heated debate about the Network’s role, professional standards, and relations to other Arab ideological and political powers. Al Jazeera has long coped with such contradictory stereotypes and labelling attempts. In his discussion of the main stereotypes and accusations, Hugh Miles quotes Al Jazeera’s spokesperson saying: “In the same breath we were accused of being anti-Israeli by Israe- lis; Islamists by seculars and Arab nationalists; Arab nationalists by Israelis, Americans and Islamists; funded by the CIA, funded by bin Laden, and funded by Saddam Hussein” (1) . Miles then con- cludes that, the contradictory nature of these allegations of bias showed there could be no substance to them at all. Fourth , Al Jazeera’s coverage of the Arab Spring revolutions marked a significant development in the Network’s capability and potential impact. The coverage established grounds for further ac- cusations of ‘being party to’ revolutionary events, rather than just reporting them the way mass media are expected to do. It is no secret that some saw Al Jazeera’s coverage as the reason for the widening of those events into several countries within the early weeks of 2011. Some researchers regarded Al Jazeera’s perfor- mance as biased in favour of, even siding with and calling for, the revolutionary movements, noted Mongi Mabrouki (2) . Others con- sidered the coverage as going outside the true role of media, while some studies regarded it as necessary for revolutions to come to fruition (3) . Unquestionably, the voice of the Arab public and those siding with the revolutionary movements was the most resound- (1) Hugh Miles, Al Jazeera: The Inside Story of the Arab News Channel that Is Challenging the West , (New York: Grove Press, 2005), p. 57. (2) Mongi Al Mabrouki, “Al Jazeera and the Arab Spring: What Role and What Impact?” in Mapping the Al Jazeera Phenomenon: 20 Years On , edited by Ezzeddine Abdelmoula and Noureddine Miladi, (Beirut: Al Jazeera Centre for Studies and the Arab of Scientific Publishers, 2016). pp. 123-149. (3) See Diana Bosio and Seba Badawi, “How Al Jazeera Reported the Arab Spring: A Prelim- inary Comparative Analysis”, Media Asia , Vol. 40, (2013, Issue 4). Saba Bedawi, Media Power and Global Television News: The Role of Al Jazeera English (Lon- don, I.B. Tauris, 2016).
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