144. Name: Semiha Cihan Çelik Title: Representational Revolution or Contentious Capitulation? Discourse Analysis of Al Jazeera English’s Coverage of the Arab Spring Institution: Kadir Has University Country: Turkey Date: 2013 Language: English Abstract: This study analyses the news discourse of Al Jazeera English during its coverage of the popular uprisings of the Arab Spring since 2011. While acknowledging the initial success of Al Jazeera English in constructing a new media discourse based on its claimed ‘localness’ against its Western rivals, this study also points out to the channel’s weaknesses and contradictions. Among these weakness and contradictions, its failure to preserve and further develop its self-proclaimed initial goal of giving voice to the voiceless, reporting untold stories, and reversing the North-to-South flow of information. Proposing that Al Jazeera English’s news discourse metamorphosed toward a more Eurocentric media representation, the analytical framework of this dissertation suggests that the channel has failed to position itself as the reference local source for the region’s and the world’s events. Focusing on the two main reasons that led to this metamorphosis, this study underlines the hegemonic relationship, which placed editorial and financial burdens on the channel as well as Al Jazeera English’s ambitions to become a more widely known international television station with a significant influence on both regional and global politics.
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