107. Name: Nina Bigalke Title: Al Jazeera English: Margins of Difference in International English-Language News Broadcasting Institution: London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), University of London Country: United Kingdom Date: 2013 Language: English Abstract: The thesis focuses on the early years of Al Jazeera English (AJE), looking at how the first generation of staff at the English-language channel define the channel’s course at a time that preceded many of the editorial and organizational routines that would eventually come to influence significant parts of their work. Rather than attempting a comprehensive overview of what happens to be a very complex organization, the study focuses on a selection of organizational factors and their potential impact on editorial practices and decision-making processes. These factors include the course of the channel, its interdependence on pre- existing structures within the wider industry and the relative absence of commercial pressures. Methodologically, the study draws on in-depth interviews with journalists and management of all levels, and content analysis that relates some editorial aims formulated in the interviews to a sample of news programs from the same period. The study aims to combine concepts from media studies, organizational studies and sociology, to arrive at a theoretical framework that accounts for inter- and intra-organizational phenomena, while considering the value orientation that fundamentally differentiates media organizations from others.
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