32. Name: Omama Lawati Title: Reporting the Iraq War: A Comparative Analytical Study
between Al Jazeera and Al Hurra Institution: University of Queensland Country: Australia Date: 2008 Language: English Abstract:
This study examines how Arab media presented and constructed news reports concerning crises that occurred in Iraq after the war in 2003. Television news report from two Arabic channels wiere examined, namely Al Jazeera and Al Hurra. The main concern of this study is to examine how news about events or crises, such as the Abu Ghraib scandal, the Fallujah battle and US military involvement in Iraqi media, were presented on these selected channels. In a time when the United States was campaigning to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of Arab and Muslim audiences post-9/11, several stories broke out, contradicting the campaign’s overall objective. The US public diplomacy campaign was designed mainly to endorse military action in Afghanistan and the war on terrorism. Since then, the campaign has been discussed by many researchers from both the West and the Middle East. The US administration was concerned that its increasing military operation in the region may lead to hostile attitudes or opposition of Arab and Muslim audiences. Public diplomacy aimed to counter these attitudes by promoting US values, namely human rights, freedom, and democracy.
54
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter