Al Jazeera and U.S. War Coverage

Since the eve of the war in Afghanistan, Al-Jazeera has become a global household name and a news source that cannot be ignored. Globalization theorists argue that Al-Jazeera promotes a cross-cultural debate, enforcing a counterhegemonic perspective on the West not evident in former crises. Through a comprehensive empirical analysis covering the re-broadcasting of Al-Jazeera's images on major US television networks since 9/11, this book draws an alternative picture, revealing that the advent of Al-Jazeera has actually eroded the counter-hegemonic debate in US war reporting. It shows how the US government persuaded television networks to systematically reformat legitimate war images from Al-Jazeera, labeling it a deviant network, in order to eliminate criticism of the war. Moreover, an examination of the US reception by bloggers and network carriers of Al-Jazeera's English-language website and channel reveals the US administration's continued resolve and ability to limit public discourse.

"Ever since its launch over a decade ago, Al-Jazeera has influenced broadcast journalism globally and transformed the Arab television news sphere. Its coverage of wars and conflicts in the region has earned the pan-Arabic news network many admirers and a few powerful adversaries, as Tal Samuel-Azran's book ably demonstrates. This is an empirically strong contribution to the literature on the politics of global news."---Daya Thussu, Professor of International Communication, University of Westminster, London

Tal Samuel-Azran is a lecturer in the Sammy Ofer School of Communications at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzlia, Israel. He holds a PhD in media and communications from the University of Melbourne and has published widely on Al-Jazeera and media globalization. He has also served as a reporter for several Israeli journals and newspapers. He recently co-edited the book New Media and Innovative Technologies (2008).