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Communication, Culture & Critique ISSN 1753-9129

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Al-Jazeera and the Arab Uprisings:
The Language of Images and a Medium’s
Stancetaking

Assem Nasr

Department of Communication, Indiana Purdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, IN 46805-1499, USA

This study (a) investigates the complex set of emergent meanings from Al-Jazeera’s visual
narratives about itself, and (b) analyzes how Al-Jazeera’s visual texts articulate a broader
set of nationalist meanings concerning Qatar, its home country. Rather than a content
analysis of language, visual elements are emphasized, which transcend the news story or
program content. The “content” here involves not just events themselves but the metatex-
tual meanings emerging from the images woven among programs, promotional videos, and
commercial advertisements.

doi:10.1111/cccr.12058

Popular activists are the protagonists in a new chapter in recent history in the Arab
world as many of the region’s longstanding autocratic regimes lost power. The Jan-
uary 2011, toppling of Zine El Abidine ben Ali from a presidency in Tunisia, which
exceeded 20 years, may have been the impetus for the wave of popular uprisings across
the region. After the success of the Tunisian revolution, public outcries for change
soon sprouted in many Arab states—despite the severity of intolerance for dissent
from these governments. The world watched in disbelief as people took to the streets
in Cairo, Manamah, Ben Ghazi, Sanaa, and Homs. As attention has focused on the
social change unfolding and its impact on peace and stability in the region, many
debates have centered on the role of social media in these uprisings. Analysts in the
United States and Europe have considered social media such as text messaging, Twit-
ter, Facebook, YouTube, and others as a major force in the success of these uprisings.
While such claims could carry a degree of truth (albeit dismissive of other factors), it is
important to consider how transnational media broadcasts contribute to the struggle
at definitive crossroads in Arab societies.

Corresponding author: Assem Nasr; e-mail: nasra@ipfw.edu

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Al-Jazeera and the Arab Uprisings A. Nasr

Al-Jazeera established itself as a news network that broke the censorship barriers
imposed by Arab state leaders to protect their regimes’ reputation and control infor-
mation. Al-Jazeera has provided viewers with unprecedented news coverage of major
events and has offered an alternative perspective to mainstream global media such as
BBC, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC to name a few. Since its inception, the station
has championed human rights, giving voice to the voiceless, and exposing political
and military mishandlings in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Israel to name a few. During
the recent uprisings, Al-Jazeera appeared to drum up support for popular rebellions
across the Arab region. Al-Jazeera relied on rebel and citizen accounts for its coverage
of events—thereby challenging official state accounts of events.

Many media scholars have observed that Al-Jazeera’s broadcasts have contributed
to a sense of unity among Arab communities (Fahmy & Johnson, 2007; Mihelj, Bajt, &
Pankov, 2009; Miladi, 2006; Phillips, 2012; Pintak, 2011; Rinnawi, 2012). In fact, some
scholars (Pintak, 2011; Rinnawi, 2012) note that during the recent uprisings in Arab
communities, Al-Jazeera presented a slanted viewpoint in its approach to the events’
unfolding. In investigating Al-Jazeera’s coverage of the revolution in Egypt, Rinnawi
(2012) states that the station focused on the rebels’ plight while disregarding or putting
a critical light on Mubarak’s supporters. Furthermore, Rinnawi (2012) noted that not
only was the news coverage in support of rebels and freedom fighters but the station
focused on its role as an agent in the uprisings. In comparison, Al-Jazeera’s coverage
of the uprising in Bahrain barely touched on the struggle and confrontation unfolding
on the streets of Manama (Pintak, 2011).

While some have criticized Al-Jazeera’s reporting as slanted, none of the studies
investigated regarded the potential for multiple meanings embodied in the station’s
visual images. Through this visual imagery, manifest in newscasts, station promos, and
breaks, a distinct pattern emerges. These images comprise a complex text, rich with
connotation, that perpetually negotiates and renegotiates the meanings of Al-Jazeera
and its host state Qatar as advocates for freedom and liberty. Not only does Al-Jazeera
place itself metaphorically in the trenches along with the rebels but also reflects an
image of Qatar as a democratic and free state. In advocating for a new Arab world,
Al-Jazeera presents itself and its state sponsor as beacons for freedom and democracy,
thus serving to strengthen Qatar’s global and regional political cachet. So what is the
significance of this?

The rhetoric that emerges from Al-Jazeera’s visual choreography of the Arab upris-
ings is crucial in defining Qatar’s position among Arab societies as well as a global
player. The objective of this study is twofold: (a) to investigate the complex set of
emergent meanings from Al-Jazeera’s visual narratives about itself, and (b) to analyze
how Al-Jazeera’s visual texts articulate a broader set of nationalist meanings concern-
ing Qatar. Rather than simply conduct a content analysis of news and reporting of
events, this article emphasizes the importance of visual elements that transcend the
news story or program content. The “content” here involves not just events themselves
but the metatextual meanings emerging from the images woven between programs,
promotional videos, and commercial advertisements.

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A. Nasr Al-Jazeera and the Arab Uprisings

Al-Jazeera: Behind the screen

Al-Jazeera’s emergence in the Arab world constitutes a major historic event in the
Middle East. During a time when Arab states established ministries of information
for the purpose of applying stringent censorship and controlling information (Amin,
2001; Ayish, 2001; Boyd, 1999; Dajani, 2002; Halwani & Al-Abid, 1978; Kraidy, 1999;
Malek, 2006; Rinnawi, 2006; Rugh, 2004; Sakr, 2001), Al-Jazeera arose with relative
journalistic liberties to bring its pan-Arab publics unprecedented news reporting and
coverage of controversial topics. From the onset, the station challenged Arab regimes
by bringing to light political and social issues that were previously prohibited from
being discussed (Malek, 2006). Open political discussions critical of Arab state of
affairs proved embarrassing to Arab leaders. These leaders had typically relied on
their monopolies over state media that continuously painted a flowery picture of
their societies, glorified their accomplishments and benevolence, and avoided any
content that could tarnish the state image. Al-Jazeera, on the other hand, presented
reports that undermined Arab state propaganda outlets. The station’s approach could
best be summarized by Al-Jazeera assistant producer and translator Sameer Khater’s
sentiment “[Al-Jazeera] was a goodbye to censorship, to regional fondness of Arab
leaders waving on airport runways, dubbed with 1930s marching-band soundtrack”
(Parker, 1999, p. 8).

Al-Jazeera talk shows presented daring topics that not only dealt with economy,
national politics, and international affairs but also tackled controversial social issues
and taboo subjects. For the first time in the history of Arab television, Israeli repre-
sentatives and officials appeared on the screens of millions of Arabs (Miles, 2005).
Interviews as such demonstrated Al-Jazeera’s level of professionalism and allowed
people in the Arab world the opportunity to hear the other side, thus living up to
the station’s motto, “the opinion and its counterpoint.”

As subscriptions to satellite services surged in Arab households, national audi-
ences were able to access transnational media as an alternative to state-controlled
broadcasts. This allowed Al-Jazeera to become vastly popular in Arab households
(Seib, 2005). Miles (2005) reports that by the year 2000, Al-Jazeera garnered more
than 35 million viewers each night, while state television stations across the Arab
world could barely compete. The number of viewers doubled within 2 years (Fahmy &
Johnson, 2007). Miladi (2006) attributes the vast popularity of Al-Jazeera to its ability
to engage its audiences with unique content, bold topics, and uninhibited news cov-
erage pertinent to Arab viewers’ lives and daily struggles. The station tackled issues of
human rights, freedom of expression, and democracy—topics that other Arab tele-
vision stations typically dismissed or avoided. Sakr (2007) contends that the Arab
society has become increasingly aware of the presence of media and their impact on
their livelihoods. Quoting a demonstrator in the 2005 Lebanese Cedar Revolution that
resulted in Syrian military withdrawal from Lebanon, “why should we be afraid [… ],
the whole world is watching us on television,” Sakr (2007, p. 10) argues that there is
a new sentiment in the Arab world that perhaps owes its existence to broadcasts like
those of Al-Jazeera’s.

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Before Al-Jazeera, citizens of the Arab world had rarely seen candid news and tele-
vision talk shows that featured officials held accountable for their policies and actions.
State television and private stations catered to the political elite’s palate for content.
By contrast, Al-Jazeera programs gave young Arabs a forum to contest the traditional
patriarchal authorities that have dominated the airwaves (Karam, 2007). For the first
time in Arab history, Arab youth had a voice. Al-Jazeera soon became the most trusted
source of information in Middle Eastern communities. Fahmy and Johnson (2007)
report that Al-Jazeera exceeded Western media in measures of credibility in the Arab
world.

Furthermore, Al-Jazeera took strides in reporting to the world the reality of Arab
communities as an alternative to the mainstream Western media. For example, while
international news networks such as CNN or Sky News might observe restraint
in presenting images of war horrors to spare its viewers, Al-Jazeera did not avoid
graphic images in its reports (Fahmy & Johnson, 2007). According to Fahmy and
Johnson (2007), Al-Jazeera’s presentation of such images is related to its public’s
perceptions of their everyday reality. While media in the West consider images of
casualties sensationalizing of news, El-Nawawi and Iskandar (2002) argue that the
content of Al-Jazeera’s news coverage presents objective content within the context
of the region and culture: a phenomenon to which they referred as “contextual
subjectivity” (El-Nawawi & Iskandar, 2002, p. 27). The authors compare Al-Jazeera’s
coverage of the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq to the U.S. media coverage of
the events of 11 September 2001, whereby the news media presented content shaped
by its audiences.

Al-Jazeera was able to create a dedicated following by maintaining professional
journalistic standards while unrelenting to pressures from disgruntled Arab states.
El-Nawawi and Iskandar (2002) note that Al-Jazeera owes its professionalism and level
of journalistic expertise to its inheritance of BBC-trained staff that had once worked
for a Saudi-BBC joint venture. In 1996, the Saudi-owned Orbit satellite media net-
work invested in developing an Arabic language BBC station. However, after a dispute
between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the BBC over editorial control and con-
tent oversight, the broadcasts halted less than 2 years after they began (El-Nawawi &
Iskandar, 2002; Parker, 1999). Al-Jazeera’s management saw an opportunity by reap-
ing the expertise and training of the Arab journalists who were laid off from the Arabic
BBC television. As El-Nawawi and Iskandar (2002) point out, this diverse group of
professionals from across the Arab world trained in Britain by the BBC has played
a significant role in giving Al-Jazeera its pan-Arab edge. The diversity of journal-
ists, editors, and staff at Al-Jazeera has catered to the various Arab communities with
an acceptable degree of objectivity and factual reporting. Fahmy and Johnson (2007)
attribute the unembellished presentation to Al-Jazeera’s practices of consistently fol-
lowing Western standards of journalism.

Al-Jazeera’s approach to journalism, therefore, underscored the importance of
ethics, fairness, and balance in its news coverage. Such practices bring to question how
Al-Jazeera came to survive in a political environment that has typically restricted free

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A. Nasr Al-Jazeera and the Arab Uprisings

speech. The question pertains to how an Arab television station broadcasting con-
troversial content could maintain its presence in the Arab world despite the political
pressures from the repressive political regimes that have prevailed in the Arab world.

Al-Jazeera and Qatar’s world image
Conducting its global operations from Qatar, Al-Jazeera was a sociopolitical force that
exceeded the state’s political influence (El-Nawawi & Iskandar, 2002). El-Nawawi and
Iskandar (2002) maintain that one possible reason for Sheikh Hamad to have dedi-
cated significant resources to starting up this channel is to improve his image among
those whom he rules and to strengthen his position as sovereign leader of his country.
Miles (2006), on the other hand, maintains that the efforts on the Emir’s behalf were
part of a new strategy for improving relations with the West.

While Al-Jazeera remains one of Sheikh Hamad’s major accomplishments, under
his leadership, the state of Qatar has undertaken other ambitious projects to that
end. For instance, the Emir made concerted efforts to improve Qatari public insti-
tutions in hopes of developing a civil society, thus adopting policies that build con-
nections with the rest of the world. His approach to state affairs soon became akin to
a corporate-style management, “dispens[ing] with the ritual of the baroque finery of
the court” (Miles, 2005, p. 15).

The improvements extended beyond matters of public administration. Spear-
headed by his wife, Princess Mozah, Qatar has developed one of the largest and
fastest-growing academic and educational hubs in the region: Education City (Mar-
tin, 2010). In less than 2 decades, this project has established Doha-based branches
of seven reputable universities including Carnegie Melon University, Cornell Uni-
versity, Georgetown University, Northwestern University, Texas A&M University,
and Virginia Commonwealth University (Education City, 2012). Having an edge in
education was a carefully planned strategy that built Qatar’s profile of investment in
human resource development instead of competing with neighboring oil-producing
states (Miles, 2005). Thus, by establishing an educational initiative that benefits the
region, Qatar secured a position for itself as an educational center.

Qatar has also been a major mediator and benefactor in regional crises and con-
flicts. The state leveraged its global image by hosting economic summits, mediating
conflict resolution, and sponsoring peace talks among states—the latest of which
were resolving border disputes between Eritrea-Djibouti, financing refugee camps
in Tunisia for Libyans fleeing Qaddafi’s regime, and investing in the post-Mubarak
Egyptian economy (Agence France Presse (AFP), 2008, 2010, 2011; Doherty, 2011;
El-Tablawy, 2011). Therefore, while Qatar earned the regional diplomatic prestige in
the region, Al-Jazeera, fulfilled another task (Malek, 2006), it presented Qatar and its
benefactor monarch as an open-minded democratic country that, unlike its neigh-
bors, promotes free speech and liberty.

This has been a costly undertaking for Qatar. Short of 2 decades of broadcast-
ing, the channel still relies on the annual $30 million contribution from the Qatari
government to stay on-air (Seib, 2005). The station has had almost no advertising

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revenue despite its popularity in a market that spends in excess of $500 million on
television commercials a year. El-Nawawi and Iskandar (2002) attribute the station’s
lack of commercial revenue to the advertisers’ reluctance to sponsor content that Arab
state systems have considered harmful to the status quo—especially when the suc-
cess and livelihood of these agencies depends on appeasing these states’ leaders. Miles
(2005) reports that the Saudi royal family, for example, has exerted pressure on adver-
tising agencies that buy time on Al-Jazeera to desist from dealing with the channel.
The extent of this pressure went as far as to threaten to ban products advertised on
Al-Jazeera from being sold on the Saudi market (Miles, 2005). To advertisers, losing
the Saudi market presents a major concern as Saudi Arabia takes up to 60% of the
Gulf market share (Seib, 2005).

With a fondness for controversial content, Al-Jazeera has managed to alienate
most of the political elites of the Middle East, the Gulf, and North Africa. Al-Jazeera
has caused a rift between Qatar and its neighboring Gulf states. For instance, ever
since its early years, Al-Jazeera has caused numerous protests from Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain, Kuwait, and Libya that almost resulted in the withdrawal of some of these
states’ ambassadors from Qatar (El-Nawawi & Iskandar, 2002). The dissatisfaction was
a result of Al-Jazeera’s liberal approach in airing voices critical to the regimes. The rift
widened when Al-Thani claimed that he had no influence in what the station airs.
Al-Jazeera, the Emir responded, is an independent institution practicing journalism
in an uncensored environment (Miles, 2005).

However, Al-Thani’s assertion of Qatar’s liberal approach to free expression
deserves investigation. Notwithstanding Al-Jazeera’s achievements, Qatar’s monar-
chy has absolute power (El-Nawawi & Iskandar, 2002) with declining free speech
(Freedom House, 2002; Freedom House, 2012). This coincides with Ayish’s (2002)
findings that Qatar’s local news is almost nonexistent on its own Al-Jazeera. In com-
parison to its coverage of the uprisings in the Arab world, the extent to which Qatar
appears on Al-Jazeera seems to be exclusively in the context of the state’s accom-
plishments and its acts of goodwill to other Arab countries. Recently, Al-Jazeera’s
mention of its host state has focused on Qatar’s aid to refugees as a result of the social
upheavals in the region. These stories appear in the sequence of reports covering the
uprisings along with news of people displaced as a result of state bombing or cracking
down on the rebels. The adulating coverage that the Qatari state of affairs enjoys on
Al-Jazeera brings to question the type of freedom that the station’s editors have.

Theoretical framework

There is a considerable body of research that emphasizes the crucial role of symbols
in the emergence and development of national consciousness. This article’s focus is
on a very specific form of national consciousness, namely the sense of connected-
ness which people in the entire Arab region and global diaspora feel, with varying
degrees of intensity, and notwithstanding colonial, religious, national, and regional
divisions.

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A. Nasr Al-Jazeera and the Arab Uprisings

Mediated symbols strengthen national unity (Bauman, 1990; Dayan & Katz, 1992)
and promote national imaginings (Anderson, 1991) despite the blurred and constantly
changing definitions of a national community (Hilmes, 2003). By underscoring as
origin, history, victories, and losses, such symbols anchor a common vision of past,
present, and future among the members of the nation (Price, 1995).

Arguably, Al-Jazeera’s presence in Arab households presents a strong case for the
role of satellite television in identity. Al-Jazeera has positioned itself as the beacon
for social empowerment and engaged citizenship at a time when a sense of disen-
franchisement prevailed in Arab societies. The channel united a fragmented Arab
audience giving sense of bonding among the various communities separated by state
borders, economic factors, religion, and other cultural aspects. In El-Nawawi and
Iskandar’s (2002) view, the station presented its diverse viewers with a sense of unity
by catering to sociocultural commonalities. This cohesiveness among the Arab publics
transcends national borders and state policies—a phenomenon that Nisbet (2007)
referred to as a “disembodied public sphere.” Nisbet (2007) draws the distinction
between the public sphere that is contingent upon the national political makeup ver-
sus that which surpasses state nationalism bridging societies across state borders.
The platform of free expression that Al-Jazeera created provided for a sense of unity
among Arab viewers in the Middle East. Moreover, it also gave voice to diasporic
Arab communities scattered around the globe (El-Nawawi & Iskandar, 2002; Miladi,
2006). While people in Arab nation-states may be proud citizens of these countries, a
sense of sharing a common destiny emerges through the collective imaginings of his-
tory, language, religious beliefs, and other factors. Such a sense of community among
the various Arab societies, argues Phillips (2012), is indeed a form of “supranational”
community. “Supranationalism” may not supersede the ties of state nationality. How-
ever, there is a shared history of experiences, one of which is the colonial fragmenta-
tion of the Middle East (Billig, 2004). These experiences create a bond among Arab
citizens allowing them to see a common destiny congruent with that of their national
affiliations. Al-Jazeera’s broadcasts, therefore, bring to the forefront issues that Arab
viewers care deeply about, thus, cultivating sentiments of empathy and compassion
among these audiences (El-Nawawi & Iskandar, 2002; Fahmy & Johnson, 2007; Pintak,
2009, 2011; Rinnawi, 2012). So far, the scholarly discussion (El-Nawawi & Iskandar,
2002; Fahmy & Johnson, 2007; Hahn, 2007; Miladi, 2006; Miles, 2005; Nisbet, 2007;
Seib, 2005) on Al-Jazeera has centered on its reception in the Arab world and the
communal imagination its viewers are able to conceive. Important as these studies are,
there were none that decoded the audiovisual texts that Al-Jazeera presents. Thus, it is
imperative to explore the narratives that Al-Jazeera produces and critically interpret
them within the contexts in which they appear.

This article contends that Al-Jazeera’s coverage—while relatively objective and
novel to Arab audiences—has simultaneously focused attention on the station itself
by championing its journalistic accomplishments and marking itself as an advocate of
the Arab populace. The station’s broadcasts perpetuate an image about its role in the
Arab world. This invites a closer look at how Al-Jazeera represents itself, that is, what

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frames it creates for its own image in respect to the issues it reports. Entman (1993)
suggests that frames evaluate a given issue and prescribe solutions. The process, Ent-
man (1993) notes, consists of bringing issues to the audience’s awareness through the
promotion of a particular scenario of cause and effects. Frames rely on rhetorical and
stylistic approaches through which they mediate a preferred interpretation of events
(Capella & Jamieson, 1997). However, in order to insert oneself in the narrative of
an independent event, the narrator follows a methodical approach that goes beyond
framing; an approach that incorporates the narrator into the narrative of a particular
event. To better understand this process, this study relies on the work of John W. Du
Bois (2007) on the practice of stancetaking.

In studying interpersonal communication from a linguistic viewpoint, Du Bois
(2007) notes that in any given conversation, the very words that a subject speaks
allow for that speaker to assume a position vis-à-vis the object of conversation. Du
Bois (2007) states that the importance of the dynamic lies in “invok[ing] systems of
sociocultural value” (p. 139). From this perspective, a subject/speaker can become a
“social actor” in a particular exchange by first indexing herself in the context of the
object of discussion, and second, by identifying a position of value in regard to this
context (Du Bois, 2007). There is a linguistic system of generating meaning at work at
this instance. In “taking a stance,” Du Bois (2007) contends that the “stancetaker (a)
evaluates an object, (b) positions a subject (usually the self), and (c) aligns with other
subjects” (p. 161). This system is what Du Bois (2009) refers to as “the stance triangle”
(p. 160).

While Al-Jazeera does not engage in a conversation in the literal sense, the mes-
sages that the station presents generate a system of a figurative exchange between
subjects (in Du Bois’s understanding of the word) in regard to an object. Accordingly,
this study explores Al-Jazeera’s stancetaking by applying the conventions of stance to
the station’s broadcast content. The question pertains to how Al-Jazeera (a) evaluates
the Arab uprisings, (b) positions itself vis-à-vis the viewer, and (c) aligns itself with
the viewer. This study is concerned particularly with the promotional videos that air
on Al-Jazeera, and these videos serve as tools to visually and discursively negotiate
this stance. The contention is that these promos position Al-Jazeera as a social actor
in the Arab uprisings while empathizing with the viewer—presumably, the average
Arab citizen who has been the subject of tyranny and depravation of the regime under
which he or she lives.

It is important to recognize that while these promotional videos are discrete
units for analysis, investigating the framework in which they appear locates these
units within larger contexts of significance. The context in question pertains to the
sequence of messages that forms a backdrop against which a given promo is situated.
Accordingly, this study will explore the subtexts of Al-Jazeera’s promos, but further-
more, it seeks to understand each of these promos’ significance as syntactic units
in the sequence of messages in which they appear. This approach relies heavily on
Williams’s (1975) notion of “flow.” Williams (1975) draws attention to the sequence
of messages, or “flow,” that is not limited to a program or unit of broadcast content.

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A. Nasr Al-Jazeera and the Arab Uprisings

Rather, he asserts that “flow” is essentially the entirety of a given broadcast: a program
and its interruptions (program trailers, commercial advertisements, news, and other
items). Williams (1975) contends that the conventional view of a television program
suggests a limitation to the text of the program itself, while the “real broadcast” is the
series of content instances that appear in the sequence (p. 96). It is this “succession
of words and images” and their “combination and fusion” that shape our viewing
experience (Williams, 1975, p. 96).

Methodology

The images broadcast on Al-Jazeera provide a key to deciphering the meanings under-
lying the messages that point to its position vis-à-vis the citizen uprisings and political
regimes. Analyzing the textual webs underlying the station’s broadcasts reveals the
multiple layers of meaning. Textual analysis is a method that distinctly serves the pur-
pose of this study for it scrutinizes the real representation of the world that the text
offers through codes “not as representing the ‘manifest actuality of our society,’ but
rather as reflecting, ‘symbolically the structure and values beneath the surface’ of text”
(Bertrand & Hughes, 2005, p. 185). Bertrand and Hughes (2005) argue that while tex-
tual analysis is applied to small samples, it breaks down the complex layers of images
and sounds of a given message to reveal the underlying “systems of signification.”
In this sense, this article regards textual analysis as a means through which television
messages use visual and textual language to convey issues relating to culture and iden-
tity in the Arab world. Accordingly, this study will use a multiple-case approach that
considers the texts that position Al-Jazeera within the scope of a narrative analysis.

On a secondary level, to comprehensively understand Al-Jazeera’s messages, the
study considers both the station’s promotional videos as well as segments of its news
reports and broadcasts. The textual analysis employed in this study will rely on a
narrative criticism approach. This approach analyzes how communication messages
operate in developing perceptions of reality (Frey, Botan, & Creps, 2000). These mes-
sages will provide rich and complex narratives when considered within a specific
sociocultural lens—that of the target audience. Characters, settings, and narratives,
asserts Foss (2004), are integral dimensions to a narrative analysis approach. Given
the framework in which these messages appear, namely the Arab uprisings, the study
takes into account factors such as events, temporal and causal relations, the intended
audience, and themes that make these messages effective.

Al-Jazeera’s visual content requires further definition in terms of its self-promotion.
The promotional videos identify the station with both its iconic logo and slogans.
These clips appear in between programs and during commercial intervals. Al-Jazeera
has produced a number of station ID videos that advertise the station’s coverage
and its news-gathering accomplishments. For the purposes of this study, samples
of Al-Jazeera live broadcasts were recorded for a period of 4 hours daily between
15 May and 30 September 2011. The hours recorded were between 10:00 am and
2:00 pm EST, the local primetime for television broadcasts (5:00 pm–9:00 pm,

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local time in Qatar). Data collection involved capturing a significant amount of
video from Al-Jazeera’s live web-streams that mirrored the channel’s live Arabic
satellite broadcasts. However, the study remains less concerned with quantities of
isolated or discrete instances of representation. Rather, Al-Jazeera produces itself
through an accumulating set of images, narratives, and meanings that do not exist
in a simple one-to-one correspondence with a particular instance of representation.
In order to address the complexity of meaning that emerges from these audiovisual
texts, this study relies on a purposive sample as a way to delve more deeply into the
larger complex of accumulated meanings that emerge from the station’s ongoing live
broadcasts.

The study selected four station-break sequences from these broadcasts for textual
analysis. To take into account the framework for Al-Jazeera’s promos, the analysis con-
siders the series of messages presented alongside the station ID video. These samples
represent the diversity of messages existing within each sequence. The ID promos
within these sequences frequently appear during station breaks and, therefore, are
either preceded or followed by commercial messages and public service announce-
ments (PSAs). Investigating the backdrop for Al-Jazeera’s promos will furnish a lexical
context for understanding these visual representations. Accordingly, the study focuses
on select samples based on their unique content along with the context in which
Al-Jazeera self-references appear. Each of the selected clips provides a distinctive nar-
rative that contributes to the relevance of the argument at hand.

Data analysis

The above sequences present messages worthy of analysis as unique units—specifically
those that feature Al-Jazeera’s programs and those that identify the station. The sam-
ples used for this study offer insights into the visual texts that define Al-Jazeera’s
position in the uprisings. Sample I, for example, begins with the Tunisia 2011
promo that features Al-Jazeera’s role in the Tunisian rebellion.1 Attention focuses
on Al-Jazeera’s role in showing the contrast between the demands of the Tunisian
people and Ben Ali’s incompetent and corrupt rule. This is evident from the opening
shot of this promo. A television set appears with an Al-Jazeera anchor reporting the
self-immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi, the Tunisian vendor whose action sparked
the Tunisian uprising. Through a smooth zoom-in, the image pulls the viewer into
the picture. Similarly, this theme continues as the promotional video for Revolution
Talk presents Al-Jazeera as a catalyst in the historic process. Al-Jazeera’s images of
the uprisings transforming into a series of headlines from a newspaper is symbolic of
the station’s agency in documenting history and suspending moments in the fight for
freedom—idolizing these instances and thus exalting its agency in reporting these
events.

Also drawing attention to its role as an agent in the historic narrative, Al-Jazeera
distinguishes its role by focusing on how instrumental “the camera” is in recording
the struggle in Al-Jazeera: The Coverage Continues (Camera Shutter) that appears in

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Sample II. This station promo highlights the medium: the camera represented by the
visual graphic of a viewfinder with a shutter closing and transitioning to images of the
fighting in Libya. As the camera snaps, the series of images moves forward ending with
Al-Jazeera’s logo. The selections of snapshots are pivotal to defining iconic images and
instances of the Libyan revolt. Thus, congruent with the Libyan struggle, the promo
focuses on the role of the camera as it embodies Al-Jazeera’s role in the uprising.

Similarly, a different version of this message [Al-Jazeera: The Coverage Continues
(Trial) in Sample III] presents the Egyptian uprising mediated by Al-Jazeera news
anchors. In less than a minute, the station promo relays the people’s uprising in Egypt
through images laid out in a series of frames in a filmstrip alternating footage between
clashes and newscasts. The interchange of frames between studio and scenes of the
conflict conflates the two physical locations. Such representation draws a visual par-
allel between anchor and rebel, and forges continuity between the two spaces as they
appear on the same filmstrip.

Sample IV provides an example of how Al-Jazeera accentuates its position as a free-
dom fighter. Freedom for Samer Allawi focuses on Al-Jazeera as a victim of injustice
embodied by journalist Samer Allawi. While the promo is an appeal for Allawi’s free-
dom, the message centers on his detention in Israel as an embodiment of Al-Jazeera’s
role. Focusing on Allawi’s role as a journalist and an active community member, the
message constructs Al-Jazeera as a “friend of the people” despite the “gags” and “deten-
tion orders” enforced on it and its staff. Al-Jazeera’s zeal for truth and freedom, there-
fore, places the station as a figurative victim, a “martyr for liberty.”

Al-Jazeera: The Coverage Continues (Martyr Camera—Libya) enforces the “vic-
tim/martyr” discourse further. This animated promo shows the point-of-view (POV)
of a person running through the crossfire in Libya. It is a dramatic piece that depicts
a fearless rebel who falls victim to a sniper’s bullets. The clip’s beginning gives the
impression that the POV is that of a freedom fighter charging to battle. Dashing
through bullets and obstacles, blood stains the screen indicating a fatal bullet wound.
A peaceful floatation akin to a spirit departing a body looks at a camera soaked in
blood. In a sudden motion, the camera’s POV rises and charges once again. There
is a clear juxtaposition between rebels and journalists in this video. The camera, a
metaphor for Al-Jazeera, is a rebel: It charges forward, it “shoots” footage, and it falls
victim. This message claims that Al-Jazeera’s journalists are indeed “soldiers of truth”
who face martyrdom in the line of duty. Using the camera as the weapon, Al-Jazeera
carries on with its mission of “fighting for truth” despite the gravest adversities.

Al-Jazeera’s self-references, however, appear beyond the station’s promos. The
station’s newscasts themselves are loaded with visual texts that reveal such portrayals.
The samples in this study show newscasts on a visual plane that positions news
anchors alongside the rebels. As the anchors deliver the news, life-size images of
protesters waving their fists, rebels aiming their machine guns, and children holding
up signs appear in the backdrop behind the news desk. The images complement
the content of the featured news story. In a smooth slide show each picture zooms
in, collapsing the visual distance between the anchor and the subject of the picture.

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Accordingly, not only does the camera frame present both anchor(s) alongside the
visual portrait of the conflict, the frame blends together those present in the studio
along with those fighting on the ground. The result is a visual fusion between studio
and battlefield, news anchors and rebels.

While select clips from the samples present Al-Jazeera’s stance regarding the upris-
ings, taking each of these sequences as whole units of analysis yields a more complex
result. The samples upon which this study is founded contain messages that promote
Al-Jazeera’s coverage of the uprisings. The sequences cast a light on Al-Jazeera that
portrays it as a beacon for truth and human rights and a champion of hope and free-
dom from oppression. However, they also present a contrast between oppressive Arab
states and Qatar as a developed modern society. The assembly of messages in each of
the samples contains images of the struggle of people suffering from deprivation and
injustice fighting for liberty. The antithesis of oppressive regimes appears in messages
about Qatar. The latter portray Qatar as the epitome of a modern society in its gover-
nance, industries, and the riches it offers the world. The assemblage of the three themes
stands out as they produce a portrait of Al-Jazeera and Qatar within the context of the
uprisings.

The Opinion and Its Counterpoint in Sample I further reinforces this position. In
this instance, the video presents the social and political disparity in Yemen by jux-
taposing Yemeni demonstrators with president Saleh’s reactions. It is noteworthy to
point out that as this promo indeed presented both sides of the conflict, the juxtapo-
sition of viewpoints cleverly depicts Saleh as a hypocritical tyrant by responding to
his patriotic slogans with images of distraught Yemeni protesters. The focus is on the
cruelty of the contested regime.

In contrast, the messages that follow introduce a completely different reality for
Qatar. Beginning with the QNB (Qatar National Bank) commercial, the message
places Qatar’s national bank as a collective triumph that has strived to reshape Qatar
and the Middle East as its slogan suggests: “together, moving forward.” The images
and message underlying Qatar: Feel The Freedom You Desire tourism ad present a
larger disparity between Qatar and the Arab states that have recently dominated
the news. Not only does this message hail the high standards of Qatar’s tourism,
economy, industries, culture, and the emirate’s contribution to the world, it ends with
a slogan that distinguishes Qatar as a “free” society. The “freedom” that this message
highlights underscores the concerted effort to demarcate Qatar as different from
other oppressive Arab states. This contrast, therefore, leverages Qatar’s image as the
sequence presents contentious communities as a point of comparison.

Qatar’s influence and prestige is further developed by a commercial that features
its national natural gas industry. The ad suggests that the world would be a different
place without Qatar’s resources and developments in technology. In line with posi-
tioning the state of Qatar as an advanced nation, the QNB ad appears once again
announcing that this Qatari financial institution moves the Arab world forward.

The sequence commences with news footage of people longing for freedom and
liberty from tyranny as the anchors in this newscast sit in front of a backdrop of rebel

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images. Situating anchors alongside images of freedom fighters metaphorically posi-
tions Al-Jazeera anchors in the trenches. What appears on screen is a visual formula
that locates Al-Jazeera anchors and reporters on the same level as those on the ground
fighting tyranny and injustice.

Similarly, Sample II presents a flow of messages that mediate a distinction between
Qatar and other Arab states. The sequence commences with a weather report spon-
sored by Qatar Airlines represented with an extreme close up of a young green-eyed
flight attendant’s face as she smiles looking up at the camera. The sense of ease and
comfort this promotion presents is interrupted by a set of snapshots of the Libyan
struggle. Al-Jazeera: The Coverage Continues (Camera Shutter) brings forth emotion-
ally charged footage of human suffering and cruelty. As the graphic of an Al-Jazeera
camera snaps pictures of the tragedies and triumphs of the Libyan people, the somber
album is interrupted as the sequence transitions to a message emphasizing the rich
cultural tradition, abundance of cosmopolitan lifestyle, and prosperity that Qatar
enjoys (Qatar: Feel the Freedom You Desire II). Along the same lines, the sequence
commences with the visual praises of the state of Qatar in advertisements for QNB
and Qatar Petroleum. The sequence ends with a newscast that presents the antithesis
of Qatar’s image in these ads: casualties in the Syrian uprisings, NATO’s bombing of
a Libyan port, a funeral for the fallen rebels in Yemen, and troops in Sudan.

Samples III and IV further illustrate the flow of images and the subsequent mean-
ing that emerges. Sample II alternates between Al-Jazeera’s ID promos and program
announcements. Beyond this, this alternation of messages demonstrates a construc-
tion of the Qatari leadership. While the sequence presents dictatorship and the ensu-
ing popular reaction in Revolution Talk, Al-Jazeera: The Coverage Continues (Trial),
and Al-Jazeera: Libya—The People Prevail, a program promotion presents snippets
of an interview with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifah Al-Thani. The Trial promo por-
trays ousted Egyptian president Mubarak and key figures in his regime as corrupt and
cruel. In contrast, Sheikh Hamad appears as the benevolent and wise fatherly figure,
a humanitarian concerned for the welfare of those who suffer tyranny.

Al-Thani’s interview is another marker of disparity between Qatar (and its govern-
ment) and other nation-states. The sequence emphasizes Qatar’s role of an advocate
for freedom as Al-Thani’s words are paired with images of Allawi’s detention in Israel.
On one hand, Qatar’s portrait is that of a country striving for spreading goodwill and
human rights; on the other hand, Israel targets free speech by detaining an Al-Jazeera
journalist. Furthermore, images of destruction, human casualties, and sinister Arab
leaders (ben Ali, Mubarak, and Qaddafi) create a diametrically opposed image for
Qatar and its leadership.

Discussion

Al-Jazeera’s narratives generate a complex set of meanings articulating the channel
to a larger set of political and nationalist concerns. First, the station constantly
asserts and reasserts itself as an agent in the Arab uprisings. Second, these sequences

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underscore Qatar’s position in the Middle East and Gulf portraying the emirate as the
cradle for freedom and progress in an otherwise oppressive and totalitarian region.
When considered in light of unfolding developments in the Arab world, Al-Jazeera’s
textual narratives reflect a diligent production of meaning that helps map out the
parameters of Arab public spheres.

Such mapping remains saturated with deeper subtextual meaning that establishes
the authority of both Al-Jazeera and Qatar’s positions in the Arab world. Al-Jazeera’s
ID videos and program trailers define the station’s role during the upheavals in the
Arab world. These narratives champion Al-Jazeera’s martyr camera, the channel’s
detained correspondent among other texts, as well as the routine newsroom practices
of leveling the visual plane between studio news anchors and the rebels whose images
prominently appear in the studio background. Such indicators position Al-Jazeera as
an integral part of the uprisings—a relentless force in the advancement of liberty and
freedom in Arab societies. This is particularly interesting when observing Al-Jazeera’s
images from a stancetaking perspective.

As Al-Jazeera’s self-references in these reports illustrate how the station per-
forms stance in the televisual conversation (Du Bois, 2007). The messages collapse
the medium–viewer–issue triad [subject 1–subject 2–object, in Du Bois’s (2007)
definition of the stance triangle]. Through the visual immersion of its news anchors
amidst the struggle, Al-Jazeera embeds its journalists among the freedom fighters
on the ground, evoking a fusion of news anchors, reporters, and camera operators
with citizen rebels and victims of state oppression. Rather than focus exclusively on
reporting news of the rebellion, Al-Jazeera identifies its central role as democratizing
the world both in how it documents the world as well as in how it reaches that world
through its broadcasts. These texts ultimately recast Al-Jazeera as central both to the
uprising as well as to the future of the Arab communities.

Secondly, the montage of station IDs, program trailers, and advertisements weave
a concerted meaning. The specific scenarios positioning the station as an agent
for freedom exist alongside more general accounts of struggle and suffering under
tyranny. The station’s mission, as Al-Jazeera declares, is to present objective and
factual news. However, the analysis above shows that the station has consistently
inserted references to its own contributions to the struggles. The figurative conver-
sation in which Al-Jazeera engages regarding the struggle in Libya, the uprising in
Yemen, demonstrations in Egypt, or the success of the Tunisian revolution draws
attention to the station’s position vis-à-vis the issue in question.

Al-Jazeera’s broadcasts ultimately reinforce the predominant model of national
television institutions in the Arab world: to glorify their governments and to reinforce
the raison d’être of the state of affairs (Fahmy & Johnson, 2007; Karam, 2007). Despite
Al-Jazeera’s self-positioning as a critical force to authoritative regimes and a “voice
to the voiceless,” much like other Arab state-owned media, a consistent theme that
emerged in the sequences analyzed for this study center on Qatar’s benevolence
and accomplishments. Qatar’s image relies heavily on the parameters and role that
Al-Jazeera defines for itself as a news medium. The journalistic feats, exclusive

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interviews, expository scoops, and the ultimate sacrifices that Al-Jazeera reporters
have paid with their own lives do not only reflect Al-Jazeera’s excellence but also
envisage Qatar’s role in the world.

Conclusion

Al-Jazeera’s hard-hitting journalism is indeed a departure from the Arab media
model; however, these journalistic practices are essentially a reflection on the State
of Qatar (its rule, policies, and affairs). Al-Jazeera’s portrayals operate in two-tier
process of representation. The primary level involves an institution actively drawing
an image and identity for itself. On a deeper level, this performance evokes meaning
that transcends the producer of text. Ultimately, the norms and values that transpire
from Al-Jazeera’s self-representation provide contextual significance for the force
behind the station. Al-Jazeera’s leveraging of journalistic standards and its support of
change in the Arab world sets a precedent for its patron state. Al-Jazeera represents
Qatar’s values and merits to Arab societies by association.

Al-Jazeera’s textual narratives also set the parameters for larger debates over
national identity through the station’s stance and representations of events. These
narratives diligently frame both Al-Jazeera and Qatar as vital agents in the future of
emerging Arab societies. They also evocatively present the emirate as taking the lead
in imagining a new free Arab world. While Arab audiences remain distinctly diverse
in their cultural, ethnic, and national spheres, Al-Jazeera—and by association,
Qatar—endorses a sense of common destiny that Arab societies share. Such destiny
narratives portray free speech and progress in ways that arguably model themselves
upon the self-proclaimed free society that the emirate enjoys.

This article has offered insights on Al-Jazeera’s representations amidst the major
changes unfolding in the region. These texts focus the analysis on representation.
However, it is important to consider how various audiences partake in the construc-
tion of their own national identities and how Al-Jazeera’s mediations of the Arab
uprisings contribute to such understandings. This will be a worthy subject to consider
for future studies.

Note

1 More information on sample sequences can be found at users.ipfw.edu/nasra

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