128. Name: Muhammad Mahroum Title: Journalists of Today and Tomorrow in Jordan: How they Evaluate the Coverage of Al Jazeera Arabic for the Arab Spring Events in 2011 Institution: University of Dublin Country: Ireland Date: 2012 Language: English Abstract: This study aims to identify the views and opinions of professional journalists and students of journalism in Jordan about the objectivity of Al Jazeera’s coverage of the Arab spring revolutions. The study showed that 67% of journalists believe that Al Jazeera’s coverage was pro-revolutionaries and anti-regimes. They believe that government officials decided to close doors to the channel and refused to appear on its screens. However, this seemingly bias did not undermine the channel’s professionalism. In contrast, 33% of the sampled journalists believe that the coverage was not objective because the channel was seeking to implement a political agenda associated with the Qatari regime that used Al Jazeera against the regimes that were not in good terms with Doha, such as the former regimes of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. Overall, the study found that Al Jazeera’s coverage played a crucial role in the Arab revolutions and that the channel did not inflate reporting or distorted events because it was broadcasting live with video and audio footages. The study concluded that Al Jazeera was an important factor in the success of the Arab revolutions.
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