27. Name: Sarah Naeem Abdurrahman Title: ‘Other’ News: Enemy Image Construction and ‘Otherization’
of Al Jazeera in American Television News Institution: University of Texas at Austin Country: US Date: 2007 Language: English Abstract:
This study explores the construction of the Arabic satellite news network Al Jazeera on mainstream American television news. This descriptive analytical study used critical discourse analysis to examine a selected sample of news programmes broadcast by a number of American news media. A textual analysis of transcripts from American television news programs on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and Fox News was conducted using a model of enemy image construction and ‘oherization’ in order to describe and analyze American television news discourse about Al Jazeera as portrayed on these particular news networks. Taking a political economy approach to communication, this study argues that the construction of Al Jazeera’s image on mainstream American television news is a means of further alienating the Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern community and creating an enemy to serve the needs of the government and the political establishment. The research findings showed that, while some elements of enemy image construction were used more frequently than others, all of these elements and techniques were utilized at one point or another in the mainstream American television news discourse about Al Jazeera channel.
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