86. Name: Al Zahra Belalia Title: Al Jazeera Satellite Channel and the Central Issues of the Ummah: Liberation, Unity, Democracy and Conflict Institution: University of Algiers Country: Algeria Date: 2012 Language: Arabic Abstract: Arab satellite channels claim that they endeavor to provide Arab viewers and citizens with what they need. They claim to respond to their expectations, attend to their problems and try to solve them by exposing their concerns to decision-makers and explore the truth through information and communication. Among these channels is the Doha- based Al Jazeera. This study attempts to identify whether Al Jazeera actually applies its famous motto, ‘the opinion and the other opinion’ through its news coverage and talk show programmes. The study also seeks to examine whether Al Jazeera indeed serves the central issues of the Arab ummah (nation) or it is just acting as an umbrella for a hidden agenda of anonymous parties. The study tries to establish the link between Al Jazeera’s coverage of issues of concern to the Arab people and its commitment to professional journalistic standards such as objectivity, transparency and credibility. To this end, the researcher analyzed the content of a selected sample of programmes to see how the channel deals with these central issues, in terms of frequency, style of treatment and orientation of coverage.
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