The Al Jazeera effect is a term used in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

media studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but it mos ...

to describe the impact of new media and media sources on global politics, namely, reducing the government and mainstream media monopoly on information and empowering groups which previously lacked a global voice. The primary example is the effect's namesake – the impact of the

Al Jazeera Media Network Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media media conglomerate, conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera E ...

on the politics of the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

Origin and use

Al Jazeera was created in 1996 with the combination of the

Emir of Qatar The Emir of the State of Qatar () is the monarch and head of state of the country. The emir is also the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and guarantor of the Constitution. The emir holds the most powerful position in the country, and has a ...

's money and talent from the defunct BBC Arabic service. It started as a response to the strict control that many governments in Arab League countries exercised over most forms of journalism as well as the lack of a free press. Audiences and journalists alike were drawn to Al Jazeera’s goal of reporting news without government censorship, as well as its recruitment of expert journalists who covered multiple perspectives on a singular issue. At the time, the viewing public did not respect journalism because it considered most reporters to be mouthpieces for dictators or political groups. The Emir of Qatar sought to break the heavy handed media management by the government because he had progressive ideas of expanding political participation and allowing independent press. Similarly, founders set up Al Jazeera to counter the dominant Western viewpoint of Arabs and Arabic culture throughout the 20th century. Arabs depended on the BBC and

CNN International Cable News Network International or CNN International (CNNi, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel and website, owned by CNN Worldwide. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates ...

– but were frustrated they had to listen to the Western viewpoints about themselves. William Lafi Youmans attributes the first use of the term to Philip Seib, author of ''The Al Jazeera Effect: How the New Global Media Are Reshaping World Politics'' (2008). However, Simon Henderson, who in turn attributes the term to "diplomats in the region", had used it as early as 2000. As used by Henderson, the Al Jazeera effect originally referred to Arab Middle East governments losing their monopoly on information because of the popularity and easy access to the

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

media network, and scholars still often use it in such a limited context. Thomas L. McPhail used it to refer to the changes in all of the Arab media. Seib generalized it to other,

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

-powered new media worldwide. Al Jazeera challenges authoritarian governments by stimulating discussion on topics and through its provision of multiple perspectives and opinions. Al Jazeera's motto is "The Opinion and the Other Opinion", demonstrating its dedication to covering multiple perspectives rather than taking one stand on an issue. It also takes the position in reporting as the “voice of the voiceless” rather than relying solely on official statements from officials and other figures of power. Al Jazeera was not the first Arab satellite channel, but it did provide new standards and production values in Arab news media.

Impact

Al Jazeera ended the flow of information that followed the format of from the "West to the rest". Al Jazeera has focused on reporting news stories originating from underrepresented countries, countering the one-way flow of media information from the

global north Global North and Global South are terms that denote a method of grouping countries based on their defining characteristics with regard to socioeconomics and Global politics, politics. According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Global S ...

to the

global south Global North and Global South are terms that denote a method of grouping countries based on their defining characteristics with regard to socioeconomics and politics. According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Global South broadly com ...

. Egyptian

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 2 ...

Saad al-Din Ibrahim spoke of Al Jazeera as giving Arab citizens open public space and new opportunities for expression and assertion, which has been seen through its on-air talk shows, discussion, and phone-in programs. Various critics have acknowledged Al Jazeera's role in aiding reforms during the 2005

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

, specifically in regard to its news coverage of Iraqi elections and Lebanese protests. Additionally, Al Jazeera created a voting system in which viewers could vote online, formulating a type of democracy via satellite system. This has been a useful tool in measuring public opinion, especially on controversial topics, in the Arab world. As a result of Al Jazeera's programs, individuals in the Middle East have learned more about Western democracy and politics than from other previous sources. The Al Jazeera effect follows a similar pattern to the

CNN effect The CNN effect is a theory in political science and media studies which states that global television networks, in their modern ability to provide live, 24-hours news coverage from anywhere in the world, play a significant role in determining th ...

and includes the accelerant effect, impediment effect, and agenda-setting effect. Seib noted that the Al Jazeera effect can be seen as parallel to the CNN effect, which states that coverage of international events can force otherwise uninvolved governments to take action. Whereas the CNN effect is used in the context of mainstream, traditional media networks such as

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

, the Al Jazeera effect generalizes this to newer media such as

citizen journalist Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism, grassroots journalism, or street journalism, is based upon members of the community playing an active role in the pro ...

blogs,

internet radio Internet radio, also known as online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not ...

, and

satellite broadcasting Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

. He also argues that new media strengthen the identity of and give voice to previously marginalized groups, which previously lacked their own media outlets; he cites the

Kurdish people Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

as an example. Many of the new media organizations are affiliated with such groups,

social movements A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of ...

or similar organizations. New media weaken the

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

of many states on information, as even extensive

Internet censorship Internet censorship is the legal control or suppression of what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet. Censorship is most often applied to specific internet domains (such as ''Wikipedia.org'', for example) but exceptionally may ...

in countries such as

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

is not wholly effective. He concludes that the new media, while not beyond being abused, are largely contributing to

democratization Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an democratic transition, authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction ...

and

political reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

worldwide. William Lafi Youmans notes that Seib's prediction that the Al Jazeera effect will lead to changes in the politics of the Middle East was realized in the early 2010s during the

, with new media provoking widespread debate and unrest within the region. Search for "Al Jazeera effect". The CNN effect and Al Jazeera effect have had a tremendous impact on policies and the government. They have both influenced foreign policies of the US. the existence of such news organizations is crucial for having global communications and is promising in terms of spreading democracy.

Origin and use

Impact

See also

References

Further reading