BBC world news and Al Jazeera English coverage : a study of the Iran 2009 presidential election

Abstract

Powerful concentrations of mass media in the hands of Western countries are believed to shape a lasting picture of Islam and Muslims, most of it reflecting the interests of the society served by the media. However, the complexities and dynamics of global news reporting have weakened those arguments. This is because transnational news services, such as the BBC World News (BBCWN), CNN International (CNNI) and AI Jazeera English (AJE), are believed to represent competing paradigms and different approaches to news. In addition, through communications cross-traffic in today's global media, varieties of views and voices are thought to enter the frame and challenge the dominant common sense in the realm of public discourse. This study is an inquiry into a comparative analysis between BBCWN and AJE. BBCWN is selected to represent the mainstream Western group of global media traffic, and AJE is selected to represent the contra-flow category of global news media. The global event of the Iranian 2009 presidential election is chosen as a case study. The central question of the thesis investigates the differences and similarities in the discourses of both networks, and the factors that explain the differences and, indeed, the similarities. The news reporting of the 2009 presidential election by both networks is subjected to the qualitative method of discourse analysis. The results are then triangulated with interviews with the correspondents and editors of BBCWN and AJE. Drawing from the conceptual framework on the diversity and complexity of global media flows, and the understanding of television news as a construction of reality, this study assumes that the similarities in the BBCWN and AJE coverage are due to the practices of news-gathering; whereas the differences are explained by the nature of global competitiveness in the news marketplace and aspects of national affiliation. The results, however, show that all factors contribute to differences in the reporting of BBCWN and AJE. Although the initial reporting of the pre-election period shows convergence in the coverage of BBCWN and AJE, the findings mainly show that there was clear divergence in the reporting between both networks. The BBCWN coverage gave clear support to the opposition group discourse and was more critical of the Iranian authorities, while AJE portrayed a more balanced and detached reporting of the election. This study found that the national affiliation factor has the strongest influence in BBCWN reporting and the news-gathering factor is the most determining factor in AJE reporting. Show more