154. Name: Aneesa Goolam Hoosen Title: Brand Al Jazeera: A Critical Analysis of Al Jazeera’s Self- branding and Use of Audience Participation during the Arab Spring Institution: University of the Witwatersrand Country: South Africa Date: 2013 Language: English Abstract: Al Jazeera English joined the global media landscape in 2006 as the first English news network based in the Middle East. Boasting a highly skilled team of journalists and financial stability thanks to its oil-rich host country, Al Jazeera English has successfully established a renowned brand identity within the news industry. By creating a clear niche in the market, the channel claims to represent the Global South, while explicitly competing with global news broadcasters CNN and BBC. The success of this brand identity is of prime importance to this study, which aims to explore the various factors constituting Brand Al Jazeera. Combining two separate fields of media studies; audience participation and branding, the research explores the role of new media technologies in audience participation and the extent to which they form crucial elements of the network’s branding. It focuses on the Egyptian revolution as a case study to analyze Al Jazeera English’s Facebook commentary and flagship programming. It draws on themes like anti- US sentiment and the alternative ‘Other’ to unpack what constitutes brand Al Jazeera in an age of convergence and social media.
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