"Other" news : enemy image construction and otherization of Al Jazeera in American television news

This thesis explores the construction of the Arabic news network Al Jazeera on mainstream American television news. A textual analysis of transcripts from American television news programs on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and Fox News was conducted using a model of enemy image construction and Otherization in order to describe American television news discourse about Al Jazeera. Taking a political economy approach to communication, this paper argues that the construction of Al Jazeera on American television news is a means of further alienating the Arab/Muslim/Middle Eastern community and creating an enemy to serve the needs of the government. The analysis found that while some elements of enemy image construction were used more frequently than others, all were utilized at one point or another in the American television news discourse about Al Jazeera.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Radio-Television-Film

Grantor

University of Texas at Austin

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Abdurrahman, Sarah Naeem

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Wilkins, Karin Gwinn, 1962-

• Al Jazeera network
• American television news
• Enemy image construction

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright © is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Identifier

doi:10.15781/T20C4SQ9N

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/47104