Addressing a region? The Arab imagined audience and newsworthiness in the production of Al Jazeera Arabic

Bibliographic Data

ID12898534
AuthorsJulian Matthews (0000-0001-9207-1313, University of Leicester, corresponding author), Maiya Al Habsi (Bayan College)
Year2018
Volume80
Issue8
Pages746-763
Publication date2018-02-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Communication Gazette (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-0485 • E-ISSN: 1748-0493
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1748048518755210
OpenAlexW2784451334
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited29

Based on a production study of Al Jazeera Arabic, this article examines news professionals’ visualisation of the Arab news audience and its importance for their ideas about newsworthiness and an ideal news agenda. In applying the concept of the imagined audience to Al Jazeera, it uncovers a view of Arab news consumers as constructed as (i) heterogeneous in character and origin and as sharing (ii) a ‘mindset’ and an experience of (iii) voicelessness. Further, it shows that these understandings help to grasp the specifics of journalists’ news-making practices, including their efforts to prioritize potential stories for an ideal news agenda that demonstrate relevance for, or interest to, these imagined news consumers in addition to those stories that address their perceived ‘powerlessness’ in the Arab region. The article concludes that these ideas mark clear boundaries around the countries and the issues that Al Jazzera seeks to report on

Advertising · Arabic · Business · Ideal (ethics · Media studies · Mindset · News values · Newspaper · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Computer Science · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Public Relations and Crisis Communication · Social Media and Politics

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access