of political issues, who follows news on Al Jazeera to enhance its un- derstanding and make its own judgement on events and news stories. The political elite is a particular segment of the general audience, which is capable of linking news and events and putting them in their wider contexts. It is also capable of digesting media messages and evaluating them with critical eyes. Some academic studies argue that since the beginning of the cur- rent millennium, the Arab audience has been fiercely competed for by satellite channels on the Arab and international levels (1) . In this respect, Hayat Al Howayek writes, “since the U.S. war in Iraq, 40 Arab satellite news channels have been launched. Considering the special geopolitical context of Arab media and the underlying new international multipolar order” (2) , the competition among media channels to win the hearts and minds of the Arab and Middle Eastern audience has been intense. Yet, to Al Howayek, competition “remains at its highest between four news channels, Al Jazeera , Al Arabiya , Abu Dhabi , and Al Manar ” (3) . But she believes Al Jazeera has the strongest influence because it has the widest public base. Over the years, Al Jazeera has stirred many stagnant issues across Arab societies and managed to provide room for all voices and opinions. Partly because it enjoys the largest margin of freedom and independence from the sponsoring state, Qatar. Internationally, as Al Jazeera’s impact grew beyond its geopoliti- cal limits and gained influence on international relations and political negotiations at a global level, “it has emerged as key competitor with BBC and CNN, particularly when covering major events in the Arab region” (4) . Undoubtedly, the BBC still influences Arab audiences, but (1) Mohammed El-Nawawy and Adel Iskandar, Al Jazeera, The Story of the Network that is Rattling Governments and Redefining Modern Journalism (US: Westview Press, 2003), p. 30. (2) Hayat Howayek, Geopolitics and Arab Satellite Channels Discourse , (Beirut: Al Maaref Forum, 2013), p. 25.
(3) Ibid, p. 36.
(4) Leon Barkho, Unpacking the Discursive and Social Link in BBC, CNN, and Al Jazeera in Middle East Reporting (Sweden: Jonkoping University, 2007), p. 21.
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