljazeera talk shows promoting foreign interests (see Table 32). Arab and Australian viewers tended towards disagreement on average. Media professionals tended to agree significantly more than Arab viewers.
There was no difference between the genders with both having neutral opinions, but leaning towards disagreement (see Table 33).
Talk shows follow a specific agenda Arab and Australian viewers tended to agree that Aljazeera talk shows follow a specific agenda, whereas media professionals were more neutral in their opinions (see Table 32). Media professionals agreed significantly less than both Arab and Australian viewers.
Both male and female respondents tended to agree with the statement, and there was no significant difference between the two on average (see Table 33). There was somewhat more consensus within female responses which could be seen in their small standard deviation.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 228
Table 33-Average level of agreement by Arab and Australian viewers and media professionals responding regarding Aljazeera’s talk show programs.
Talk shows… Arab Australian Media Sig.
promote democracy 3.73 (1.19) 3.38 (1.06) 3.15 (1.13) *
promote foreign interests 2.61 (1.09) 2.86 (1.19) 3.00 (1.17) *
follow a specific agenda 3.78 (0.83) 3.98 (1.16) 3.08 (1.02) *
agenda aims to promote democracy 3.92 (1.10) 3.52 (1.00) 3.41 (1.00) *
aim to galvanize public opinion 4.63 (0.55) 3.98 (1.16) 2.59 (1.03) *
are balanced and unbiased 3.57 (1.22) 3.64 (0.92) 3.90 (1.17) *
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Table 34-Average level of agreement by male and female respondents regarding Aljazeera’s talk show programs.
Talk shows… Males Females Sig.
promote democracy 3.51 (1.23) 3.70 (1.13) n.s.
promote foreign interests 2.78 (1.20) 2.62 (1.04) n.s.
follow a specific agenda 3.66 (0.86) 3.77 (1.02) n.s.
agenda aims to promote democracy 3.68 (1.08) 3.90 (1.09) *
aim to galvanize public opinion 4.26 (1.05) 4.27 (0.98) n.s.
are balanced and unbiased 3.66 (1.26) 3.59 (1.10) n.s.
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Talk shows agendas aim to promote democracy Arab viewers tended to agree that Aljazeera talk shows’ agendas aim to promote democracy, whereas Australian viewers and media professionals were somewhat more neutral (see Table 33). The distribution of responses for Arab viewers was quite skewed towards the agreement end of the scale, and not symmetrical as would be expected (see Figure 46). In addition, they were found to agree significantly more than both Australian viewers and media professionals.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 229
Female viewers agreed significantly more than males with the statement, but both tended to agree on average (see Table 34).
Figure 46-Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s talk shows’ agenda
aiming to promote democracy.
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Talk shows aim to galvanize public opinion
Arab viewers tended to strongly agree that Aljazeera talk shows aim to galvanize public opinion, Australian viewers tended to agree less strongly and media professionals tended to disagree somewhat (see Table 33). Arab viewers were very much in agreement with this statement as there was only a small amount of variability in responses as evidenced by the extremely small standard deviation. In addition, the distribution of responses was heavily skewed towards the agreement end of the scale (see Figure 47). Arab viewers were found to agree significantly more than both Australian viewers and media professionals, and Australian viewers agreed significantly more than media professionals.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 230
There was no significant difference between the genders with both tending to agree with the statement (see Table 34).
400
350
300
250
200 Frequency
150
100
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 Talk shows aim to galvanize public opinion
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 47 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s talk shows’ aiming
to galvanise public opinion
Talk shows are balanced and unbiased
All three groups tended to agree that Aljazeera’s talk shows were balanced and unbiased on average (see Table 33), and there was a substantial amount of variability in responses from Arab viewers. Media professionals agreed significantly more than Arab viewers.
Both genders tended to agree with the statement, and males displayed little consensus (see Table 34). There were no significant differences between the two.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 231
Part F – Editorial Policy
Aljazeera is committed to objective coverage
All three groups tended to agree that Aljazeera is committed to independent coverage and there were no significant differences found (see Table 34).
Both genders also tended to agree also and not at significantly different levels (see Table 35).
Aljazeera is committed to independent coverage
Arab and Australian viewers tended to agree that Aljazeera was committed to independent coverage whereas media professionals disagreed (see Table 34). The latter agreed significantly less than both Arab and Australian viewers and Australian viewers agreed significantly more than Arab viewers.
There were no differences between the genders, with both tending to agree (see Table 35).
Aljazeera is committed to portraying different opinions and presenting the viewers with a full and real picture
All three groups tended to agree that Aljazeera is committed to portraying different opinions and presenting the viewers with a full and real picture (see Table 34). There were no significant differences to be found among these groups. Both genders tended to agree with this statement also, with no significant difference between the average opinions (see Table 35).
In hindsight, this was a double-barrelled statement making it difficult to draw conclusions from the average responses since it asked about Aljazeera’s commitment to portraying different viewpoints regardless of the respondents’ opinions about how differently viewpoints should actually be portrayed. Respondents may have had different opinions about the way various viewpoints should be portrayed from opinions about
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 232
Aljazeera’s presentation of the full and real picture. Yet in the questionnaire, in regards to the above statement, the respondents were given only one scale with which to voice these opinions.
Table 35 Average level of agreement by Arab and Australian viewers and Media Professionals responding regarding Aljazeera’s editorial policy
Aljazeera is committed to… Arab Australian Media Sig.
objective coverage 3.83 (1.07) 3.64 (0.92) 3.96 (1.18)
independent coverage 3.64 (0.93) 3.98 (1.16) 2.10 (1.12) sig.
portraying different opinions and presenting the 3.92 (1.03) 3.64 (0.92) 3.84 (0.94) viewers with a full and real picture
presenting a moderate view of Islam 3.94 (0.80) 3.02 (1.13) 3.66 (1.04) sig.
a biased, anti-American reporting 2.88 (1.36) 2.08 (1.10) 2.07 (1.09) sig.
pro-Western democratization 4.24 (0.86) 3.64 (0.92) 2.84 (1.18) sig.
Aljazeera is too critical of other Arab regimes 4.42 (0.83) 3.98 (1.16) 3.40 (1.07) sig.
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Table 36 - Average level of agreement by male and female respondents regarding Aljazeera’s editorial policy
Aljazeera is committed to… Males Females Sig.
objective coverage 3.83 (0.98) 3.80 (1.15)
independent coverage 3.43 (1.15) 3.53 (1.12)
portraying different opinions and presenting the 3.79 (1.00) 3.95 (1.01) viewers with a full and real picture
presenting a moderate view of Islam 3.75 (1.00) 3.80 (0.88)
a biased, anti-American reporting 2.69 (1.33) 2.63 (1.35)
pro-Western democratization 3.85 (1.06) 4.09 (1.00) sig.
Aljazeera is too critical of other Arab regimes 4.24 (0.96) 4.21 (1.01)
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 233
Aljazeera is committed to presenting a moderate view of Islam
Arab viewers and media professionals tended to agree that Aljazeera is committed to presenting a moderate view of Islam, whereas Australian viewers were undecided (see Table 35). There was also a considerable amount of consensus amongst the Arab viewers as evidenced by the small standard deviation. Arab viewers agreed significantly more than both Australian viewers and media professionals, and the latter agreed significantly more than Australian viewers.
There were no significant differences between the genders. Both tended to agree with the statement (see Table 35).
Aljazeera is committed to biased, anti-American reporting
Australian viewers and media professionals disagreed on average that Aljazeera is committed to biased, anti-American reporting, whereas Arab viewers were somewhat neutral (see Table 34). There was also a considerable amount of variability among Arab viewers’ responses indicating a lack of consensus. These viewers agreed significantly more than both Australian viewers and media professionals.
There was no significant difference between males and females who were relatively neutral but tending towards disagreement (see Table 35). There was also a large amount of variability amongst responses for both genders.
Interestingly, Arab viewers who were female had quite bipolar views on this matter, with two distinct groups emerging (see Figure 48).
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 234
140
120
100
80 Frequency 60
40
20
0 1 2 3 4 5 Aljazeera is committed to biased, anti-American reporting
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 48 - Distribution of responses for Arab female viewers regarding Aljazeera’s committal to
biased, anti-American reporting.
Aljazeera is committed to pro-Western democratization
Arab and Australian viewers tended to agree that Aljazeera is committed to pro-Western democratization, whereas media professionals tended to be neutral on average (see Table 34). Arab viewers’ responses were found to agree significantly more than both Australian viewers and media professionals. In addition Australian viewers agreed significantly more than media professionals. Males and females also tended to agree with the statement, with males agreeing significantly less than females (see Table 35).
Aljazeera is too critical of other Arab regimes
Both Arab and Australian viewers tended to agree that Aljazeera is too critical of other Arab regimes, and media professionals were more neutral on average (see Table 34). There was a fair amount of consensus amongst Arab viewers on this point and their responses were very strongly biased towards the agreement end of the scale (see Figure 45). Arab viewers
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 235
agreed significantly more strongly than both Australian viewers and media professionals, and Australian viewers agreed significantly more than media professionals.
There was no difference between the genders, with both tending to agree (see Table 35).
300
250
200
150 Frequency
100
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 Aljazeera is too critical of other Arab regimes
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 49 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding
Aljazeera’s criticism of other Arab regimes.
Part G – Gender and Human Rights
Aljazeera promotes equality of the sexes
All three groups tended to agree that Aljazeera promotes equality of the sexes (see Table 36). Australian viewers agreed significantly less than both Arab viewers and media professionals.
Male and female respondents also tended to agree with this statement (see Table 37). Interestingly, females agreed significantly more than males.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 236
Aljazeera seeks to change traditional views about women in the Arab world
Arab and Australian viewers tended to agree that Aljazeera seeks to change traditional views about women in the Arab world, whereas media professionals were more neutral on average towards disagreement (see Table 37). There was also a distinct lack of consensus amongst Arab viewers, and their responses tended to be skewed towards the agreement end of the scale instead of being evenly distributed as would be expected in a large sample of viewers (see Figure 50). Media professionals were found to agree significantly less with this statement than both Australian and Arab viewers on average.
Female respondents tended to agree with the statement also, whereas males were more neutral (see Table 38).There was a large amount of variability in responses for both genders, and a significant difference between the two was found.
300
250
200
150 Frequency
100
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 Aljazeera seeks to change traditional views about women in the Arab world
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 50 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s
mission to change traditional views about women in the Arab world.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 237
Table 37- Average level of agreement (and standard deviations in brackets) by Arab and Australian viewers and Media Professionals responding regarding Aljazeera’s gender and human rights actions.
Aljazeera… Arab Australian Media Sig.
promotes equality of sexes 4.12 (1.00) 3.64 (0.92) 4.02 (1.14) sig.
seeks to change traditional views about women 3.72 (1.38) 3.64 (0.92) 2.78 (1.04) sig. in the Arab world
Women’s programs promote issues irrelevant 2.18 (1.30) 2.08 (1.10) 3.74 (1.21) sig. to Arab women and Arab societies
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Table 38- Average level of agreement (and standard deviations in brackets) by male and female respondents regarding Aljazeera’s gender and human rights action
Aljazeera… Males Females Sig.
promotes equality of sexes 3.90 (1.00) 4.17 (1.02) sig.
seeks to change traditional views about women in the Arab 3.44 (1.33) 3.72 (1.31) sig. world
Women’s programs promote issues irrelevant to Arab 2.57 (1.44) 2.19 (1.27) sig. women and Arab societies
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree
Aljazeera Women's programs promote issues irrelevant to Arab women and Arab societies
Both Arab and Australian viewers tended to disagree that Aljazeera’s women’s programs promote issues irrelevant to Arab women and Arab societies, whereas media professionals tended to agree (see Table 36). It was also found that the responses of Arab viewers were heavily skewed towards disagreement for this item (see Figure 51), and there was a considerable amount of variation in responses for Arab viewers. The latter tended to agree significantly more than both Arab and Australian viewers with the statement.
Both genders tended to disagree, males significantly less than females (see Table 37). Again there was a large amount of variability in responses for both males and females.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 238
Interpretation of these results should be approached with caution however as this was somewhat a double-barrelled statement since the concept of promotion is subject to personal interpretation and is not quantifiable. Respondents may have had very different opinions about the promotion of issues irrelevant to Arab women from the views they hold about issues irrelevant to Arab societies as a whole.
300
250
200
150 Frequency
100
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 Aljazeera Women's programs promote issues irrelevant to Arab women and Arab societies
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 51 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s promotion of issues
irrelevant to Arab women and Arab societies
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 239
Part H – Attitudes and Perceptions
Please Note: The means and standard deviations for Australian viewers for seven survey items were identical. This did not come about because Australian viewers responded to all seven statements in exactly the same way. It is all the same an interesting phenomenon resulting from the small size of this group of respondents. Other cultural factors may have influenced their responses.
Aljazeera represents my aspirations
Australian viewers and media professionals tended to agree that Aljazeera represents their aspirations, whereas Arab viewers tended to be undecided leaning towards disagreement on average (see Table 38). Arab viewers disagreed significantly more than both Australian viewers and media professionals.
Male and female respondents tended to be undecided regarding this item, and there was no significant difference between their views (see Table 39). There was a substantial amount of variability amongst responses for males.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 240
Table 39- Average level of agreement (and standard deviations in brackets) by Arab and Australian viewers and Media Professionals responding regarding attitudes towards and perceptions of Aljazeera.
Aljazeera… Arab Australian Media Sig .
represents my aspirations 2.62 (1.18) 3.64 (0.92) 3.92 (1.07) sig.
has changed my views about Israel 2.47 (1.03) 3.98 (1.16) 3.20 (1.04) sig.
has made me more aware of my rights as a 3.82 (1.15) 3.98 (1.16) 3.23 (1.08) sig. citizen
is fair and unbiased 3.82 (1.03) 3.98 (1.16) 2.92 (1.20) sig.
is independent 3.39 (1.05) 3.98 (1.16) 3.06 (1.03) sig.
is sympathetic towards the Arabs 4.16 (0.90) 3.98 (1.16) 3.42 (1.03) sig.
uses double standards in covering the news 4.61 (0.60) 3.98 (1.16) 2.63 (1.06) sig. from different parts of the Arab world
is biased towards Arabs 3.18 (1.22) 3.98 (1.16) 3.86 (1.18) sig.
Aljazeera’s staff are not professional 1.65 (0.89) 1.94 (1.03) 3.01 (1.00) sig.
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Table 40- Average level of agreement (and standard deviations in brackets) by male and female respondents regarding attitudes towards and perceptions of Aljazeera.
Aljazeera… Males Females Sig.
represent my aspirations 2.93 (1.27) 2.95 (1.23)
has changed my views about Israel 2.63 (1.27) 2.91 (1.07) sig.
has made me more aware of my rights as a citizen 3.62 (1.10) 3.90 (1.20) sig.
is fair and unbiased 3.77 (1.05) 3.67 (1.18)
is independent 3.44 (1.22) 3.42 (0.95)
is sympathetic towards the Arabs 3.94 (1.05) 4.12 (0.92) sig.
uses double standards in covering the news from 4.21 (1.01) 4.30 (1.04) different parts of the Arab world
is biased towards Arabs 3.35 (1.27) 3.41 (1.24)
Aljazeera’s staff are not professional 1.96 (1.00) 1.79 (1.07) sig.
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 241
Aljazeera has changed my views about Israel
Australian viewers tended to agree that Aljazeera has changed their views about Israel, whereas media professionals are more undecided and Arab viewers disagree on average (see Table 38). Australian viewers agree significantly more than both Arab viewers and media professionals, and the latter agree significantly more than Arab viewers.
Males and females both tended to be undecided regarding this item, leaning towards disagreement (see Table 39). Males displayed a substantial amount of variability in their responses indicating a lack of consensus. Female respondents were found to agree significantly more than male with the statement.
Interestingly, Arab male viewers’ responses were quite skewed towards disagreement (see Figure 52), whereas Arab female responses were more symmetrically distributed. Australian responses were skewed towards agreement as a whole (see Figure 53). This might find explanation in the fact that Arab males are more politically indoctrinated towards the Arab- Israeli conflict while Arab females are more focused on gender issues.
100
80
60 Frequency 40
20
0 1 2 3 4 5 Aljazeera has changed my views about Israel
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 52 - Distribution of responses for male Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s effect on their
views about Israel.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 242
100
80
60 Frequency 40
20
0 1 2 3 4 5 Aljazerra has changed my views about Israel
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 53 - Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding Aljazeera’s effect on their
views about Israel. Aljazeera has made me more aware of my rights as a citizen
Arab and Australian viewers tended to agree that Aljazeera has made them more aware of their rights as a citizen, whereas media professionals were undecided on average (see Table 38). The distribution of responses for Australian viewers was somewhat skewed towards the agreement end of the scale (see Figure 52), whereas responses for Arab viewers tended to be somewhat bipolar (see Figure 53). Media professionals were found to agree significantly less than both Australian and Arab viewers.
Males and females were generally tending towards agreement with this statement, and males agreed significantly less than females (see Table 39).
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 243
100
80
60 Frequency 40
20
0 1 2 3 4 5 Aljazeera has made me more aware of my rights as a citizen
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 54 - Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding Aljazeera’s effect on their
awareness of their rights as a citizen.
200
180
160
140
120
100 Frequency 80
60
40
20
0 1 2 3 4 5 Aljazeera has made me more aware of my rights as a citizen
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 55 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s effect on their
awareness of their rights as a citizen.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 244
Aljazeera is fair and unbiased
Arab and Australian viewers tended to agree that Aljazeera as a whole is fair and unbiased, whereas media professionals were undecided on average (see Table 38). Media professionals agreed significantly less than both Arab and Australian viewers.
Both genders tended to agree with this statement also, and there was no significant difference between the two views (see Table 39).
Aljazeera is independent
Australian viewers tended to agree that Aljazeera is independent, whereas Arab viewers and media professionals were undecided on average (see Table 38). Australian viewers agreed significantly more than both Arab viewers and media professionals, and the latter agreed significantly less than Arab viewers.
Both genders tended to be undecided leaning towards agreement, and there was no significantly difference between the two views (see Table 39).
Aljazeera is sympathetic towards Arabs
Arab and Australian viewers tended to agree on average that Aljazeera was sympathetic towards Arabs, whereas media professionals were undecided leaning towards agreement (see Table 38). Arab viewers’ responses were considerably skewed towards agreement (see Figure 56). Media professionals agreed significantly less on average than both Arab and Australian viewers.
Both male and female respondents tended to agree with this statement, females significantly more than males (see Table 39).
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 245
300
250
200
150 Frequency
100
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 Aljazeera is sympathetic towards Arabs
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 56 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s sympathy towards
Arabs.
Aljazeera uses double standards in covering news from different parts of the Arab world
Arab and Australian viewers both tended to agree that Aljazeera uses double standards in covering news from different parts of the Arab world, whereas media professionals were undecided, leaning towards disagreement on average (see Table 38). The distribution of responses for media professionals was somewhat skewed towards the disagreement end of the scale (see Figure 57), whereas the reverse was the case for Arab viewers (see Figure 58). There was a considerable amount of consensus amongst Arab viewers on this point as evidenced by the very small standard deviation. In fact, no Arab viewer disagreed with this statement. Arab viewers were found to agree significantly more than both Australian viewers and media professionals, and Australian viewers agreed significantly more than media professionals.
Both genders tended to agree with the statement and there was no significant difference found (see Table 39).
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 246
100
80
60 Frequency 40
20
0 1 2 3 4 5 Aljazeera uses double standards in covering news from different parts of the Arab world
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 57 - Distribution of responses for media professionals regarding Aljazeera’s use of double
standards in covering the news.
400
350
300
250
200 Frequency
150
100
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 Aljazeera uses double standards in covering news from different parts of the Arab world
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 58 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera’s use of double
standards in covering the news.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 247
Aljazeera is biased towards Arabs
Both Australian viewers and media professionals agreed that Aljazeera is biased towards Arabs, whereas Arab viewers are more undecided (see Table 38). Australian viewers’ responses tended to be skewed towards agreement (see Figure 59).There was a fair amount of variability in Arab viewers indicating some lack of consensus. Australian viewers were found to agree significantly more than both Arab viewers and media professionals, and media professionals agreed significantly more than Arab viewers also.
Both genders were undecided on average, and there was no significant difference between their views (see Table 39). There was a substantial amount of variability in responses within both groups.
100
80
60 Frequency 40
20
0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Aljazeera is biased towards Arabs
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 59 - Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding Aljazeera’s perceived bias
towards Arabs. Aljazeera’s staff are not professional
Both Australian and Arab viewers disagreed that Aljazeera’s staff are not professional, whereas media professionals were undecided on average (see Table 38). Responses for Australian viewers were considerably
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 248
skewed towards disagreement (see Figure 60), as were those for Arab viewers (see Figure 61). Media professionals agreed significantly more than both Australian and Arab viewers, and Arab viewers agreed significantly less than Australian viewers.
Males and females both tended to disagree with the statement, with females disagreeing significantly more than male respondents (see Table 39).
100
80
60 Frequency 40
20
0 1 2 3 4 5 Aljazeera's staff are unprofessional
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 60 - Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding the professionalism of
Aljazeera’s staff.
300
250
200
150 Frequency
100
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 Aljazeera's staff are not professional
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 61 - Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding the professionalism of
Aljazeera’s staff.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 249
Part I – Aljazeera Live Programmes
“Opposite Direction” allow viewers to participate freely in their polls
Australian viewers and media professionals tended to be neutral leaning towards disagreement when it came to “Opposite Direction” allowing viewers to participate freely in their polls (see Table 40). Responses for Arab viewers were somewhat skewed towards the agreement end of the scale (see Figure 62). Arab viewers agreed on average, and significantly more than both Australian viewers and media professionals.
Male respondents tended to be neutral whereas females more in agreement with this statement, however there was no significant difference between their views (see Table 41).
There was quite a large amount of variation in responses for both genders and also for all three groups indicating fewer instances of consensus amongst the divisions than for most items on the questionnaire.
300
250
200
150 Frequency
100
50
0 1 2 3 4 5 “Opposite Direction” allows viewers to participate freely in their polls
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 62 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding the “Opposite Direction”
allowing viewers to participate freely in their polls.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 250
Table 41-Average level of agreement by Arab and Australian viewers and Media Professionals, responding regarding attitudes towards Aljazeera’s live programs.
Arab Australian Media Sig.
“Opposite Direction” allows viewers to 3.75 (1.18) 2.86 (1.19) 2.83 (1.17) * participate freely in their polls
The level of freedom expressed in “Aljazeera 3.19 (1.21) 1.96 (1.02) 2.11 (1.08) * Stand” encourages viewers to publish their own opinions as articles and books
Aljazeera live programmes direct viewers’ 4.02 (0.56) 2.86 (1.19) 3.74 (1.06) * attention towards viewing documentaries
No doubt that the “Open Dialogue” promotes 3.73 (1.31) 1.96 (1.02) 3.76 (1.00) * freedom of speech and expression
There is a large space of free criticism of 4.17 (1.05) 1.98 (1.04) 3.22 (1.10) * cultural taboos and religion in the “Opposite Direction”
“More than One Opinion” allows viewers to 3.58 (1.18) 2.86 (1.19) 4.12 (0.87) * participate freely in their polls
Opinions expressed in “Opposite Direction” 2.75 (1.21) 3.02 (1.13) 4.04 (1.21) * and “More than One Opinion” make it easier to publish them in form of publications such as: novels and poetry
The “Religion and Life” programme promotes 3.69 (0.86) 2.86 (1.19) 4.18 (0.88) * broadcasting and viewing documentaries
All levels of Arab society are encouraged to 3.38 (1.13) 2.86 (1.19) 3.16 (1.16) * express their opinions freely and openly directly to Aljazeera live programmes
It is possible to discuss religion openly on the 3.74 (1.23) 1.98 (1.04) 3.74 (1.09) * “Religion and Life” programme
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon: A Catalyst of Democratisation and Socio-political Change 251
Table 42-Average level of agreement by male and female respondents regarding, attitudes towards Aljazeera’s live programs.
Males Females Sig.
“Opposite Direction” allows viewers to participate freely in 3.38 (1.27) 3.61 (1.22) n.s. their polls
The level of freedom expressed in “Aljazeera Stand” 2.68 (1.27) 3.06 (1.26) * encourages viewers to publish their own opinions as articles and books
Aljazeera live programmes direct viewers’ attention 3.74 (0.92) 3.89 (0.77) n.s towards viewing documentaries
No doubt that the “Open Dialogue” promotes freedom of 3.29 (1.32) 3.68 (1.41) * speech and expression
There is a large space of free criticism of cultural taboos 3.63 (1.31) 3.84 (1.29) n.s. and religion in the “Opposite Direction”
“More than One Opinion” allows viewers to participate 3.42 (1.27) 3.68 (1.09) * freely in their polls
Opinions expressed in “Opposite Direction” and “More 2.85 (1.32) 3.06 (1.23) * than One Opinion” make it easier to publish them in form of publications such as: novels and poetry
The “Religion and Life” programme promotes broadcasting 3.68 (1.00) 3.61 (0.97) n.s. and viewing documentaries
All levels of Arab society are encouraged to express their 3.22 (1.15) 3.33 (1.16) n.s. opinions freely and openly directly to Aljazeera live programmes
It is possible to discuss religion openly on the “Religion 3.26 (1.28) 3.73 (1.34) * and Life” programme
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
The level of freedom expressed in "Aljazeera's Stand" encourages viewers to publish their own opinions as articles and books Australian viewers and media professionals tended to disagree that the freedom expressed in "Aljazeera's Stand" encourages viewers to publish their own opinions as articles and books (see Table 40). Arab viewers were more undecided, but leaned towards agreement on average. There were bipolar views regarding this item for Arab viewers (see Figure 63), whereas responses for both Australian (see Figure 64) and media professionals (see Figure 65) were skewed towards disagreement. Arab viewers were found to agree significantly more than both Australian viewers and media professionals.
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Male and female viewers also tended to agree with this statement, females significantly more so than males (see Table 41). There was also a large amount of variability in the responses for both genders indicating a lack of consensus amongst respondents for this item.
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Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 63 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding the level of freedom expressed in "Aljazeera's Stand" encouraging viewers to publish their own opinions as articles and books
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Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 64 - Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding the level of freedom expressed in "Aljazeera's Stand" encouraging viewers to publish their own opinions as articles
and books
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Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 65 - Distribution of responses for Media Professionals regarding the level of freedom expressed in "Aljazeera's Stand" encouraging viewers to publish their own opinions as articles
and books.
Aljazeera live programmes direct viewers’ attention towards viewing documentaries Media professionals and Arab viewers tended to agree on average that Aljazeera live programmes direct viewers’ attention towards viewing documentaries, whereas Australian viewers were undecided but leaning towards disagreement (see Table 40). Arab viewers interestingly did not disagree at all with this statement (see Figure 66), which resulted in a very small standard deviation. Arab viewers were found to agree significantly more than both media professionals and Australian viewers, and media professionals agreed significantly more than Australian viewers.
Males and females both tended to agree with this statement, but there was no significant difference between the two views (see Table 41). There was more consensus amongst female respondents than males as evidenced by the small standard deviation.
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400
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Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 66 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding Aljazeera live programmes
directing viewers’ attention towards viewing documentaries.
No doubt that the "Open Dialogue" promotes freedom of speech and expression Australian viewers tended to disagree that the "Open Dialogue" promotes freedom of speech and expression, whereas media professionals and Arab viewers tended to agree on average (see Table 40). Responses for Arab viewers tended to be skewed towards agreement (see Figure 67), whereas those of Australian viewers (see Figure 68) and media professionals (see Figure 69) tended to be skewed towards the disagreement end of the scale. There was also a large amount of variability in Arab viewers’ responses indicating a lack of consensus. Australian viewers disagreed significantly more than both media professionals and Arab viewers on this item.
Male respondents tended to be more neutral towards the statement and females tended to agree (see Table 41). This difference was significant. There was a distinct lack of consensus amongst both male and female respondents for this item as evidenced by the large standard deviations.
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Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 67 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding the "Open Dialogue"
promoting freedom of speech and expression.
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Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 68 - Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding the "Open Dialogue"
promoting freedom of speech and expression.
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Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 69 - Distribution of responses for Media Professionals regarding the "Open Dialogue"
promoting freedom of speech and expression.
There is a large space of free criticism of cultural taboos and religion in the "Opposite Direction" Australian viewers tended to disagree on average that there is a large space of free criticism of cultural taboos and religion in the "Opposite Direction (see Table 40). Arab viewers tended to agree whereas media professionals were undecided leaning towards agreement. Responses for Arab viewers tended to be skewed towards agreement (see Figure 70), and the opposite was the case for Australian viewers (see Figure 71). Arab viewers agreed significantly more than both Australian viewers and media professionals, and media professionals agreed significantly more than Australian viewers.
Male and female respondents both tended to agree with the statement, and there was no significant difference between their views (see Table 41). There was also a large amount of variability within the responses for both genders.
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Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 70 - Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding there being a large space of free
criticism of cultural taboos and religion in the "Opposite direction”
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Direction Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 71-Distribution of responses for Media Professionals regarding the level of freedom
expressed in "Aljazeera's Stand" encouraging viewers to publish their own opinions as articles
and books.
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"More than One Opinion" allow viewers to participate freely in their polls
Media professionals and Arab viewers tended to agree on average that "More than One Opinion" allow viewers to participate freely in their polls, whereas Australian viewers were undecided (see Table 40). Media professionals agreed significantly more than both Arab and Australian viewers, and Arab viewers agreed significantly more than Australian.
Female respondents tended to agree with the statement, and males were more undecided leaning towards agreement (see Table 41). This was a significant difference between the genders. There was also a lack of consensus amongst male respondents as there was a large standard deviation for this group.
Opinions expressed in "Opposite Direction" & "More than One Opinion" make it easier to publish them in form of publications such as: novels and poetry Media professionals tended to agree that opinions expressed in "Opposite Direction" & "More than One Opinion" make it easier to publish them in the form of publications such as: novels and poetry (see Table 40). Australian viewers were undecided on average, as were Arab viewers although they leaned more towards disagreement. Media professionals’ responses were somewhat skewed towards agreement. The results of significance testing showed that they agreed significantly more than both Arab and Australian viewers.
Male and female respondents tended to be neutral towards this statement, although males leaned somewhat more towards disagreement (see Table 41). This was a significant difference. There was also a large amount of variability in responses for males, indicating a lack of consensus.
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Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 72 - Distribution of responses for Media Professionals regarding Opinions expressed in
"Opposite Direction" & "More than One Opinion" making it easier to publish them in form of
publications such as: novels and poetry
The "Religion & Life" programme promotes broadcasting and viewing documentaries Arab viewers and media professionals both tended to agree on average that the "Religion & Life" programme promotes broadcasting and viewing documentaries, whereas Australian viewers were more undecided leaning towards disagreement (see Table 40). Media professionals agreed significantly more than Arab and Australian viewers, and Arab viewers agreed significantly more than Australian.
Both male and female respondents tended to agree with the statement, and there was no significant difference between their views (see Table 41).
All levels of Arab society are encouraged to express their opinions freely and openly directly to Aljazeera live programmes All three groups tended to be undecided in their opinion towards the statement that all levels of Arab society are encouraged to express their opinions freely and openly directly to Aljazeera live programmes (see
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Table 40). Australian viewers leaned more towards disagreement, and disagreed significantly more than Arab viewers. Responses of Arab viewers were somewhat bipolar (see Figure 73).
Male and female respondents were also somewhat undecided, and there was no significant difference between the two views (see Table 41).
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0 1 2 3 4 5 All levels of Arab society are encouraged to express their opinions freely and openly directly to Aljazeera live programmes
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 73- Distribution of responses for Arab viewers regarding all levels of Arab society being encouraged to express their opinions freely and openly directly to Aljazeera live programmes.
It is possible to discuss religion openly on the "Religion & Life" programme Arab viewers and media professionals tended to agree that it is possible to discuss religion openly on the "Religion & Life" programme, whereas Australian viewers disagreed on average. Australian viewers disagreed significantly more than both Arab viewers and media professionals (see Table 40). In fact, responses for Australian viewers was somewhat skewed towards the agreement end of the scale (see Figure 74).
Male respondents tended to have no opinion whereas females tended to agree. This was a significant difference between the genders (see Table 41). There was also a large amount of variability amongst males.
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Interestingly, the distribution of responses for female Arab viewers was skewed towards agreement (see Figure 74), whereas the opposite was the case for male Arab viewers (see Figure 75).
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Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 74- Distribution of responses for Australian viewers regarding it being possible to discuss
religion openly on the "Religion & Life" programme.
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Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 75-Distribution of responses for Female Arab viewers regarding it being possible to
discuss religion openly on the "Religion & Life" programme
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0 1 2 3 4 5 It is possible to discuss religion openly on the "Religion & Life" programme
Scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.
Figure 76-Distribution of responses for Male Arab viewers regarding it being possible to discuss
religion openly on the "Religion & Life" programme.
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Relationships between Items
Aljazeera is fair and unbiased The overall perception of Aljazeera as being fair and unbiased was significantly, substantially and positively related to:
• the information broadcast being objective and unbiased;
• news coverage being balanced and fair;
• news coverage regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict being balanced and unbiased;
• news coverage regarding Iraq being balanced and unbiased; and
• talk shows being balanced and unbiased (see Appendix D).
This suggests that the perceived objective, unbiased and balanced nature of general news coverage and talk shows contributes to the overall perception of Aljazeera being fair and unbiased. It is also another indication that the survey instrument was a reliable measure of people’s opinions.
There was a substantial positive correlation with perceptions of Aljazeera's commitment to objective coverage. This suggests that respondents associate Aljazeera’s fair and unbiased nature with a commitment to being an objective news and current affairs provider.
Interestingly, there was a very small positive correlation with perceptions of neutrality of Aljazeera, suggesting that being neutral, although related to an overall fair and unbiased network, is not very important.
There was a small yet significant negative correlation with the perception of biased, anti-American reporting. This implies that unbiased reporting towards America’s involvement in the Arab world is only to a very small extent associated with Aljazeera’s perceived fairness and unbiased nature.
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Interestingly, there were small yet significant positive correlations between Aljazeera's perceived fairness and:
• Aljazeera’s use of double standards in covering the news from different parts of the Arab world; and
• Aljazeera being biased towards Arabs.
This phenomenon suggests that being somewhat biased towards Arabs in general as well as towards some parts of the Arab world, increases people’s perception of the fair and unbiased nature of Aljazeera.
Aljazeera is independent As would be expected, there was a substantial positive correlation between respondents' perceptions of Aljazeera as being independent and their commitment to independent news coverage (see Appendix D). This suggests that respondents associate Aljazeera’s independent nature with a commitment to being an independent news provider.
Interestingly, there was only a very small positive correlation between perception of Aljazeera as independent media in particular and their commitment to independent coverage. As one question was asked at the beginning of the survey and the other (specifically mentioning the word “media”) at the end, this may indicate that opinions towards Aljazeera’s independence changed somewhat during the course of the survey. The average level of agreement at the beginning of the survey (M = 3.58, s = 1.06) was somewhat higher than at the end (M = 3.43, s = 1.09), and was found to be significantly different.
As there was a small yet significant positive correlation with perceptions of Aljazeera as an independent media (asked at the beginning of the survey) and their commitment to being independent (asked at the end). This also suggests that perceptions had changed during the course of the survey.
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Group Discussion
Comparisons The comparison of the three different samples shows Australian and Arab viewers have similar attitudes towards Aljazeera. In contrast Arab viewers’ attitudes towards Aljazeera were quite different. Arabs and Australian Arabs viewers overall showed little differentiation in their attitudes towards the different scales in the questionnaire. They showed a mix of agreement and disagreement with the statements regarding Aljazeera and such facets as its objectivity, its role in democratisation, etc. In contrast overall media professionals were quite differentiated in their support for the different scales of the questionnaire. Media professionals were very favourable towards Aljazeera and its role in the democratisation of the Arab world but not particularly positive in their attitudes towards Aljazeera Live Programs.
This pattern of results may reflect media professionals having more informed opinions on Aljazeera. This could be the case whether it is in relation to the objectivity of Aljazeera or its impact on democratisation and human rights. By the nature of the job, media professionals are likely to spend more time discussing the issues raised by the survey and are likely to have developed stronger views on the matters. The media professionals were also more educated than the Australian Arabs and Arabs living in the Arab World, which may have contributed to these more nuanced views. However, as education was not a predictor in the samples of Australian Arabs and Arabs living in the Arab World, this argument is not particularly convincing.
Another explanation is that media professionals are more likely to believe in the power and benefits of a free press. This may lead to a self-selection process whereby media professionals are motivated to enter into the profession by a belief in the value it can contribute. The pattern of results
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may also reflect the interests of media professionals which value the news but do not value entertainment programs such as those on Aljazeera Live.
Arab Viewers
Arab viewers in the Arab world showed a mix of agreement and disagreement towards statements about Aljazeera. In general attitudes towards one dimension (e.g., impact of Aljazeera on democratic processes) were moderately related to attitudes on other dimensions. There were few group differences in attitudes based on demographic variables. Given the exploratory nature of the analyses and lack of any strong consistent pattern of group differences, the differences that were obtained should be seen as preliminary findings.
Females did show less favourable attitudes than males regarding Aljazeera's role in gender and human rights and Aljazeera Live Programs. It could be argued that females are the more appropriate respondents to ask about the impact of Aljazeera on gender equality and the rights of women. It would appear that the males were somewhat positive in the perceptions of the impact of Aljazeera whereas females had a fairly even mix of agreement and disagreement regarding Aljazeera's impact. It was also found that postgraduates believed less in the impact of Aljazeera as a democratic force in the Arab world.
Australian Arab Viewers Overall, the attitudes of Australian Arab viewers were similar to the Middle East Arab viewers. This involves a mix of agreement and disagreement to the statements in the survey about Aljazeera. As with Middle East viewers there were no particularly strong patterns of group differences in terms of demographics.
Several group differences occurred between the regions in terms of attitudes to objectivity in editorial policy, positive attitudes towards Aljazeera and the role of Aljazeera in terms of gender and human rights. It appeared that those from North Africa perceived Aljazeera to be less
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objective than other groups. The most interesting set of differences was those between Arabic and non-Arabic speaking Arab Australian viewers. Those who reported being able to speak Arabic had more positive attitudes towards Aljazeera's independence, Aljazeera's role in gender and human rights and Aljazeera Live program. Arabic speakers also had a more positive attitude overall to Aljazeera.
The amount of reported viewing of different news networks and number of hours spent consuming news whether it is radio, television or newspaper was a good predictor of attitudes towards Aljazeera. In particular higher levels of reported media news consumption was related to stronger belief in Aljazeera as a democratic force, Aljazeera's independence and objectivity in editorial policy, and an more positive attitudes towards overall towards Aljazeera. In contrast greater news consumption was related to more negative views of Aljazeera Live programs. This may reflect a possible reciprocal relationship whereby people who watch more news are persuaded of its objectivity, but also that people who believe in the value of the news are likely to watch more news.
Media professionals In terms of the overall results media professionals were very positive towards the role and impact of Aljazeera on the Arab world. In general attitudes towards one dimension were related to attitudes on other dimensions, with the exception that attitudes towards Aljazeera Live Programs which was negatively associated with the other dimensions in the survey.
Education was related to attitudes towards Aljazeera. In general post graduates and those with high school and some college had more positive attitudes towards Aljazeera in relation to independence, objectivity in news coverage, its role in gender and human rights and overall attitude. It is difficult to explain this particular pattern of results. It is not a simple relationship whereby more education leads to a particular change in
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attitudes. In this case the respondents with a lot or a little education have the most positive attitudes.
A strong finding was that Arabic speakers were more favourable towards almost all dimensions being examined, but less favourable to Aljazeera Live programs. The Opposite result was found for English speakers, whereby they tended to perceive Aljazeera more negatively than non- English speakers. It should be noted that while English speakers were less likely to be Arab speakers, this relationship was not strong.
Thus, the effect of speaking English and Arabic are somewhat independent. In terms of professional categories, it appeared that it was the news editors and program presenters that had less favourable attitudes than the other professional categories.
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Discussion
Arab and Australian viewers and media professionals
In their book Aljazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East, El-Nawawy and Iskandar (2003) recount how Canadian Arab migrants turned to Aljazeera for news of their homeland during the second Palestinian Intifada. The same pattern seems to repeat itself among Australia Arab migrants. Consequently, an examination of how Arab migrants in Australia responded to Aljazeera was important for completing the research picture, especially because migrants living in Western countries have experienced both state- controlled media in their home countries and democracy and free media in their adopted countries
The implications of the findings for media planners and democratization efforts are the support they provide for the principal hypothesis of this thesis, namely the causal relationship between freedom of the press and democracy and vice-versa. This is an important connection that gives credence to the assumption that Aljazeera is a catalyst for democratization and social and political change.
General Findings
Generally Arab and Australian viewers and media professionals had positive or neutral opinions towards Aljazeera. There were some exceptions however, with Australian viewers in particular having most negative opinions of Aljazeera. Arab viewers were least negative. Arab viewers were generally more positive towards Aljazeera than both Australian viewers and media professionals, and significantly so in many cases.
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There were substantial amounts of variability in responses to some statements, particularly amongst Arab viewers indicating a lack of consensus. There was also a considerable amount of skew in the distribution of Arab viewers’ responses indicating distinct biases within the sample, and potentially the population. There was no great amount of variability whatsoever in Australian viewers’ responses. Conversely, Arab viewers also displayed more consensuses regarding some statements.
Promotion of Democracy
Views concerning the promotion of democracy by Aljazeera were distinctively more positive amongst Arab viewers than either Australian viewers or media professionals.
Arab vs Australian Arab viewers
Arab viewers consistently agreed significantly more than Australian viewers regarding Aljazeera’s promotion of democracy, in general and specifically in terms of news coverage and talk shows (both promoting and aiming to promote democracy). They also were more in agreement that Aljazeera is committed to pro-Western democratization. This suggests that viewers living in a democratic country do not think Aljazeera promotes democracy as much as it could. This would particularly be in comparison to Western media news agencies, as many Australian viewers did get much of their news from Western broadcasters, SBS in particular.
Arab viewers vs media professionals
Arab viewers agreed more than media professionals that Aljazeera is committed to pro-Western democratization. They were also more in agreement regarding the promotion of democracy in general, through its news coverage and talk shows’ agendas. Perhaps media professionals, with their experience in the Arab news industry, believe Aljazeera is restricted somewhat in this regard by external pressures, and therefore does not promote democracy as much as it could.
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Australian viewers vs media professionals
Australian viewers agreed significantly more than media professionals that Aljazeera is committed to pro-Western democratization and its talk show agendas promote democracy. Again, it is possible that media professionals believe that Aljazeera could do more to promote democracy than viewers realise. However, this may not be possible due to restrictions placed on Arabic media in general by governments and media regulations and laws.
Bias/Independence
Media professionals were particularly negative when it came to the unbiased and independent nature of Aljazeera. Media professionals were neutral tending towards disagreement on average regarding the news coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict being balanced and unbiased, and agreed that Aljazeera’s news coverage was biased. They also disagreed that Aljazeera was committed to independent coverage.
Australian viewers tended to disagree on average that the news coverage of Iraq is balanced and unbiased. Both Australian and Arab viewers agreed on average (the latter very strongly) that Aljazeera uses double standards in covering the news of the Arab world.
Arab viewers displayed more consensuses regarding Aljazeera’s promotion of a specific agenda and being too critical of other Arab regimes. In addition they were in complete agreement when it came to Aljazeera using double standards to cover the news from different parts of the Arab world. In fact, there was no disagreement whatsoever.
Interestingly, when it came to the information presented being accurately and correctly, Arab viewers tended to form two distinct groups: those that tended to agree and those that tended to disagree.
Arab vs Australian Arab viewers
Arab viewers agreed significantly more than Australian viewers that Aljazeera is a neutral media broadcaster and that its news coverage of Iraq is balanced and unbiased. In addition, Australian Arab viewers tended to
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agree more than those in the Arab region that the Western news coverage is biased. One explanation could be that Australian Arab viewers experience somewhat biased media coverage towards the Western world from Australian sources, particularly regarding news coverage of Iraq due to Australian troops being a part of the coalition forces. This explanation may be plausible in light of the fact the most Arab viewers have become cynical about the media in their home countries while apprehensive about the double-standard approach of Western media towards Arab issues.
They may then perceive more neutral coverage of the war from an Arabic perspective as being biased. Another explanation may be that Aljazeera may actually be biased, yet Arab viewers might have a similar bias and therefore view this as a true position.
Arab viewers tended to agree more than Australian Arab viewers that Aljazeera was unbiased. They also agreed significantly more when it came to Aljazeera’s use of double standards when covering the news from different parts of the Arab world and that Aljazeera was too critical of other Arab regimes. Interestingly, Arab viewers also agreed significantly more that Aljazeera is committed to biased, anti-American reporting, although their average rating was still neutral, tending towards disagreement. This difference may be explained in light of the Arab viewers’ wider exposure to other Arab media networks covering the same events. Australian Arab viewers do not have the same access to a variety of Arab media outlets and those who might have access tend to watch entertainment programs on channels other than Aljazeera, which is a 24- hour news channel. Cross-national rivalries exist between Qatar and Saudi Arabia for example and being a Qatari television network, Aljazeera has been seen to show bias against Saudi Arabia..
Arab viewers agreed significantly more than Australian that Aljazeera is committed to independent coverage and is independent in general. This could mean that Australian viewers perceive less freedom and independence in Arab nations for media networks than in democratized countries. Somewhat contradictorily, Arab viewers also agreed more that
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Aljazeera is state controlled. The fact that Aljazeera is owned and funded by the Emir of Qatar reinforces the perception that Aljazeera setting an example that even state-controlled media can play a positive role in the process of democratisation.
Arab vs Media Professionals
Similar patterns were found between Arab viewers and media professionals. Arab viewers were significantly more in agreement that Aljazeera programs follow and promote a specific agenda. When it came to perceived bias, Arab viewers also agreed more that Aljazeera is fair and unbiased, that the information broadcast is correct and accurate, and that the news coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict is balanced and unbiased. In addition, media professionals were significantly more in agreement than Arab viewers that Aljazeera’s talk shows promote foreign interests. Perhaps with their experience in the media, media professionals believe that Aljazeera has more bias than viewers realise because as insiders to the profession and industry they are aware of the potential and real biases in a media network.
Arab viewers agreed more than media professionals that Aljazeera is committed to bias anti-American reporting and was sympathetic towards Arabs. This might be explained in the way they perceive Aljazeera’s coverage of Arab issues. The constant coverage of troubled areas such as Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq gives the impression that Aljazeera is sympathetic towards Arabs. Furthermore, one principal factor that must not be overlooked is the fact that Aljazeera is an Arab channel and emotional perspectives are bound to influence ordinary Arabs’ views of a home-grown channel. In contrast, media professionals seem to be more immune to this kind of emotion.
Media professionals were significantly less in agreement regarding perceived bias towards Arabs and the balanced and unbiased nature of talk shows. It could be the case that people within the media industry have experienced less anti-American bias than they have seen in Aljazeera and less bias in talk shows and towards Arabs.
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When it came to independence, Arab viewers agreed more than media professionals that Aljazeera is committed to independent coverage and is independent in general. However the opposite was true regarding Aljazeera’s news coverage, where Arab viewers were less in agreement. This suggests that media professionals do not believe Aljazeera is as independent as it could be, possibly because of their own experiences in the media being more controlled by controlling interests, such as governments.
Arab viewers are more positive about the professionalism of Aljazeera’s staff than media professionals. This may be because of professional rivalry between the media staff surveyed and those working for Aljazeera. However it may be the case that media professionals’ personal experience with Aljazeera’s staff has illustrated some lack of professionalism in the latter’s behaviour.
Australian Arab viewers vs media professionals
Australian viewers were more positive than media professionals regarding the unbiased nature of Aljazeera in some areas. They agreed significantly more that the information broadcast is correct and accurate, news coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict is balanced and unbiased, and that Aljazeera is fair and unbiased in general. Conversely, they also agreed more than media professionals that Aljazeera uses double standards in covering the news from different parts of the Arab world, that Aljazeera is too critical of other Arab regimes and that there is a general bias towards Arabs. Australian viewers also agreed significantly more that Aljazeera was sympathetic towards Arabs. Media professionals on the other hand agreed more that the news coverage of Iraq is balanced and unbiased, yet they also agreed more that in general news coverage was biased. It seems that media professionals with their experience in the industry believe that Aljazeera could be less biased, again potentially because they are familiar with the kinds of restrictions placed on the media in the Arab world. Australian viewers may believe that the news coverage of Iraq was more
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biased than media professionals, because of their familiarisation with opposing viewpoints broadcast by the Australian media.
Media professionals were more in agreement than Australian viewers regarding statements relating to the programs broadcast promoting a specific agenda. This may be because they are more familiar with the agendas set by television networks and their role in programming.
Australian viewers agreed the most that Aljazeera is independent and committed to independent coverage; however media professionals believed more strongly than Australian viewers that Aljazeera is an independent media. Perhaps Australian viewers’ expect there to be less freedom and independence for media networks in undemocratic nations than is actually the case.
Media professionals believed more strongly than Australian viewers that Aljazeera’s staffs are not professional. Again, this may be due to professional rivalry or personal experience with Aljazeera’s staff from the media professionals’ perspective. Interestingly, Australian viewers agreed more when it came to Aljazeera being interested only in self-promotion. Aljazeera is seen as self-centred and traditionally Arab television networks do not self-promote.
Gender and human rights
Media professionals agreed on average that women’s programs promote irrelevant issues to Arab women and Arab societies. However, interpretations of the results from this statement should be made with caution due to the double-barrelled nature of the item. Interestingly, Arab viewers had bipolar views regarding Aljazeera making them more aware of their rights as a citizen. Some agreed, and some disagreed but there were very few neutral positions.
Arab vs Australian Arab viewers
Arab viewers agreed significantly more than Australian that Aljazeera promotes equality of the sexes. This promotion was obviously not seen as considerable as it could be by viewers living in a Western democracy,
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probably because they would have experienced more gender equality than in Arab nations.
Arab viewers vs media professionals
Arab viewers agreed more than media professionals that Aljazeera made them more aware of their rights as a citizen and that it seeks to change traditional views about women in the Arab world. This suggests that from a media perspective Aljazeera could do more in this area than they do. Media professionals were significantly more in agreement than Arab viewers when it came to women’s programs promoting issues irrelevant to Arab women and Arab societies. Arab viewers may be more aware of what is relevant to their needs than media professionals, and therefore what the media from opposing networks think is irrelevant may not actually be the case for the viewing public.
Australian-Arab viewers vs media professionals
Australian viewers agreed significantly more than media professionals that Aljazeera had made them more aware of their rights as a citizen. This could be interpreted as meaning they are more aware of their freedoms as an Australian citizen/resident because of the contrast with the rights of citizens residing in Arab nations.
Media professionals agreed significantly more than Australian viewers that Aljazeera promotes equality of the sexes. Again, this may be due to the greater experience of equality of the sexes experienced by viewers living in a democratic society such as Australia. Interestingly, Australian viewers agreed significantly more than media professionals that Aljazeera seeks to change traditional views about women in the Arab world. This could reflect the possibility that media professionals believe more could be done.
Media professionals also believed more strongly than Australian viewers that women’s programs promote issues that are irrelevant to Arab women and Arab societies. Again this may be because the viewing public have a better idea of what is relevant to them than the media.
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Social and Political Change
In general media professionals tended to disagree that talk shows aim to galvanise public opinion and Arab viewers tended to disagree that Aljazeera has changed their views about Israel. Arab viewers displayed a considerable amount of consensus in agreeing that Aljazeera promotes a moderate view of Islam.
Arab vs Australian Arab viewers
Arab viewers agreed significantly more than Australian that talk shows aim to galvanise public opinion.
Arab viewers vs media professionals
Arab viewers were more in agreement than Media Professionals regarding Ajazeera as the agent for social and political change. It seeks to instigate Arab people to overthrow their regimes, and is committed to presenting a moderate view of Islam. As mentioned previously, Arab viewers also agreed more than media professionals that Aljazeera seeks to change traditional views about women in the Arab world. This suggests that media professionals believe that as a media network, Aljazeera is could do more to promote change.
Australian Arab viewers vs media professionals
Australian viewers were more in agreement than media professionals also on matters of social and political change. They agreed significantly more than media professionals that Aljazeera was an agent for political and social change in the Arab world, that it promotes a moderate view of Islam, and has changed their views about Israel. Australian viewers also agreed more that talk shows aim to galvanise public opinion and as previously mentioned, that Aljazeera seeks to change traditional views about women in the Arab world. This could be because of media rivalry: media professionals from rival networks do not believe that Aljazeera can effect that change, and possibly their networks can. It is unlikely that media professionals do not believe the media can effect change at all.
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Interestingly, media professionals agreed significantly more than Australian viewers that Aljazeera seeks to instigate Arab peoples to overthrow their regimes. This is probably due to the systematic coverage given to opposition groups and dissidents of countries such as Saudi Arabia, Syria, Libya, Algeria and Morocco, as an example and media professionals are at the receiving end of the wrath of regimes, whether in terms of directives or oppressive measures.
Freedom of Speech and Expression
Australian viewers were generally tending towards disagreement with most statements relating to freedom of speech and expression. They disagreed quite a lot that the “Open Dialogue” promotes freedom of speech and expression, the level of freedom expressed in “Aljazeera Stand” encourages viewers to publish their opinions in sources such as articles and books and that the “Opposite Direction” has a large amount of free criticism of cultural taboos and religion. They were neutral yet tending towards disagreement on average that the “Opposite Direction” allows viewers to participate freely in their polls. It could be that they experience a greater amount of freedom in this area within Australian media sources, than Arab viewers and media professionals living in Arab nations. Therefore they perceive less freedom in contrast.
Media professionals tended to disagree on average that the level of freedom expressed in “Aljazeera Stand” encourages viewers to publish their opinions through articles and books. In regards to whether “Opposite Direction” allows viewers to participate freely in their polls, media professionals opinion was neutral but tending towards disagreement. Perhaps they believe these programs could encourage more freedom of expression than they do.
The statement regarding “Aljazeera Stand” encouraging its viewers to publish their opinions and to express their opinions freely and openly directly to live programs tended to polarise Arab viewers. They tended to either agree or disagree, but not many opinions in between were found.
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Arab vs Australian Arab viewers
Arab viewers were significantly more in agreement than Australian viewers regarding the matter of freedom of speech and expression through questions pertaining to “Aljazeera Stand” encouraging viewers to public their opinions; “Open Dialogue” promoting freedom of speech and expression; Arab society being encouraged to express their opinions freely and openly directly to Aljazeera live programs; viewers of “More than One Opinion” being able to participate freely in their polls and the possibility of discussing religion openly in the “Religion and Life” program. Perhaps it is because Arab peoples are quite restricted in their behaviour due to social, political and cultural factors, that they perceive a small amount of freedom from a democratized nation’s perspective, as quite large.
Arab viewers vs media professionals
Arab viewers were more positive than media professionals towards Aljazeera’s encouragement of freedom of speech and expression. They agreed more strongly that there is free criticism of cultural taboos and religion in the “Opposite Direction”, that this program allows viewers to participate freely in their polls, that the “Open Dialogue” promotes freedom of speech and expression and “Aljazeera Stand” encourages viewers to publish their opinions. Media professionals however agreed more that the opinions expressed in “Opposite Direction” and “More than One Opinion” make it easier to publish opinions. Perhaps from a media perspective the latter two programs are in a format which gives viewers more freedom.
Australian Arab viewers vs media professionals
Media Professionals agreed significantly more than Australian viewers regarding matters of free speech and expression. They were more in agreement that it is possible to discuss religion openly on the “Religion and Life” program, that “More than One Opinion” allows viewers to participate freely in their polls, and that there was a large amount of free
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criticism of cultural taboos and religion in the “Opposite Direction” program. This could also have been due to the fact that Australian viewers were living in a democratized nation and perceive the amount of freedom given to viewers in these programs as quite small in comparison to what they are used to.
Representation
Arab viewers tended to disagree on average that Aljazeera represents their aspirations.
Interestingly Australian viewers tended to agree significantly more than Arab viewers that Aljazeera represents their aspirations. This suggests that Aljazeera may be representing more Western aspirations than Arabic. Media professionals agreed more than Arab viewers on this point, which suggests that Aljazeera is performing well from a professional perspective, more so than viewers realise.
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Male and Female Respondents
General Findings
Male and female respondents tended to be positive and sometimes neutral towards Aljazeera, with females generally being more positive towards Aljazeera than males. Female responses also tended to show the most variability, particularly concerning gender and human rights issues, Aljazeera being an agent for social and political change, and the bias of information broadcast. This indicates a certain lack of consensus among women. When it came to issues relating to freedom of speech and expression, both males and females showed a considerable amount of variability their responses.
Promotion of Democracy
Males agreed significantly more than females that Aljazeera generally promotes democracy in the Arab world. However, females tended to agree more that Aljazeera’s is committed to pro-Western democratization. This suggests that men and women may have different views on the style of democracy that is being promoted by Aljazeera. Females also agreed more that talk show agendas aim to promote democracy, suggesting that males do not see these forums as promoting democracy as much as they could.
Interestingly, there were bipolar views specific to female Arab viewers on this topic. These viewers formed two distinct groups when it came to Aljazeera promoting democracy in the Arab world: those that agreed and those that disagreed. It is difficult to find a plausible explanation for this result except that factors such as the demography, age groups, social class and education might have contributed to the formation of these responses.
Bias/Independence
There were fewer consensuses among both males and females regarding Aljazeera being committed to biased, anti-American reporting. In addition
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this topic polarised female Arab viewers specifically. This suggests that the bias against America is not very obvious if indeed it exists, and that amongst women in Arab nations only some perceive any bias at all.
It was also found that females agreed significantly more that Aljazeera is a neutral media broadcaster and an independent media. Perhaps they are more optimistic than males regarding the freedoms Aljazeera has. Females also agreed more that the media network is sympathetic towards Arabs perhaps because Aljazeera is seen to promote gender equality, especially through the higher number of female presenters, and because female viewers associate this aspect with the broader Arab context.
It was also found that males agreed significantly more than females that Aljazeera’s staff is professional perhaps because in a male dominant society the predominance of female presenters is not taken seriously.
Gender and human rights
On gender issues, females agreed significantly more than males that Aljazeera promotes equality of the sexes and seeks to change traditional views about women in the Arab world. They also disagreed more strongly that Aljazeera’s women’s programs promote issues irrelevant to Arab women and Arab societies, which is consistent with their more positive view of the network. Perhaps men were less aware of these issues as they did not directly affect them, and therefore did not perceive it as strongly.
Females were also more in agreement that Aljazeera made them more aware of their rights as citizens. Perhaps they perceive this more strongly for the same reasons as outlined for gender issues. It may be that they are made more aware of their rights as female citizens than they had been previously, and that men already had a level of awareness of their rights as men.
Social and Political Change
Females were also more in agreement in regards to Aljazeera changing their views about Israel, suggesting potentially that women are more influenced by the media when it comes to political views. Females were
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also more in agreement, as mentioned previously, that Aljazeera seeks to change traditional views about women. As suggested before, this may be due to the fact that this issue affects women directly, and therefore they may be more sensitive to identifying the promotion of women’s issues.
Freedom of Speech and Expression
Males tended to disagree on average when it came to “Aljazeera’s Stand” encouraging viewers to publish their own opinions in articles and books. They were also neutral but tending towards disagreement regarding it being easier to publish opinions expressed in “Opposite Direction” and “More than One Opinion” in the form of publications such as novels and poetry. Perhaps men do not see Aljazeera as aiding the publication of opinions in general.
There was also a considerable lack of consensus for both males and females concerning freedom of speech and expression when considering whether “Aljazeera Stand” encourages viewers to publish opinions, the “Open Dialogue” promotes freedom of speech and expression, “Opposite Direction” and “More than One Opinion” make it easier to publish opinions expressed in the form of novels and poetry as well as it being possible to discuss religion openly on the “Religion and Life” program. Male respondents alone were more varied in their opinions when it came to “More than One Opinion” allowing viewers to participate freely in polls.
Females agreed significantly more than males when it came to issues of freedom of speech and expression. In particular they believed significantly more that the “Open Dialogue” promotes freedom of speech and expression, that “More than One Opinion” allows viewers to participate freely in their polls, and that it is possible to discuss religion openly on the “Religion and Life” program. Females also agreed more that “Aljazeera Stand” encourages viewers to publish their own opinions as articles and books. Perhaps women are more optimistic that they actually have these freedoms than men.
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General Relationships
Unbiased and Fair
The results of correlations suggested that the perceived objective, unbiased and balanced nature of general news coverage, information and talk shows contribute to the overall perception of Aljazeera being fair and unbiased. There was a substantial positive correlation with perceptions of Aljazeera's commitment to objective coverage. This suggests that respondents somewhat associate Aljazeera’s fair and unbiased nature with a commitment to being an objective news and current affairs provider.
Interestingly, there was only a very small positive correlation with perceptions Aljazeera’s neutrality, suggesting that being neutral, although related to an overall fair and unbiased network, is not very important. Another interesting finding was that there was a small yet significant negative correlation with the perception of biased, anti-American reporting. This implies that unbiased reporting towards America is only to a very small extent associated with Aljazeera’s perceived fairness and unbiased nature.
There were also small yet significant positive correlations between Aljazeera's perceived fairness and its use of double standards in covering the news from different parts of the Arab world and its bias towards Arabs. This suggests that being somewhat biased towards Arabs in general as well as some parts of the Arab world, increases Arab people’s perceptions of the fair and unbiased nature of Aljazeera.
Independence
As would be expected, there was a substantial positive correlation between respondents' perceptions of Aljazeera being independent and their commitment to independent news coverage. This suggests that respondents associate Aljazeera’s independent nature with a commitment to being an independent news provider.
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Interestingly, there was only a very small positive correlation between perception of Aljazeera as an independent media in particular and their commitment to independent coverage. As one question was asked at the beginning of the survey and the other (specifically mentioning the word “media”) at the end, this may indicate that opinions towards Aljazeera’s independence changed somewhat during the course of the survey. The average level of agreement at the beginning of the survey was somewhat higher than at the end, and was found to be significantly different.
Conclusion
This chapter presented the findings from the research survey and provided a preliminary analysis and discussion of primary data. The discussion revealed interesting correlative information about Aljazeera and Aljazeera’s viewers’ perception of its performance and role in effecting social and cultural change in the Arab world. Statistically, Aljazeera is regarded favourably by the viewers across the viewership base.
The findings have revealed that respondents perceive that Aljazeera presents credible and accurate information to its viewers. It is seen as unbiased and objective and while it has no specific agenda, Aljazeera is seen to be committed to balanced and fair news coverage that promotes democracy and an Arab perspective on the Israeli-Arab conflict. Furthermore, Aljazeera realises these goals through talk shows that promote democracy and galvanise public opinion towards. The findings also revealed that Aljazeera’s editorial policy follows similar lines in terms of commitment to objective, independent, diverse, culturally even- handed pro-Islamic and pro-Western democratic reporting critical of Arab regimes, except when pertaining to its host country.
The analysis of data relating to gender and human rights issues revealed that Aljazeera is seen as promoting equality of the sexes and changing traditional views of women. Overall, the analysis showed that Aljazeera met viewers’ expectations; it represented their aspirations, made them
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more aware of their rights as citizens and used double standards in covering news from various parts of the Arab world. Analysis of live shows revealed that Aljazeera provided a public space for its viewers and promoted diversity and religious, racial and political tolerance.
In summary, the statistics suggest that Aljazeera is seen as a self- promoting, independent, state-controlled, neutral media broadcaster that is promoting democracy, social and political change and instigating popular revolt in the Arab world. This summative statement is no doubt contradictory, but it should come as no surprise given the contradictory nature of Arab society itself. Further multidimensional analysis of the data collected and presented in this chapter and further field research might consolidate this tapestry of views about Aljazeera.
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Chapter Seven: Summary and Conclusions
Summary
This research has set out to examine the phenomenon of one Arabic satellite television channel, Aljazeera and to ascertain whether Aljazeera in particular is a catalyst for democratisation and social and political change in the Arab world. Several studies have been attempted before by researchers in almost every university and study centre in the West and numerous books have been published leading in this direction. Most of these works have been characteristically descriptive with little or no empirical data about the perception of democracy among the viewers of Aljazeera and the effects of exposure to freer styles of information presentation and public debate. The literature review has shown that all studies performed on Aljazeera were based on content analysis and it was evident that no primary data was collected from the Arab viewers to closely examine the impact of Aljazeera on the viewers’ perception of democracy or to examine its role in the process of democratisation of the Arab world. It was therefore necessary to substantiate the present research with field data collected directly from the viewers through surveys and interviews.
The present research has sought to examine the major hypothesis that Aljazeera is a catalyst of democratisation and social and political change based on data derived from the viewers’ base in three Arab countries: United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Egypt. These countries were selected because they represent three political systems that vary on a continuum from conservatism to liberalism. The sample size consisted of 580 viewers from various age groups, genders and geographic locations.
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As explained in chapter four of the thesis, the surveys were constructed and divided into nine sections that included demography, overall evaluation, integrity of information, news coverage, talk shows, editorial policy, gender and human rights, attitudes and perceptions.
Perception of democracy
The concept of democracy is problematic in any given research and an operational definition was therefore developed based on eight basic constituents of democracy: Respect for human rights and dignity; gender equality; freedom of speech; freedom of expression; freedom of information; freedom of movement; freedom of religion; and diversity(see Figure 77).
Figure 77 - Basic constituents of democracy The notion advanced by Sartori (1987) has been a guiding principle in working out a definition of democracy. According to Sartori (1987), there are two kinds of democracy: ideal and real and that “(a) the democratic
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ideal does not define the democratic reality and, vice versa, a real democracy is not, and cannot be, the same as an ideal one; and that (b) democracy results from, and is shaped by, the interactions between its ideals and its reality” (p.8). Consequently, only the perception of democracy was sought to be ascertained and not democracy itself.
Based on these constituents, the following operational definition of democracy that distinguishes these constituents in order to allow the perception of democracy to be measured was developed.
Democracy is a system of government by and for the people that respects human rights and gender equality, freedom and diversity.
This definition was then applied to the present research to gauge Aljazeera’s contribution to the perception of democracy among its viewers and was used to inform the survey questionnaires.
Figure 78-Aljazeera as a catalyst of democracy
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Research hypotheses
In light of the above definition of democracy, three sub hypotheses were developed in order to elicit responses from the research sample.
• Hypothesis 1: Aljazeera promotes human rights and gender equality.
• Hypothesis 2: Aljazeera promotes public debate.
• Hypothesis 3: Aljazeera promotes diversity
Guided by clear indications in the literature review and the preliminary content analysis of Aljazeera’s programs, three research questions were formulated to examine these hypotheses.
Research Question 1: Is Aljazeera promoting human rights and gender equality?
Research Question 2: Is Aljazeera promoting public debate?
Research Question 3: Is Aljazeera promoting diversity?
These questions were used to identify the independent, dependent and mediating variables that lead to the perception of democracy through Aljazeera (see Figure 79).
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Figure 79 - Mapping the research questions To provide the necessary context for the research and data analysis, a syntagmatic-paradigmatic media model (see Figure 80) was developed based on the following assumptions:
• Increased freedom of information, speech and expression leads to a broader public space and a heightened perception of democracy.
• Censorship or restricted freedom of information, speech and expression leads to a restricted public space and a lowered perception of democracy.
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Figure 80-Syntagmatic-paradigmatic relationship of democracy and media power Consistent with the analysis of the literature review, the data collected through the survey confirmed the three sub hypotheses that Aljazeera is a catalyst of democratisation and political and social change.
Hypothesis 1: Aljazeera promotes human rights and gender equality To measure Aljazeera’s commitment and role in educating and promoting equality between both genders and impact on changing the traditional society’s view of women, the survey sought responses regarding Aljazeera’s promotion of equality of the sexes, change of traditional views about women in the Arab world and promotion of issues irrelevant to Arab women and Arab societies. About 65% of participants agreed; a sheer contrast to the dominant view in the literature that Aljazeera promotes irrelevant issues.
Hypothesis 2: Aljazeera promotes public debate To measure the promotion of public debate, responses regarding the role of live shows in providing opportunities for viewers to freely express their opinions and views and accept different opinions were sought from the research sample. This aimed at measuring Aljazeera’s in increasing the
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perception of democracy and freedom of speech across the Arab world. About 65% agreed that Aljazeera promotes public debate.
Hypothesis 3: Aljazeera promotes diversity To determine whether Aljazeera promotes diversity, responses were sought from the research sample regarding Aljazeera’s editorial policy in terms of determining Aljazeera’s commitment to portraying different opinions and presenting the viewers with a full and real picture. More than 70% agreed that Aljazeera promotes diversity through its editorial policy.
The data provided corroborative evidence of the syntagmatic- paradigmatic relationship between the degree of freedom and the degree of perception of democracy among Aljazeera’s viewers.
Research issues conclusions
To address the research questions, a number of research issues and propositions were developed to test how Aljazeera satellite television influenced the Arab world viewers’ perception of democracy and media performance and how that impact differed from the influence of traditional state controlled media. For that reason, this section sketches the contribution of this research by comparing the results of this research in chapter 4 with the literature reviewed in chapter 2. Any research contributions could be described either as (1) an advance on the current knowledge or (2) as an important addition to the current literature (Sweeney, 2000). Research findings that either confirm or disconfirm speculations in the literature but which have not previously been empirically investigated are described as advances to current knowledge. However the findings from this research, that concern matters about which there has been little or no prior research, are described as additions to the current knowledge. Overall, this research contributes in four ways to the current body of knowledge. They are identified in this section:
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The research establishes and tests a model of the effect of Aljazeera satellite television on the Arab world. The research compares the influence of mass media in two different media performance contexts. The research provides a guideline for using transnational media to achieve maximum effects on the flow of information and peoples’ perception of democracy and the democratic performance. Furthermore, the triadic causational relationship between Aljazeera, viewer perception and democracy is one major contribution of the present research (see Figure 81).Previous reviewed work has treated these three concepts as separate entities or as dichotomies: Aljazeera and democracy, Aljazeera and free speech, Aljazeera and diversity, Aljazeera and social change.
Figure 81- Triad of Aljazeera, Viewers, Democracy The triadic causational and correlational relationship between Democracy, Aljazeera and Viewers works to increase or decrease the perception of democracy. As the research model stipulates and the research findings have corroborated, the more exposure to democratic values, the higher the perception of democracy. By the same token, the more Aljazeera facilitates the flow of information to the viewers; the better informed the viewers and the higher the perception of democracy. In this tripartite relationship, Aljazeera as an agent for change, plays a
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pivotal role in raising the perception of the viewers to democratic values through its targeted programs. As such, social and political change becomes an inevitable outcome. This view directly corresponds to the discussion in the literature review that Aljazeera is forcing governments to revise their policies and devise ways to counter its effect at least as a public relations exercise.
Each research issue RI 1: To what extent does Aljazeera satellite television promote human rights and gender equality?
The first research issue is concerned with whether Aljazeera satellite television promotes human rights and gender equality. Three main conclusions can be arrived at from the findings about this research issue.
Conclusion 1.1: The relationship between Aljazeera satellite televisions and human rights and gender equality.
In the literature the relationship between Aljazeera satellite televisions and human rights and gender equality has been investigated intensively, both theoretically and empirically, over the past few years. However, with the rapid diffusion and adoption of information technology around the globe, the use of ITC ‘as a medium of interaction has become very popular and the information superhighway is offering many possibilities” (Castells, 1996; 2000 p. 113).
The literature showed that there has been limited investigation of the direct relationship between Aljazeera satellite television and human rights and gender equality. Overall, there has been a general trend in the literature to expect a positive significant relationship between Aljazeera satellite televisions and human rights and gender equality.
The findings of this research suggest that the standard of Aljazeera satellite television has a significant positive relationship to the standards of professional journalism. Aljazeera promotes throughout its programs human rights and gender equality. Moreover the findings also suggest that
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the more the viewers are informed and educated about their civic rights, the greater the viewers’ overall perception of democracy will be.
In conclusion, this research finds a positive relationship between Aljazeera satellite television and the level of information. Its explicit campaigns and programs broadcast, showing its commitment and role in educating and promoting equality between both genders and impact on changing the traditional society’s view of women. Accordingly this research confirms what the literature had speculated on and only slightly investigated. All dimensions of human rights and gender equality have a significant positive role in shaping viewers’ perception of democracy. These dimensions are women’s issues, employment policy, respect for human rights and dignity, gender equality and representation. Therefore, the benefits and advantages obtained from each element were vital, in promoting and fostering the viewers’ perception of democracy throughout Aljazeera’s explicit campaigns.
The possibility of personal interaction via talk shows programs debate and the ability to express views via those programs could explain why Aljazeera satellite television and its diverse programs and topic discussed have a significant role in shaping viewers’ perception. The absence of these advantages in the state controlled media could explain the failure of those media organisation in influencing overall viewers’ perception.
Therefore, mass media should give more attention to what they offer over their satellite channels and provide viewers with innovative and unique programs. Such the advantage is greater for those satellite channels that are among the first to offer unique programs that maximise viewers’ participation and cater for their need.
The contribution of this research could be attributed to the advancement of knowledge regarding the relationship between Aljazeera satellite television and overall viewers’ perception of democracy through the promotion of human rights and gender equality. As Amnesty International asserts “responsible journalism, based on the knowledge and respect for human rights, could further and protect the human rights of women.”
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Conclusion 1.2: The second conclusion for the first research issue pertains to the relationship between the mass media and viewers’ limited access to information and human rights in state controlled media context and censorship environment.
The literature has investigated theoretically the relationship between traditional media and viewers’ perception of democracy. There were many studies that theoretically supported the significant negative influence of state controlled media on viewers’ perception in different kinds of information, including human rights and gender equality. The technology and communication revolution has changed the marketplace in which media operate, allowing viewers to interact and access information freely from anywhere in the world. Recently, there have been an increasing number of satellite channels using new technology to deliver news services and information to consumers which impact positively and maximise competitive advantages
The literature from different contexts provided a theoretical background, with a limited empirical base, to support the opinion that Aljazeera satellite television would have a significant positive influence on viewers’ perceptions.
The findings of this research confirm the literature. This research finds that Aljazeera satellite television in general has positive influence on viewers’ perceptions, as all dimensions of human rights and gender equality, have a positive significant influence on viewers’ perceptions.
In conclusion, this research finds an overall significant positive relationship between Aljazeera and its programs that promote equality of the sexes and the impact on changing the traditional society’s views of women.
RI 2: Does Aljazeera promote public debate? The second research issue is concerned with whether Aljazeera promotes public debate and could influence viewers’ perception of democracy directly or indirectly through its talk shows, interactive shows,
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infotainment, documentaries, news & current affairs and taboo subjects. To draw a conclusion regarding this issue, the literature was reviewed and synthesised and then compared to the findings of this research.
The literature provided many studies that investigated the influence of Aljazeera satellite television’s explicit programs on viewers’ perceptions. The direct link was less well established because there were no empirical data or field studies conducted among Arab viewers in the literature. However, the literature tended to support the indirect relationship between Aljazeera satellite television and the encouragement of public debate, mediated by talk shows, interactive shows, infotainment, documentaries, news & current affairs and taboo subjects, regardless of the context. This therefore, would lead to a higher level of viewers’ understanding and better informed society. Thus, to test this issue empirically in the Aljazeera satellite television context, this research assumes that talk shows, interactive shows, infotainment, documentaries, news & current affairs and taboo subjects mediate the relationship between Aljazeera satellite television and viewers' perceptions of democracy .
The findings of this research indicate that talk shows, interactive shows, infotainment, documentaries, news & current affairs and taboo subjects play a mediating role between Aljazeera satellite television and viewers' perceptions of democracy.
In conclusion, this research finds that Aljazeera satellite television has a direct impact on viewers' perceptions of democracy. The data analysis results show that Aljazeera satellite television’s explicit programs influenced viewers' perceptions of democracy through talk shows, interactive shows, infotainment, documentaries, news & current affairs and taboo subjects. These findings are consistent with what had been narrowly investigated theoretically in other research and empirically in this research with regard to the influence of Aljazeera satellite television on viewers' perceptions; most of the studies tended to find that this and and influence was usually mediated by talk shows /or interactive shows /or and and and infotainment /or documentaries /or news & current affairs /or taboo
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subjects. Therefore, it can be concluded in this case that the influence of Aljazeera satellite television on viewers' perceptions depended on the viewers’ attitude and their consequent behaviour.
This research makes a contribution to knowledge that is both an advance on, and an addition to, knowledge about the mediating role of talk shows, interactive shows, infotainment, documentaries, news & current affairs and taboo subjects, in the relationship between Aljazeera satellite televisions and viewers' perceptions of democracy.
RI 3: Does Aljazeera promote diversity? The third research issue concerns whether Aljazeera promotes diversity and whether it has more influence on viewers' perceptions of democracy in the transnational media context and in the state controlled media context. To draw a conclusion in regard to this issue, the literature findings are first synthesised and then compared with the findings of this research.
The literature did not have a great deal to say about whether Aljazeera promotes or no diversity. Therefore this research was concentrated on the impact of Aljazeera satellite television in transnational media context, on viewers’ perceptions and the impact of state controlled media, in traditional media context, on viewers’ perceptions. Furthermore a comparison between these two types of media has been followed to establish the influence of the two types of media on viewers’ perceptions. However, to satisfy the goals of this research, besides identifying whether Aljazeera satellite television promotes diversity and influences viewers’ perceptions of democracy it was also important to identify the strategies that maximise its influence.
In addition studies that referred to similar issues and the extent of the use of IT in mass media were investigated. In those studies, it was shown that the balance between interaction and technologically delivered service must be right. However, these studies did not explain how this balance should be maintained. In addition, studies have warned that technology
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could isolate viewers. However, none of these studies investigated how transnational and traditional media services varied in their impact on viewers’ perceptions.
The findings in this research show that traditional state controlled media have negative influence on viewers’ perceptions, while the viewers’ perceptions variance has been explained slightly better in the transnational media context and have a positive influence on viewers’ perceptions. Finally, there are differences detected in the way that transnational media and traditional state controlled media influence viewers’ perceptions.
In conclusion, the literature provided no clear evidence about the extent that viewers’ perceptions of transnational media and traditional state controlled media contexts varied in their impact on viewers’ perceptions. However, it could be anticipated from the outcomes of some studies that transnational media could have a stronger impact on these variables. The findings show that both models explained viewers’ perceptions variance in different ways as some of the predictors in the two models have a positive, direct relationship with viewers’ perceptions in the Transnational media context, while having a negative impact in the state controlled media context.
The research finds that traditional state controlled media have a more negative influence on viewers’ perceptions, while the transnational media has more positive influence on viewers’ perceptions, confirming what is anticipated on the basis of the literature. Therefore, it can be asserted that viewers tend to consider the human rights elements, diversity, government rotation and power sharing for minorities to be more important than any other issues in shaping their overall perceptions.
The research problem In Chapter 2 the theoretical framework for this research was presented (see Figure 8). Based on this framework, the major Hypothesis i.e. Aljazeera is a catalyst of democratisation and social and political change was examined. Essentially, this research found that the Aljazeera
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satellite television has a significant positive influence on viewers’ perception.
What does it all mean?
The following represent a comprehensive summary of all findings accumulated so far across 740 surveys divided into 8 categories.
Category 1: Overall evaluation to Aljazeera performance – 7 questions Purpose: The perception of Aljazeera among its viewers
Table 43 - The perception of Aljazeera among its viewers Do not agree Neutral agree Aljazeera is a neutral media broadcaster 26% 6% 68% Aljazeera is an independent media 22% 16% 62% Aljazeera is state- controlled 23% 8% 69% Aljazeera promotes democracy in the Arab world 25% 5% 70% Aljazeera is an agent for political and social change in 29% 3% 68% the Arab world Aljazeera seeks to instigate Arab peoples to overthrow 31% 13% 56% their regimes Aljazeera is only interested in self- promotion 29% 5% 66%
0Figure 82-The perception of Aljazeera among its viewers
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Category 2: Integrity of Information – 6 questions Purpose: To establish the credibility and accuracy of information presented across Aljazeera programs
Table 44 - Credibility and accuracy of information presented across Aljazeera programs
Do not agree Neutral Agree
The information broadcast by Aljazeera is objective and 29% 3% 68%
unbiased
The information broadcast by Aljazeera is biased 56% 3% 41%
The programs broadcast by Aljazeera promote a 56% 6% 38%
specific agenda
The programs broadcast by Aljazeera do not promote a 32% 6% 62%
specific agenda
The information broadcast by Aljazeera is incorrect and 57% 3% 40%
inaccurate
The information broadcast by Aljazeera is correct and 32% 3% 65%
accurate
Figure 83-Credibility and accuracy of information presented across Aljazeera programs
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Category 3: News coverage – 8 questions Purpose: To measure the objectivity and neutrality of Aljazeera news coverage.
Table 45-The objectivity and neutrality of Aljazeera news coverage.
Do not agree Neutral Agree
New coverage is balanced and fair 29% 4% 67%
News coverage in unbalanced and unfair 56% 5% 39%
News coverage is biased 55% 5% 40%
News coverage promotes democracy 26% 4% 70%
News coverage of Arab-Israeli conflict is 26% 5% 69% balanced and unbiased
News coverage of Arab- Israeli conflict is 56% 6% 38% unbalanced and biased
News coverage of Iraq is balanced and unbiased 30% 4% 66%
News coverage of Iraq is unbalanced and biased 57% 5% 38%
Figure 84-The objectivity and neutrality of Aljazeera news coverage
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Category 4: Talk Show Programs – 7 questions Purpose: To evaluate the impact of talk show programs on viewers in terms of raising awareness and exercising the right of individuals to express their opinion in a democratic approach
Table 46-The impact of talk show programs on viewers
Do not agree Neutral agree
Talk shows promote democracy 30% 4% 66%
Talk shows promote foreign interests 52% 6% 42%
Talk shows follow a specific agenda 28% 4% 68%
Talk show’s agenda aims to promote 29% 4% 67% democracy
Talk shows aim to galvanize public opinions 30% 5% 65%
Talk shows are balanced and unbiased 28% 4% 68%
Talk shows are unbalanced and biased 54% 4% 42%
Figure 85-The impact of talk show programs on viewers
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Category 5: Editorial Policy – 7 questions Purpose: To define and evaluate editorial policy in terms of determining the identity of Aljazeera, its approach, its commitment to ethical professional standards and its priorities.
Table 47 - Aljazeera, its approach and its commitment to ethical professional
Do not agree Neutral agree
Aljazeera is committed to objective coverage 28% 3% 69%
Aljazeera is committed to independent coverage
25% 7% 68%
Aljazeera is committed to portraying different opinions and presenting the viewers with a full and 25% 8% 67% real picture
Aljazeera is committed to presenting a moderate 23% 6% 71% view of Islam
Aljazeera is committed to a biased anti-American 53% 5% 42% reporting
Aljazeera is committed to pro-western 26% 6% 68% democratization
Aljazeera is too critical of other Arab regimes 26% 7% 67%
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Figure 86 -Aljazeera, its approach and its commitment to ethical professional Category 6: Gender and Human Rights – 3 questions Purpose: To measure Aljazeera’s commitment and role in educating and promoting equality between both genders and its impact in changing the traditional society view of women.
Table 48 - Aljazeera’s commitment and role in educating and promoting equality
Do not agree Neutral agree
Aljazeera promotes equality of sexes 29% 4% 67%
Aljazeera seeks to change traditional views 29% 7% 64%
about women in the Arab world
Aljazeera Women’s programs promote issues 59% 6% 35%
irrelevant to Arab women and Arab societies
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Figure 87-Aljazeera’s commitment and role in educating and promoting equality
Category 7: Does Aljazeera meet viewer’s expectations – 9 questions Purpose: To determine whether Aljazeera met its professional objectives in terms of reflecting viewers’ perception and expectations. It also aims to measure whether it has succeeded to cater for the viewers’ needs through modifying and renewing it approach.
Table 49 - Table 48-Does Aljazeera met its professional objectives
Do not agree Neutral agree
Aljazeera represents my aspirations 29% 4% 67%
Aljazeera has changed my views about Israel 52% 5% 43%
Aljazeera has made me more aware of my rights as a citizen 25% 7% 68%
Aljazeera is fair and unbiased 23% 7% 70% 6% Aljazeera is independent 26% 68%
Aljazeera is sympathetic towards the Arabs 27% 5% 68%
Aljazeera uses double standards in covering news from 29% 4% 67%
different parts of the Arab world
Aljazeera is biased towards Arabs 29% 7% 64%
Aljazeera’s staff are not professionals 63% 5% 32%
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Figure 88-Does Aljazeera met its professional objectives Category 8: Aljazeera Live Shows – 10 questions Purpose: The role of live shows in providing opportunities for viewers to freely express their opinions and views and accepting different opinions. The section also aimed to accurately measure the role of Aljazeera in increasing the perception of democracy and freedom of speech across the Arab world.
Table 50-The role of live shows in providing opportunities for viewers to freely express their
opinions and views Do not agree Neutral agree
“opposite direction” allows viewers to participate 29% 3% 68% freely in their polls
The level of freedom expressed in “Aljazeera stand” encourages viewers to publish their own opinions as articles and books 31% 6% 63%
Aljazeera live programs direct viewers’ attention 29% 7% 64% towards viewing documentaries
No doubt that the “open dialogue” promotes 30% 5% 65% freedom of speech and expression
There is a large space of free criticism of cultural 31% 4% 65% taboos and religion in the “opposite direction”
“More than one opinion” allows viewers to 32% 5% 63% participate freely in their polls
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Do not agree Neutral agree
Opinions expressed in “Opposite Direction” & “More than One Opinion” make it easier to publish them in form of publications such as: novels and 31% 7% 62% poetry
The “Religion & Life” programme promotes 30% 7% 63% broadcasting and viewing documentaries.
All levels of Arab society are encouraged to 31% 4% 65% express their opinions freely and openly directly to Aljazeera live programmes
It is possible to discuss religion openly on the 32% 4% 64% “Religion & Live” programme
Figure 89- The role of live shows in providing opportunities for viewers to freely express their opinions and views
Implications The research findings that have been presented in response to the three research issues relating to the research problem have several implications for theory, research methodology and practice.
Implications for theory Affect There was a consistent view in the literature that Aljazeera satellite television’s explicit campaigns are important in enhancing viewers’
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perception of democracy. However, there were different views on how those campaigns could influence viewers’ perception. Some authors suggested that Aljazeera satellite television’s explicit campaigns affected the viewers’ level of information and knowledge which, in turn, affected viewers’ perception. Others suggested that the viewers’ desire to interact and express themselves affected their perception of democracy. Some others argued that there is a link between accesses to information, knowledge of civic rights and informed viewers. This link increases viewers’ choices and play significant role in enhancing their perception. All of these relationships have been studied in the traditional media context. Mass media relationships are considered to be a complicated phenomenon that needs to be addressed within a specific context. Relationships vary, depending on the context in which they exist.
Viewers’ perception has been recognised as the factor which determines the success or failure of any mass media outlet’s options. Investigations of media’s effect on issues relating to viewers and societies are necessary because of their potential influence on cultivation of viewers’ opinion, and maximising competitive advantage of viewers’ perception. The literature showed that the theory building in this area was delayed or unclear, as a result of a lack of empirical investigation. Accordingly, this research investigates three issues pertaining to mass media effect theory, in particular Aljazeera satellite television.
This research on Aljazeera satellite television as a catalyst of democratisation and social and political change provides empirical evidence about the relationships between Aljazeera satellite television and viewers’ perception of democracy which had been speculated upon, but about which there has been either no, or limited, empirical evidence in previous research. This research provides the first investigation into conceptualising such relationships in the transnational media context in the Arab world institutions. In particular, this research systematically develops a model of mass media outcome relationships that are frequently
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mentioned in the literature and then empirically tests the model in a transnational media context.
The last contribution of the research is derived from the implications of the research methodology employed in the study. The methodology in this research is more advanced than that used in previous mass media effect outcome research. This research involves a rigorous two-stage methodology: an exploratory stage and a confirmatory stage. The first step in the exploratory stage consisted of a literature review of mass media practice, application and effect in state controlled media context; this lead to the discussed model in this research and ultimately, the justified framework. The second stage involves the use of computerised sophisticated statistical analyses programs to test the proposed models on a substantial sample of the viewers of different Arab countries in order to investigate the research questions and hypotheses. This practical orientation strengthens the foundations of this research.
Implications for practice Even though this study demonstrates that viewers’ perception of democracy as largely been explained by the quality of Aljazeera satellite television’s explicit programs, it also emphasizes the fact that there are still some issues of concern. These issues of concern arising from broadcasting of foreign programs that causes some viewers to be detached from the channel.
The continuously growing number of satellite television service offerings in the Arab world and the adoption of new technologies, which encouraging viewers to use services such as mobile phone news service rather than direct personal interaction channels, could also facilitate viewers’ defection to other competitors..
Mass media managers should be aware of future satellite technology trends. If satellite television service becomes standardized and non- differentiated among all stations, it will be easy for viewers to compare and switch from one channel to another. This will make it difficult for stations to tap their viewer-ship in the longer term. Thus, the advantage is
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greater for those stations that are among the first to offer unique and quality service aspects, while other stations that come later might find it difficult to retain viewers and build greater viewer-ship.
Management should also pay much attention to identification of other factors that could contribute to overall satellite technology performance as well as to financial performance which related to factors such as: distribution, legal and political issues, trust and commitment, competition and economy. A better understanding of the sequence of the relationship between transnational media and viewers could help ensure the targeting of limited marketing resources.
This study provides the above guidelines to mass media managers for use in analysing the opportunities for building better levels of satisfaction and retention with their viewers’ through the provision of quality programs
Overall Implications
No sooner had Aljazeera begun broadcasting in 1996 than it attracted serious research trying to understand this new media phenomenon in the Arab world. The power of the media cannot be underestimated. The better we understand Aljazeera and Arab satellite television in general, the better we understand the political and social changes that are occurring in the Arab world. These changes will certainly have their impact not only on the immediate consumers of Arab media but also on society at large and more importantly on Arab-Western relations. Consequently, the present research has implications for Aljazeera as a media provider, for media strategists and planners and for a wide range of disciplines concerned with social change and democracy. By understanding this phenomenon and how it affects the viewers, researchers in these disciplines are able to devise ways to address potential problems.
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More specifically and closer to home, the findings will have implications for the Australian media regarding their stereotypical portrayal of the Arabs and Muslims both in Australia and in reporting the Middle East.
The Australian Arabic Council (AAC) has reported that racial vilification is not isolated, but rather widespread and on the rise. The AAC had a 20 fold increase in reports of seen vilification following September 11. The AAC has comprehensively documented attacks on individuals, on places of worship and on businesses, as well as verbal and physical attacks on individuals.
The Arabic media in Australia is generally run by Arab Christians. In some, if not most cases, these people are on the right to far right of political and religious ideology. Whilst there is quite often an undeclared truce with these people, they are generally there to push the political agenda that they brought with them. Whilst some of these could not survive without funding from Muslim countries, they still from time to time publish material that is derogatory towards Islam or Muslims. Sometimes this is in the form of merely repeating articles from the English media which they translate. It is important to note that some of the proprietors of Arabic newspapers in Australia are those Lebanese who believe that they are Phoenicians and not Arabic and those Egyptians who try to represent a clash between Muslims and Coptic Christians in Egypt (Akhbar Misr newspaper is an example).
Anecdotal evidence suggests that some Arabs feel unwelcome and as such they isolate themselves from mainstream society rather than integrate. In the aftermath of 9/11 the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) in Australia has reported a number of instances of racial vilification against people of Middle Eastern background. “There were also reports of violence and harassment against people of Middle Eastern origin who are neither Arab nor Muslim”. The report identifies media “as the next frequently cited 'place' of racism and abuse of Arab and Muslim Australians”. There were instances that ‘Arab’ or ‘Muslim’ was connected to ‘terrorist’ (cited from Poynting, 2004).
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There are glaring examples also in talk back radio where announcers are in breach of the basic human ethics, yet, they seem to be untouchable, though Code of Ethics prohibits the media to “stir up hatred, serious contempt or severe ridicule against a person or group of persons on the grounds of race, colour, national or ethnic origin” (clause 1.6.6 cited from Jakubowicz and Seneviratne, 1996 p.3). As Meadows (2001b) asserts In Australia ‘examples of overt and implied racism remain, despite the Journalists’ Code of Ethics, myriad codes of practice, and complaints procedures of the Australian Press Council and the Australian Broadcasting Authority’ (p.175).
Furthermore, the survey of Australian Arabs has implications for migrant countries such as Australia. It shows that exposure to democracy and free media creates a strong belief in the democratic processes and free debate. It also shows that contrary to the common belief of policy makers, prolonged exposure to democratic practices engenders a sense of self- efficacy and belonging and aligns the views of migrants to those of mainstream society.
Finally, the most important implication for future inquiries into Arab media and media in general is the model developed for the research. With its multidimensional perspective on media and adaptability to different factors, the model has universal applicability crossing various knowledge domains and fields of inquiry.
Conclusion
The aim of this research has been to examine the hypothesis that pan-Arab satellite television is a catalyst of democratisation and social and political change through the examination of Aljazeera as a case study. There is strong evidence to suggest that Aljazeera has caused major perceptual changes among viewers, about democracy and the definitions of human
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rights and freedoms through lively public debates that have allowed a diversity of views and opinions.
Although Aljazeera does not portrays itself as a political institution that can replace the political processes that govern each and every Arab country, viewers might be led to believe that Aljazeera will bring democracy to the Arab world. “Satellite television plays a vital role in driving structural change in the Arab world, though expectations that it alone can bring about democratic transformations should not be exaggerated” (Wildermuth, 2005 p.8).However this thesis has identified major factors contributing to the perception of democracy that Aljazeera is increasingly fostering among its viewers.
The research has established that Aljazeera meets its professional objectives in terms of reflecting viewers’ perceptions and expectations and that it has succeeded in catering for the viewers’ needs and creating a public sphere through modifying and renewing its approach and promoting diversity.
In conclusion Aljazeera has successfully established its presence in the media world despite the controversy surrounding its professional approach and the hammering criticism that was and still is directed towards it. The channel’s live call-in debate and investigative shows, that modelled on Western media shows, allows audience to express “mass mediated criticism” towards Arab regimes on an unprecedented scale (Ringise, 2006 p.1).
This has gained Aljazeera both, a fast growing audience on one hand and the contempt of almost every Arab government on the other. “Al Jazeera has not only become the most-watched satellite TV network in the Arab world but has also managed to infuriate the United States and every Arab government in the region”(Dajani, 2007 p.3). Yousri Fouda, senior investigative reporter at Aljazeera and host of “Top Secret,” asserts that Aljazeera gave these governments the message “it's different now” and they responded with the overnight launch “of multiple look-alike state- owned channels”, which broadcasted “talk/chat, soap shows”. He also
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asserts that while the launch of these channels could be seen as scheme “to crowd out Aljazeera and its content” this was seen as triumph because “it opens the public space for more voices to emerge” (cited from Ringise, 2006 p.1). In addition Fouda attributed the success of Aljazeera to “the value of how it reports what no one else reports and goes to places where no one else is present” and to its relatively free and critical content that entrenched itself into the consciousness of the Arab” (cited from Ringise, 2006 p.2)
Aljazeera is “pioneering more accessible style of news coverage” in Arab world (Dajani 2007) and is considered such “as avenue for political and social education” (Fouda cited from Ringise, 2006 p.2).
According to US administration the new Arab satellite channels including Al Jazeera, “are seen to promote incitement, xenophobia, and retrograde nationalism instead of facilitating the Arabs’ quest for freedom, democracy, and global integration” (Wildermuth 2005, p.8).It holds the position that a “vigorous program of public propaganda will somehow neutralize these impediments, educate Arabs about the virtues of American values and deflect their misguided hostility to American policies” (Wildermuth, 2005 p.8). In order to win minds and hearts of Arab world US administration moved towards its public propaganda by launching the American version of Aljazeera, Al Hurra. But as Rugh 2004 reports that the style and the contents of the news reminds not an Arab channel but an American. Moreover he asserts that the subjects chosen for broadcast were determined from the American perspective rather than the Arab perspective. Hudson (2005) also claims that Alhurra was the American ‘answer’ to Aljazeera and with its creation American government aimed to encourage Arab regimes to deal with the “unchecked prominence” of Al Jazeera by creating “government- controlled competitors”. As Wildermuth (2005) states a fair and constructive critic of Aljazeera within the Arab world and aboard enhances further a further a pluralistic, responsible and commercial and public service oriented media environment
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In addition while Western media have been too busy misrepresenting the Arabs and widening the gap between the cultures, it is fair to emphasise the fact that Aljazeera is actually doing the opposite. Through its regular documentaries and special cultural and political programs, Aljazeera has introduced the Arab viewers to a host of issues and perspectives in the West. As such it bridges the cultural gap between the West and the East.
Recommendation
This present research has highlighted important aspects of Arab media, particularly Aljazeera vis-à-vis the viewers’ perception of democracy and aspirations for democratic change and social and political liberation. With its dynamic nature, Arab media is bound to experience further changes in the future. It remains to be seen whether increased public sphere in a volatile and changing region will transition the media and the region from the perception of democracy to real democracy. Research into Aljazeera may have reached a saturation point, but further research into Arab media in general in the wake of Aljazeera’s inroads into freedom and democracy through media exposure will certainly be the next step in any future research in this area. Furthermore, the launch of Aljazeera English in 2006 is raised question marks about the impact of Aljazeera’s style of journalism on western media. Already the News Corp media magnate Rupert Murdoch has launched his new cable business news network in an attempt to “reach an untapped audience”, as ABC correspondent Kim Landers put it, signalling to the world of media that the media organization that outfoxed CNBC and dethroned CNN is still expanding. The question is this: will Aljazeera English be a serious contender in such a ruthless media market? A close examination is most certainly interesting for journalism and mass media studies.
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Epilogue: Reflections on Arab Media Objectivity
I watched the “Control room” during the Melbourne International film festival. It was a fantastic film.
I very much enjoyed it, if enjoyed is the right word. In many ways for me it was better than Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit nine-eleven” film, given that I perceived it as more honest than the latter film. My question refers to us as journalists: how would we see our role in war reporting given the dictum about truth being the first casualty of war. This film very much raised this question for me in terms of considering where we stand and if and how we can report on a war objectively.
I am definitely not an expert in film making and I have never worked in this area before. I am talking purely as a journalist; somebody who was watching these events unfolding in Qatar and I felt very lucky to have had access to different journalists from different parts of the Arab world during my visit to Aljazeera offices in Qatar and other TV stations in UAE, Jordan and Egypt.
Watching the US journalists from CNN and BBC alongside Aljazeera’s journalists, I guess I was struck by the fact that there was so much talk about what was happening, where it was happening, when it was happening and there wasn’t much that they covered about why things were happening. I mean, why was the US at war? It appeared that they were not really asking the real questions and were getting bogged down in details instead of focusing on the events that were happening. Often it seemed that people weren’t willing to leave their comfort zone and they weren’t willing to ask questions that could have been the wrong or embarrassing questions or questions that didn’t lead anywhere. I felt that if you didn’t ask those daring questions that might seem wrong or stupid at times, you wouldn’t get truthful answers.
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These journalists were all following the same stories. A lot of that was because most of the information was coming from the embedded journalists. So how does one handle that? I mean when I go in and report the news that is all the understanding I have. If I were to swap roles from a reporter journalist to a journalist (Editor) I would have a certain bias or impression on a certain situation. I would try to find the most intelligent person I could find from the other side and interview that person. However, to be honest, I am against the war and I didn’t feel violence would achieve any solution. Violence produces more violence and you can see that now in Iraq. On the other hand, you can see what is being reported by the military press officer who was going to give a two-line answer and a lot of spin. But to find a press officer who would really go into detail and really think about where he was coming from is not an easy thing to do.
I often had this conversation with Aljazeera journalists during my visit to Qatar, in terms of how one avoids being biased. As Aljazeera’s journalist explain they try to present the other side of the story by inviting representatives with opposite opinions.
So, what made me decide to go ahead with this research although I live in Australia and what acted as the motivation behind my decision about this research on the “Pan Arab satellite Television” and my travel across the Arab world?
I’ve travelled back and forward for a long time from the Middle East to Australia and I was always quite taken by the completely different stories and completely different impressions of the same news events that are happening in the world. Television in Australia provides very narrow spectrum of opinion.
I was watching TV and there was a lot of talking about the war in Iraq. The way it tackled the situation gave me the impression that there was an impending attack coming from Iraq or from Saddam Hussein. There were talk about possible chemical attacks in the subways and videos showing people buying gas masks. The news ticker at the bottom of the screen
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indicated that were Iraqis who were buying gas masks, not because of fear of possible use of chemical weapons by Saddam Hussein, as was presented, but out of fear for American attack in Iraq!
Just this simple difference in perception of what was happening made me feel like there was an entirely other perception to what was going on and somehow there was a whole other opinion and a very valid opinion.
I started exploring how I could watch Aljazeera satellite television in Australia in order to get the other opinion and perception from the Arab world. Aljazeera is a channel that has managed to reach a huge population in the Arab world and the Diaspora and I found Aljazeera quite fascinating because where I grew up (Jordan and Syria) the government monopolised television to serve its interests. Under state controlled media the information was heavily censored.
When Aljazeera appear in the horizon of Arab media topics such as religion, the role of women in society and topics that had been considered previously as taboo were discussed. In addition, criticism of Arab regimes and interviews with opposition leader appeared in the Arab television for first time. Arab people gathered to watch the debates on the newly established means of information.
In the aftermath of 9/11 and during the war in Afghanistan and Iraq Aljazeera was the outlet that provided Arab viewers with first hand information in their own language. Aljazeera was heavily criticised by US administration and other western governments as the mouthpiece of Al Queda’s leader. Therefore seemed to me as the medium that worth to be visited. Visiting Aljazeera and talking to people involved with the delivery of information I enchased my knowledge about my topic and I brought to academia another perspective. It seemed like it was the right topic to choose.
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Appendixes
Appendix A: Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon \ SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE \ Arab Viewers
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Appendix B: Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon \ SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE \ Media Professionals
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Appendix C: Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon \ SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE \ Australian Arab Viewers
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Appendix D: Pan-Arab Satellite Television Phenomenon \ SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE \ Analyses
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