Literature, Cultural and Media Studies

This book finds that Al-Jazeera's coverage of Bahrain and Syria has conformed with Qatar's foreign policy, throughout the last decade (2011-2021). Al-Jazeera Arabic adopted Qatar's &quote;double standards&quote; policy in both countries in the beginning of the Arab Spring, framing Bahrain's protests as a &quote;sectarian movement,&quote; while depicting the Syrian armed conflict as a legitimate &quote;revolution&quote; (2011-2013). The book observes that when ties between Qatar and Bahrain worsened during the 2017 Gulf crisis, Al-Jazeera Arabic has shifted its coverage from being &quote;pro-Bahraini regime&quote; to &quote;pro-protesters,&quote; focusing on violations and giving voice to activists (2014-2021). The book concludes that the lack of &quote;Peace Journalism&quote; framing in Al-Jazeera's coverage of Bahrain's uprising and Syria's chemical weapons attacks has represented &quote;claims&quote; as &quote;facts,&quote; and justified military action against Syria. It also reveals distinctive differences between Al-Jazeera Arabic and English, with theformer lacking &quote;objective reporting standards,&quote; and using more sectarian language than the latter.