continued: "American-Style Journalism and Arab World Television: An Exploratory Study of News Selection at Six Arab World Satellite Television Channels" by Muhammed I. Ayish

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References Tables

Findings
The results of the study show that the five satellite television channels had nightly newscasts carrying local, regional, and international news. Al-Jazeera and Abu Dhabi satellite television services were singled out as having the most frequent newscasts followed by MBC. Following are the findings of the study.

News topic: The study shows that LBC had the largest number of news items (82) in the five newscasts of the sample, followed by ADSC, Al-Jazeera, and SSC respectively. This is due to the fact that LBC follows a format in which the largest number of news items are included in the news lineup with a very short duration for each item. For the five television services, political news was the most dominant news topic, scoring 78.7% on MBC, 77.4% on Al-Jazeera, 75.7% on SSC, 74.3% on LBC, and 58.3% on ADSC. The overall percentage of political news in the whole sample was 72.2%, the highest percentage of news topics. This finding may be explained by the fact that political news has traditionally been an important news selection criterion used by Arab media gatekeepers to the extent that news has often been defined mostly in political terms. Economic, military, and civil strife news followed in terms of percentage-9.69%, 8%, and 7.2% respectively.

TABLE 1: News Topics

News Format: The findings of the study show that voice-over news items were the dominant format used in ADSC, Al-Jazeera, MBC, and SSC, while the report format was dominant in newscasts aired by LBC (69.5%), followed by ADSC (37.5%), Al-Jazeera (35.2%), MBC (16.6%), and SSC (2.85%). It should be noted here that the high percentage of report formats in four satellite channels (ADSC, Al-Jazeera, LBC, MBC) is due to the fact that those services seem to have adopted new delivery styles drawing on Western presentation formats. All four services have correspondents stationed at major Arab world and international cities from which they dispatch their reports on a daily basis. They also have correspondents based in the Palestinian territories, Cairo, Amman, Beirut, Washington DC, London, Paris, and other cities. Both ADSC and Al-Jazeera maintain permanent offices in Washington DC and London. On the other hand, the low percentage of reports in the SSC newscasts was offset by a high percentage of voiceovers and on-camera items. This SSC finding reflects a lacking comprehension of the visual potential of television as a medium of communication at some government-controlled services. As Schleifer (1998) notes in reference to MBC:

MBC has staffed a growing network of news bureaus with its own growing cadre of Arab TV producer/reporters in Cairo, Brussels, Jerusalem, Tunis, Amman, Paris, and Washington DC. In contrast to the news programming of the national Arab channels, MBC followed the international format in which newsworthiness rather than government press releases determined the lineup and in which news stories-be they field reports or studio voiceovers-are scripted to picture rather than an anchor reading wire copy that at best barely approximates the overall content of the available video.

TABLE 2: News Format

Area of Coverage: All five television services carried a high percentage of news items about pan-Arab developments and issues 55.5% for ADSC, 72.3% for Al-Jazeera, 43.9% for LBC, 48.4% for MBC, and 57.1% for SSC. Local news was reported only by Syrian television. International news was the highest in LBC (56%), MBC (51.5%), and ADSC (44.4%). The overwhelming majority of pan-Arab news items was about the Palestinian Al-Aqsa uprising, while international news related to developments in a wide range of countries in Africa, Asia, and North America. The coverage of the events in Palestine reflected satellite television services' interest in not only conveying newsworthy events to their viewers, but also underscored their keenness to bring the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation to the attention of Arab world audiences. It has been noted that the role of Arab world satellite television services in promoting Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation has been instrumental in keeping the Palestinian uprising alive for over two months (Khairi, 2000). This is consistent with the findings of previous studies about an enduring negative Israeli image in Arab world television (Alterman, 1998).

TABLE 3: Area of Coverage

Attitudes Toward Selected Political Players: The findings of the study show that all five broadcasters were supportive of Palestinians in their struggle for independence. The same attitude was expressed to a lesser degree for Iraq, which continues to be subjected to a ten-year economic embargo. Pro-Palestinian attitudes were reflected notably in newscasts by Al-Jazeera, with 32 items, and ADSC with 22 items. ADSC, Al-Jazeera, SSC, and LBC reported positive news about Iraq, while MBC broadcast three items only. Anti-Israeli items were reported by all five services with the highest number of negative items reported by SSC, ADSC, and Al-Jazeera. The United States received mostly negative treatment in news items carried by the five broadcasters. This is clearly due to U.S. support for Israeli positions during the Al-Aqsa uprising. It was noted that the United States was unrightfully accusing the Palestinians of inciting violent actions against Israel. The U.S. was oblivious to Israeli overuse of force in handling Palestinian reactions even when Palestinians were being shot dead in big numbers. This supportive attitude towards Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation reflects Arab world television's commitment to furthering Palestinian national interests. Although television services like MBC and Al-Jazeera were featuring Israeli personalities on their news programs, the way those programs were handled by news anchors reflected a clear disenchantment with Israel's excessive use of force against Palestinian civilians.

Analysis
The quantitative findings of the study show that the five Arab satellite television channels share a wide range of news selection and presentation features. For example, the five services played up political developments and issues to the exclusion of cultural and human interest stories. A good percentage of news broadcast by the five services also dealt with news about natural disasters, fighting, and civil strife in countries like Afghanistan, the Ivory Coast, and Columbia. The four services also demonstrated unequivocal support for the Palestinian Al-Aqsa Intifada and were critical of U.S. government handling of events in the West Bank and Gaza. All channels also included a high percentage of their news about pan-Arab and regional developments in addition to international news relating to events and issues in the United States and Western Europe. On the other hand, there were variations among the five channels in terms of news formats used in their nightly newscasts. While ADSC, Al-Jazeera, LBC, and MBC drew on dedicated field reports by correspondents stationed in major Arab and world cities, the Syrian Satellite Channel followed a conventional newscast format comprising voiceovers and on-camera items. continued

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References
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