Role of Al Jazeera in the Arab Spring
Since December 2010, the entire Arab world has gone through major political transformation. Monarchies that had enjoyed absolute power for hundreds of years have been overthrown; some are in the process to be overthrown and other state leaderships have adopted some flexibility in their system of administration to protect themselves. The public revolt against the state leadership, popularly known as the ‘Arab Spring’ or the ‘Arab Awakening’ “took everyone by surprise not because people had no reason to revolt” (Khanfer 2012, p. 2) but because it took unprecedented scope and speed. An act of self immolation by a street vendor in Tunisia in a show of public revolt against corrupt government not just toppled centuries old dictatorial regime but also became a source of inspiration for Arab masses to revolt against their governments. “The self-immolation triggered unrest in Tunisia and ultimately the resignation of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. This was followed by unrest in a number of Arabian countries that the global press dubbed the ‘Arab Spring’” (Friedman 2011).
So far, the spring breeze has entered into 20 countries in the Persian Gulf and the North Africa. Four countries—Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen—have overthrown their governments. Algeria, Iraq, Iranian Khuzestan, Israeli border areas have witnessed major protests. Syria has landed in a civil war. Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Morocco, Lebanon have gone through protests and governmental changes; Bahrain is going through sustained civil disorder and government changes and countries like Djibouti, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Mauritania have also had minor protests. And, the impact of Arab Spring has been felt worldwide directly or indirectly.
Keeping the Arab Spring at the centre, the essay will analyse the factors that contributed to surprising mass involvement in uprisings. While directing focus to factors that instigated Arabian mass to raise their voice and voluntarily participate in the street protests, there comes Al Jazeera, Qatar-based television network in the foreground. According to Patrick O’Neil (1998), television in particular can galvanize people and is likely to have the largest mobilization effect, at least in the short run. That is why; authoritarian rule usually poses the most severe restrictions on the broadcasting sector. Therefore, the essay will argue that being the most watched and most trusted new channel of the Arabian World, its coverage of the uprising in Arabian courtiers has been very much influential to drive the uprising itself. To prove this argument, the essay will discuss Al Jazeera’s credibility in Arab world and international arena, its coverage of Arab Spring, and will also compare role of Al Jazeera in Arab Spring with the role of Nepali media Kantipur in Nepal in overthrowing monarchy in 2006.
Credibility of Al Jazeera
Had it been operating from anywhere else in the world, Al Jazeera would not have been as important as it is today. The channel has been leading the campaign of the freedom of speech in the region of media censorship and repressive governments. For the Arabian masses that had lost confidence over their national media, Al Jazeera emerged as the most credible source of information in a short while. According to Ismail (2011) the advent of Al Jazeera was like a media earthquake that opened up the gates of freedom of expression and democracy. The clash of opposing views, discussion of taboo subject (religion, sex, politics etc), criticism of governments and rulers introduced by Al Jazeera were welcomed by audiences throughout the Arab world.
Since Al Jazeera launched its operation in November 1996, “it has built a reputation of fierce independence, professionalism, and focus on the issues that mattered most to the Arab street,” (Souaiaia 2011). Emergence of Al Jazeera in the Arab world was a great achievement in the field of media because it shined as a ray of hope for Arab mass to get independent and uncensored information. According to Souaiaia, otherwise, the majority of Arab and Muslim countries had a cabinet position managing information. Such governmental agencies are generally in charge of exerting state control over the press and all media outlets. So, “Ministry of Information” had become synonymous with censorship and propaganda.
Like its logo suggests, the channel has been presenting ‘The opinion and the other opinion’. “Its political debates reflect the everyday arguments that Arabs privately carry on among families and friends. The fact is that by broadcasting such issues in public – and in Arabic, no less – Al-Jazeera violated long-established customs” (El-Nawawy & Iskandar, 2003, p. 50). With its lively and far-ranging talk shows, coverage of sensational issues, Al Jazeera became widely popular among Arab mass in a short period of time. “By introducing variety in opinion and programming, Al Jazeera managed to kick ajar the door to democracy and free speech in the Arab Middle East. […] At a time when it was taboo, even dangerous, to simply utter the word "Israel" in certain countries, Al Jazeera took the courageous step of opening bureaus in Israel” (Salhani 2011). Because of this uniqueness, audiences of the Arab world developed loyalty to the channel in no time and helped the channel to grow. When it began in 1996, it offered 6-hours of programming per day. In 1997, it increased to 12-hours per day and it began broadcasting round the clock on 1 January 1999. And, a 2000 estimate pegged nightly viewership at 35 million, ranking Al Jazeera first in the Arab world.
The same year (2002), Al Jazeera's general manager, Mohammed Jasim al-Ali, reiterated Al Jazeera’s business philosophy and their vision as follows:
I came to recognize something about the TV business in the Arab world: we concentrate mostly upon entertainment, quiz shows, drama, movies. But I think there is an important field that has been missing, talk shows and news. No one has developed the news, because the reputation of the media in the Middle East is that the news is censored and controlled by the government. All media business in the Middle East is controlled by the government. The leaders of Qatar wanted to change that; they want to have a satellite channel with the aim of no longer hiding any information.
Though funded by the government of Qatar, the channel claims to enjoy editorial independence. However, several critics argue that the channel is being used by Qatari government to serve its political interest. The U.S. State Department internal communications, released by Wikileaks as part of the 2010 United States diplomatic cables leak, also claim that the Qatar government manipulates Al Jazeera coverage to suit political interests. And, there is no significant revelation or negative news coverage on Qatar by Al Jazeera so far. But, whatsoever the case, we cannot negate the fact that the way Al Jazeera has addressed and dig out issues that mattered to the Arab World no other media has done it so far.
The channel has now expanded into a network with several outlets, including the Internet and specialty TV channels in multiple languages. The channel is also accessible in several world regions. It has about 1,300 to 1,400 employees, Al Jazeera’s newsroom editor told The New York Times. There were 23 bureaus around the world and 70 foreign correspondents, with 450 journalists in all.
And, its admirers are not just in the Arab World, they are all over the world because the channel not only covers issues related to Arab but also treats international news with equal importance. According to Kaplan (2009), the Qatar-based Arab TV channel’s eclectic internationalism—a feast of vivid, pathbreaking coverage from all continents—is a rebuke to the dire predictions about the end of foreign news. He also claims that if American viewers are given a choice to see The News Hour with Jim Lehrer and Al Jazeera’s talk show, they will definitely choose Al Jazeera over Lehrer.
According to ABC News reporter Radia (2011), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also said that U.S. media were not keeping up with Al Jazeera. "Al Jazeera has been the leader in that they are literally changing people's minds and attitudes," Clinton said. "And like it or hate it, it is really effective. In fact, viewership of Al Jazeera is going up in the United States because it's real news."
And someone like Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsefeld, “who held a hawkish view against Al Jazeera -- in 2004 called the network's coverage of the Iraq war "vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable" -- softened his stance."Its audience has grown and it can be an important means of communication in the world, and I am delighted you are doing what you are doing," Rumsfeld told Al Jazeera in a November interview” (Murrieta 2012).
So there is no doubt that Al Jazeera has built a reputation of a credible news source not only for Arab masses but also for people around the world.
Coverage of Arab Spring by Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera has tried to build its reputation as anti-war media since the beginning. During the Iraq war, the network had taken firm stance against the Bush administration for this move and had advocated for peace and democracy. The network has further affirmed its stance through its coverage of the mass protest in the Arab world in the past one and half years. Even this time, it has stood with Arab masses against tyrannical power.
The coverage of ‘Arab Spring’ by Al Jazeera has been far better than Western broadcasting giants like BBC and CNN as most of its reporters spoke Arabian language and were covering events from the streets. “During the Arab Spring, Al Jazeera out-performed almost all major Western news outlets. Many of its correspondents spoke the language—or were even from the countries they were reporting on. So while journalists in the Anglophone press were often caught furiously trying to keep pace with events, Al Jazeera was setting the tempo of news coverage” (Dickinson 2012).
When conflict broke out it Tunisia, Al Jazeera started to news feed viewers with open news cycle. Obviously at crisis situations, people want to view every little detail in the television to get updates of situation in the streets. That is why, Alef Hijjawi, Program Director of Al Jazeera Arabic acknowledged:
“Al-Jazeera was quick to take a stand supporting Tunisian protesters and their demands. As demonstrations intensified, the station dropped its regular scheduling and opted for an open news cycle, which broadcast news and images from Tunisia as they came in online. The Tunisian audience followed their revolution on Al-Jazeera – the station was already popular in Tunisia before the revolution, due to the absence of trustworthy local media. During the revolution, the Tunisians lifted banners praising Al-Jazeera” (Hijjawi, 2012, P. 70).
Al Jazeera being backed by the government of Qatar is financially strong media. It has sufficient staffs, fund and technology to cover massive event like Arab uprising. Above everything, they had strong determination to make Arab Spring a success. Regarding uprising in Arab, Head of news at Al Jazeera, Mustafa Souag also said that in order to provide “the most accurate and comprehensive coverage that we could by sending cameras and reporters to any place there is an event. And if you don't have a reporter, then you try to find alternative people who are willing to cooperate because they believe in what we are doing” (Miles 2011).
Once the uprising in Tunisia became successful in toppling the tyranny, citizens of other Arab countries who could relate their situation with Tunisians, gathered courage to raise their voice. And this made Al Jazeera’s mission easy. “What changed with the fall of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia was the recognition that even the worst tyrants could be toppled. It shattered the wall of fear. That is why hundreds of thousands of Egyptians came into the streets on Jan. 25. It's why protests broke out in Yemen, Bahrain, Morocco, and Jordan. It's why Syrians and Libyans took unfathomable personal risks to rise up against seemingly untouchable despots despite the near certainty of arrest, torture, murder, and reprisals against their families” (Lynch 2011).
When the uprising reached to Egypt, Al Jazeera’s news feed stood in sharp contrast to state-owned TV channels. “While Al Jazeera was showing hundreds of thousands of people calling for the end of the regime, Egyptian TV showed humdrum scenes of traffic quietly passing by; when Al Jazeera reported hundreds of people queuing for bread and petrol, Egyptian TV showed happy shoppers with full fridges using footage filmed at an unknown time in the past” (Miles 2011).Within no time, people identified that their state is lying to them and their disgust with state-run media only heightened. This also proved boon for Al Jazeera.
The most fascinating aspect on the coverage of Arab Spring by Al Jazeera was the constructive use of new media. Al Jazeera used social media such as Facebook, Twitter, blogging sites and Youtube to organise demonstrations, promote resistance and spread the news of revolution to the world. This helped in achieving the goal of uprising faster. The networks created through social media serve as a more democratic platform for like-minded people to get united for a cause. And anything shared through these media create exponential effect. Hadn’t the video of Bouazizi’s self-immolation uploaded in Youtube, it would not have gone viral and created the effect that it did. Al Jazeera’s “early mastery of digital social media—something that networks in the United States and Britain have yet to match. The network has invested heavily in understanding how to use and interpret user-created content. Needless to say, this proved an invaluable asset amid a string of revolutions broadcast by cellphone video uploaded to YouTube” (Dickinson 2012).
Though social media, Al Jazeera mobilized youths, the driving force of uprising. When tyrannical governments in Middle East neglected the power of youths, this media used them as a means for success. According to Khanfar (2012), these governments “thought by putting two, three guys in jail they could sort out the problem. Tunisia started, the first country by the way to put bloggers in jail was Tunisia. But every time they put a blogger in jail he comes out as a hero. And, even when new media were banned in some Arab countries, they always came up with some proxies to make their way.
While Al Jazeera claims to have been the providers of most accurate news, some argue that its coverage uprising in Syria and Libya has not been objective and impartial. But still others argue that it is because “Libya and Syria prevented Al Jazeera's teams from doing their job in covering the mass protests against their dictatorial regimes. Despite that, the Channel has given plenty of space for the pro-regime spokespersons and defenders to have their say and peddle their lies” (Ismail 2011).
Al Jazeera provided on-the-sport coverage of Arab Spring, used digital media to gather and disseminate information and mobilised youths to pass on the most accurate and broad coverage of Arab Spring as possible.
Al Jazeera and Kantipur compared
Al Jazeera is a media of the Arab world while the Kantipur is the media of Nepal. They may be operating in different world but their goal is same which is to inform people. In simple terms, media is a messenger to give away the most accurate information possible to the public. But the role of mass media goes far beyond that point. They are the mediators between the governments and the civil society. And the way they present governments in front of people shapes peoples’ opinion towards those governments. So, the mass media may not be primary political actors but they are mediators between the government, the opposition and the people.
So the way media chooses a topic and reports about it tells people how important/less important the topic is. According to McCombs and Shaw (1972), in choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff, and broadcasters play an important part in shaping political reality. Readers learn not only about a given issue, but also how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information in a news story and its position. That is why, Al Jazeera’s coverage of Arab Spring and Kantipur’s coverage of Nepal’s people’s uprising in 2006 made these revolutions more important events.
Kantipur Publications is a private media house of Nepal based in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. The company operates five widely circulated print publications, a television network and a radio station. The publications was founded in the year 1993, two years after constitution of Nepal permitted free press. Since its establishment, the publication has always been an advocate of democracy in Nepal. The journalists and even editor of the publication have been arrested and interrogated in several political upheavals in Nepal after 1990. But the role of Kantipur in 19-days public revolt, popularly known as ‘Public Movement II’, being the uprising of 1990 the first one, is the most important one.
“During the 19 days of the popular uprising, Kantipur stood in sharp contrast to Nepal Television’s state-sponsored propaganda. Both of them presented visibly contradictory content. This contradiction was less visible in comparisons of state-owned television and other private broadcasters like Image Channel or Channel Nepal. NTV and Kantipur consistently pushed an agenda - the former in favour of the government and the latter against the King's regime or in strong support of the movement. Through consistent framing of anti or pro-King voices and events, they created contrasting meanings of the ongoing political movement,” (Kshetri 2011).
The Kantipur Publications provided massive coverage of the movement through live coverage of street protests at various places all over Nepal. The publication used all of its mediums of communication to keep Nepali masses informed about the situation in the streets. Public fury against the government heightened when they witnessed how their government is using all means to silence peoples’ voices. The reporters of this particular media played with their lives to provide updates about the situation in the streets. And, the reporting of Kantipur motivated each and every Nepali to go to the streets and stand against the brutal power. The reporters of this particular media became the targets of attack for Nepali police and armies. Many reporters were captured and beaten severely. Its vehicles and office were vandalised. The government also threatened to close down its television if it continues showing police and Army’s brutal treatment to protesters.
Same thing had happened to Al Jazeera during the Arab Spring. “During the Arab Spring, Al Jazeera's English station provided the authoritative record of events with impeccable minute-by- minute reporting despite the fact that its correspondents were officially banned in some countries and its camera crews arrested and beaten more than once” (Salhani 2011).
However, on the 19th day, the then King Gyanendra was forced to give in to the pressure exerted by public and media just like the rulers of Arabian World. And the public movement resulted “in the end of the 240 year-old Monarchy, constitutional provision to transform the country into a federal democratic republic and the end of a decade long Maoist insurgency” (Kshetri 2011).
Therefore, the role Kantipur played in toppling monarchy and restoring democracy in Nepal is similar to Al Jazeera’s role in topping tyrants of Arabic World. Here, they did not just present the sequence of events in front of public but also worked along an agenda i.e. to fight against tyrannical power and restore democracy. No doubt that both of these media did not unfolded events in a neutral manner. They were rightfully at the side of people. Hijjawi (2012) says a person’s heart is only really neutral at death. If he person did not favour one of two sides: Hosni Mubarak, or the mass gathered in Tahrir Square for example, he would be confused at best, at worst psychological ill. Even in journalism, neutrality is not possible through it is tried to make news neutral from all possible angles.
However, the case of public uprising in Arab and Nepal, and several other countries that the essay has not covered, is different. It is not just a war between civil society and the governments. It is a fight of right and wrong. And, media, if favours the right, it should be cherished just as Ismail (2011) says about the role that Al Jazeera played in the Arab Spring: “I am now an ardent admirer of the Station's honourable stance in taking the side of the people against the dictators in such an unambiguous and decisive manner”.
It would have been dangerous if mass media comes in the grip of state power and acts as its political tool. Then people would have been deprived of their right to information. It would have been difficult for civilians to win against tyrannical power in the absence of support from media because it will hinder them from getting united and get heard. But this is not the case here. Both of these media in discussion have taken side of people in the decisive manner and have helped topple autocratic regimes.
In a nutshell, ‘neutral’ is a word better suited in a dictionary. Every reporting is biased to some extent because there are people behind every story and it is human nature to show loyalty to certain principles and argue against the other. But while saying this, we must acknowledge the reason behind and outcome of this prejudice. If a media is setting an agenda for public good, it should be applauded. However public should be mindful whether media is moving away from its goal of informing people to misinform or mislead. For example, it is unaccepted if a media shows Photoshoped clips in order to create sensation and invite people in the streets. But if a media shows the reality of the street but slightly overdoes with its analysis part or shows clips over and over to get more attention for the public good, it can be accepted.
Al Jazeera’s mission in the Arab Spring is similar. It has strived to free Arabian masses from the rule of despotic leaders. These leaders have had monopoly over country’s resources, lived luxurious life by denying basic rights to the people. People came to streets because situation had become intolerable for them. The uprising of Arab was not against a certain group, religion or school of thought. The fight was with the state-power. The mass that gathered in the Tahrir Square had only one mission i.e. to overthrow tyrannical ruler. In such case, if a media broadcasts such news to inform people about the situation in the streets, there is nothing wrong in it.
Now, governments in four countries have been overthrown. Some rulers have shown interest to change them in order to sustain. And somewhere the war is still on. However, the Arab Spring has changed a lot of things in these countries.
But the story does not end here. The future of these countries is still unpredictable. They are in the phase of transition and the phase is very vulnerable. From this stage, they may transform to democratic countries or land in a more violent power struggle. This is what happening in Nepal. The king was overthrown in 2006 and after six years, Nepal is still in the phase of transition. Rather than forming a new constitution as promised by political parties, they are busy fighting for their power share.
This may not happen to every country. But, in order to avoid this situation, media has to be more alert. The mission of a media is not accomplished just by overthrowing monarchies. It’s only the half job done. Now, media has to keep an eye on every political development and calculate its consequences. If the trajectory looks like heading to negative direction, it should inform people on time. In the absence of one controlling power, many forces may come to forefront to fish in the murky water. It is now the duty of media to perform role of a watch dog and ensure that nothing wrong happens to the country and its people.
Being the most trusted channel in the Arab World, the responsibility and expectation with Al Jazeera is higher. It should not let its people down and continue to side with Arab masses.
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