Al Jazeera and CNN: Exploring Regional Bias Respective Coverage Following the Attack on Benghazi Samantha Geyer
AL JAZEERA AND CNN 1 The purpose of this paper is to analyze the similarities and differences between the coverage of two leading world news sources, Al Jazeera and CNN. In particular, this project analyzes their coverage of the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi on the day following the attack, September 12, 2012. The analysis compares and contrasts the major themes of their coverage, as well as the emphasis they gave to certain aspects of the story. In particular, I examine if the coverage was focused on the sensational, or on the larger implications of the events in the world around it. Through my research I found that Al Jazeera and CNN both used clips of President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton which shows their importance as respected policy-makers around the world. They also both focused on the American film which incited protest around the Muslim world but read its implications in different ways. Al Jazeera seemed to focus more on the effects and precursors of the attack while CNN focused more on the deceased ambassador and American-Libyan relations. Overall, the coverage exemplified the fact that US media tends to focus on the sensational while ignoring or missing the larger trends in foreign affairs completely. This shows the need for a way for Americans to access foreign news sources in a more convenient way which would allow for more variety on the coverage of foreign affairs. Methodology For my research I chose to focus on two news sources, Al Jazeera and CNN. I chose these two sources because of their similarities as well as their differences. For instance, both news sources run news stories 24 hours a day and both have achieved recognition and prestige both locally and nationally. They also differ in the types of information and stories on which they focus. While CNN is privately owned and has to compete for funding and audiences by broadcasting an attractive programme in order to stay on air and relevant (Volkmer, 199, p.
AL JAZEERA AND CNN 2 127); Al Jazeera is funded by the Emir of Qatar and focuses on exposing Arab political and social issues even if this causes problems with other governments around the world (Zayani, 2005, p.2). Findings After analyzing the clips it was easy to distinguish the main similarities and differences between the coverage of Al Jazeera and CNN. These included the types of people that were called in to the talk shows to comment on the events unfolding as well as the main topics that each station covered. For the most part, Al Jazeera s guests were people from and around the Middle East, people who had intimate knowledge of Libya and the events going on around it. For instance, the President of Supreme Security Committee. On CNN however, the guests were generally Congressmen or Senators with little to no experience overseas, not to mention any personal experience with Libya specifically. One clear similarity was the fact that both stations had multiple clips with both President Obama s address from the White House and Secretary of State Clinton s address to the public. In four of the six main clips from Al Jazeera there was video of both the President addressing the attack as well as either video or reference to Hilary Clinton s comment about the attack being not the work of Libya in general but rather an unaffiliated radical group. In a few of CNN s videos there were also clips of Clinton and President Obama with the same general message. This shows that for one, the President and our Secretary of State are recognized as America s main foreign policy makers and are trusted sources both in the United States as well as around the world. It also shows that it is of some importance to both stations that the American policy-makers are concerned with not abandoning or blaming the Libyan government during the uncertainties of the events unfolding. Interestingly enough, I noticed that while both stations used multiple clips
AL JAZEERA AND CNN 3 of these two individuals, when CNN used the clips of Clinton they were usually longer than those of the President and involved personal statements about the deceased ambassador s personality and character traits. However the clips of Clinton shown on Al Jazeera were short and usually only about the Libyan government. This difference in focus on Libya as opposed to the deceased ambassador was mirrored in other themes as well. For instance, in most of the clips from Al Jazeera, the focus was on the possible after effects of the attack, precursors to the attack, and the other riots happening in Tunisia and Egypt. There was a common theme throughout the day s programming to talk about the possible threats to other embassies around the Middle East as well as tightening security in Libya. Al Jazeera also repeatedly reported on the fact that the attack would most likely not affect US-Libyan relations which was seen to be in direct correlation with Libya s transitioning government. They also paid a lot of attention to the fact that there were riots in Cairo and Tunisia, taking care each time to mention these as peaceful protests minus the flag burning and occasional use of force in Tunisia. In contrast, CNN focused more on the deceased ambassador himself as well as the fact that American policymakers did not blame Libya for the attack, as before-mentioned. In almost every news clip that I could find from CNN there was something mentioned about the ambassador s character or his love for Libya and the Middle East. While there were a few clips about the riots in Cairo and Tunisia, these were only to show the violent sides of these protests and were generally short and sensationalized. The fact that Al Jazeera s focus was mainly on the impacts and effects the attack would have on the Middle East and CNN s focus was more on the deceased ambassador and the lack of blame American policymakers put on the fragile Libyan government clearly correlate with the two station s differing methods of funding, as mentioned before. CNN needed to focus on things that Americans and wealthy elites around the world
AL JAZEERA AND CNN 4 would care about to garner interest and funding (Volkmer, 1999). Al Jazeera on the other hand was more interested in discerning the different issues and turmoil around the event in order to get a more rounded, thought-provoking story (Zayani, 2005). Another clear similarity between the coverage of Al Jazeera and CNN was the focus on the American film that offended a number of Muslims due to its portrayal of Mohammed. Both stations covered not only the fact that Muslims were offended but also the fact that most were calling for America to do something about the offensive film. The main difference in coverage surrounding this issue was that when CNN talked about the film it directly correlated to the events at Benghazi, with some emphasis on the protests in Tunisia and Cairo. However, when Al Jazeera discussed the movie, it usually focused on the protests, only briefly tying it to the events at Benghazi. This could have been mainly due to the fact that CNN was focused solely on the Benghazi attack and the ambassador while Al Jazeera had a wider range of topics. Nonetheless, it seems that the movie being the cause for the Benghazi attack was a much stronger idea on CNN than Al Jazeera. Summary and Conclusions Conducting this study I was able to see first-hand the different reporting styles of Al Jazeera and CNN. Especially the focus on foreign implications as opposed to focus on the individual, respectively. I think this directly correlates to American media focusing on the sensational and missing bigger trends. The fact that CNN focused on a few small issues while Al Jazeera focused on the broader implications exemplifies that assertion. At least for the day after the attack, CNN seemed to be playing catch-up with Al-Jazeera who had already moved on past the original event and on to the way it affected the surrounding countries and groups around the world. I think that this should indicate that in terms of foreign affairs, it would be beneficial for
AL JAZEERA AND CNN 5 us, as Americans to look to outside media sources in the areas where the news is occurring rather than the news stations like CNN which are primarily stationed in America. Unfortunately, it is a hassle to find these other news sources and even more of a hassle to acquire a translation of these news sources in order for Americans to see them as a reliable news source. Until we are able to access and understand other stations around the world in a way Americans would be willing to use, our foreign news coverage will continue to be spotty and sensationalized, which prevents us from seeing the full picture.
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