Al-Jazeera has become a force to contend with on international matters. Loved and hated, there's no denying its influence. The fact that Al-Jazeera is regarded positively in the Arab world and widely considered trustworthy speaks to its success. The article by Powers and Gilboa attributes Al-Jazeera's "New Public Diplomacy" for its rise to the ranks of international contenders in the world of broadcast journalism.
Powers and Gilboa describe new public diplomacy as, "a set of communicative activities that are utilized by states and nonstate actors in the international sphere in order to effectively communicate with and persuade any number of foreign audiences." With transnational media organizations like Al-Jazeera, the two elements of effective communication are two-way communications and actor-branding.
The managing director of Al-Jazeera English, Nigel Parsons, has said that Al-Jazeera is "a conduit to greater understanding between different people and different cultures." Al-Jazeera succeeded in branding itself as a "public diplomat in the international sphere," and as a representative of the voice of the Arab world. This gives credibility to Al-Jazeera among Arabs, because they know that their voice is being heard.
The motto of Al-Jazeera, "the opinion and the other opinion," conveys a democratic approach to broadcasting. This in turn provides credibility for an international audience, in that Al-Jazeera represents a large proportion of the opinions of Arabs. However, in the United States, Al-Jazeera is often criticized, despite its democratic approaches to reporting.
Al-Jazeera has been criticized in the United States for showing footage thought to be "inciting violence" and "endagering the lives of American troops" in Iraq. This is because footage not allowed to air or that is deemed appropriate in the US is often not as controversial in the Middle East. While as an American I understand the politics and reasons for not showing explicit violence of the war in the United States, I can understand from a cultural point of view that it would be normal in the Middle East. I would think that since people in the Arab world are exposed to much more violence everyday than the average American, ignoring footage of violence would seem like trying to cover it up. People see it happening everyday. This is a dilema that Al-Jazeera constantly faces, how to walk the thin line between representing the Arab world and pleasing the international world.
As every news station must hold some degree of bias, be it for geographical or political reasons, I think its unreasonable for the United States to expect Al-Jazeera to be completely neutral. After all, they are an Arab news station. I think that using Al-Jazeera has a way to understand and communicate with the world would be extremely beneficial to the United States, as Al-Jazeera is providing, "a bridge to the Arab world." I think it would be impractical in terms of Public Diplomacy not to cross it.
In addition to using Al-Jazeera English to “communicate with the world,” it is also a good source of information for the U.S. government on trends in ideas and thoughts in the Arab world. Instead of viewing it as a source of potential violence, it might be better for policy-makers to see Al-Jazeera as a measuring stick of public opinion about the U.S. and a source of information that will make decisions more effective. As with all news media, it is important to understand biases and ways the news is framed. But, Al-Jazeera may prove a boon to the U.S. government if policy-makers use it appropriately.
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