70. Name: Mustafa Al-Ezzi Naji Al-Harazi Title: Perceptions of Al Jazeera Arab Satellite News Channel’s Image among Yemenis after its News Coverage of the Southern Yemenis Movement and the Northern Yemenis Rebellion Institution: The American University in Cairo Country: Egypt Date: 2010 Language: English Abstract: In the light of Al Jazeera recent heavy news coverage of the two Yemeni news events: the Southern Yemenis movement and the Northern Yemenis rebellion, this study aims to reveal perceptions of the channel’s image among its Yemeni viewers. The study explores how popular the channel is in Yemen among other prominent Arabic-language news channels. It also reveals how its viewers perceive its credibility regarding its general news coverage and its news coverage of the two recent Yemeni events in specific. The study also focuses on the channel’s non-viewers and why they do not follow news on Al Jazeera channel. This study is quantitative in nature, it uses a self-administered survey as a data collection tool. Major findings reveal that Al Jazeera was rated the highest in popularity among other prominent Arabic-language news channels. However, the reasons behind its popularity were different among the different investigated groups. Regarding the channel’s credibility, the Yemeni viewers generally perceive Al Jazeera’s coverage somehow credible. These findings are backed up by Newcomb’s symmetry theory and the two-step flow concept, emphasizing the importance of interpersonal communication in society.
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