Reporting Political Islam and Democracy: Al Jazeera and the Politics of Journalism

(Hardback)

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For over a decade, Al Jazeera (Arabic) occupied an unprecedented position among Arab audiences and families. Its attractive and daring news coverage has inspired millions of Arabs, and led other news channels to follow suit by changing their reporting narrative and presentational style. However, in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings in 2011, the close adoption of the Arab uprisings in general, and the Egyptian one in particular, made the channel fall into the eye of the public storm through its extensive 24-hour coverage. This book assesses whether the channel systematically provided a platform for certain ideologies or ignored others, and if and how Al Jazeera's language had shifted after the 2011 Arab uprisings. It also explores the rationale behind adopting particular editorial principles featured in the analyses, and scrutinises the findings within the framework of media, religion and democratisation.

Author Bio

Mohammed-Ali Abunajela is a Visiting Academic Fellow at Bournemouth University, UK and Amnesty Internationals Regional Media Manager for the MENA region. Previously, he served as Communications Advisor at the BBC World Service in London, and Media and Communications Lead at Oxfam GB in Oxford. He holds a PhD degree in Media Studies and MSc in International Political Communications, Advocacy and Campaigning, from the UK. For years, he worked with international news and humanitarian organisations including the BBC, Oxfam, AFP, and ARTE TV.Nael Jebril is Associate Professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies and Senior Lecturer in Journalism at Bournemouth University, UK, where he served as Head of the Media and Communication postgraduate program. Previously, he was an Academic Fellow at Oxford Universitys Department of Politics and International Relations and the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. He is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and a co-recipient of the 2016 Harvards Goldsmith Book Prize and the 2018 International Journal of Press/Politics Best Book Award.