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Transcript of Shahira Fahmy 2008
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public?
An examination of how Arab viewers judge the credibility of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations
BY THOMAS J. JOHNSON
MARSHALL AND SHARLEEN FORMBY REGENTS PROFESSOR COLLEGE OF MASS COMMUNICATIONS
TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY BOX 43082
LUBBOCK, TX 79409 [email protected]
(806) 742-6500 EXT. 253 (806) 742-1085
AND SHAHIRA FAHMY
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
TUCSON, AZ [email protected]
Thomas J. Johnson (Ph.D., University of Washington) is the Marshall and Sharleen Formby Regents' Professor, College of Mass Communications at Texas Tech University. His research interests include political communication and new media communication technology effects.
Shahira Fahmy (Ph.D., University of Missouri) is an associate professor in the School of Journalism at University of Arizona. Her research interests include new media, political communication and visual coverage of war and terrorism in the Middle East. Manuscript accepted for publication in International Communication Research Journal. January 2010.
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 1
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public?
An examination of how Arab viewers judge the credibility of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations
Abstract / This study surveys Arab satellite television users through a questionnaire posted on
Al-Jazeera’s Arab-language website to examine how credible they judge Al-Jazeera, Al-
Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations. More specifically, this study compares and contrasts
the degree to which Al-Jazeera users judge the satellite networks in terms of depth, accuracy,
fairness, believability, trustworthiness and expertise. It also examines the degree to which
support for press freedoms, ideology, demographic, political measures and reliance predict
credibility of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations.
Keywords / Credibility/ Al-Jazeera / Al-Arabiya / Al-Hurra / local Arab stations, Arab media.
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 2
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? An examination of how Arab viewers judge the credibility of Al-Jazeera, Al-
Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations
Al-Jazeera emerged as the dominant voice in Arab public discourse for opening its lines
to the Arab people and providing them a forum to voice their views. The station has also been
recognized as the CNN of the Arab World for its refusal to parrot the official line of Arab
government officials and its commitment to accuracy and balance while at the same time
showing an Arab perspective on the news (el-Nawawy 2003; el-Nawawy & Iskandar 2002;
Lynch, 2006). However, by 2004 the supremacy of Al-Jazeera was challenged by the emergence
of several satellite competitors including the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya and the U.S.-sponsored
Arabic language satellite station Al-Hurra.
While several studies have surveyed Arab audiences to examine the credibility of both
Al-Jazeera (Auter et. al, 2004, 2005; Johnson & Fahmy, 2008, 2009) and its U.S. competitor Al-
Hurra (Dabbous, & Nasser, 2009; el-Nawawy, 2007; Telhami, 2005, 2009; Wise, 2005), less
attention has been paid to credibility of Al-Arabiya, even though in some parts of the Middle
East, its ratings have surpassed Al-Jazeera (Snyder, 2006a, 2006b). Few studies have
systematically compared and contrasted credibility of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra
(However, see Dabbous & Nasser, 2009) and local Arab media and no study could be found that
has examined what factors predict credibility of these Arab satellite stations.
This study surveys Arab satellite television users through a questionnaire posted on Al-
Jazeera’s Arab-language website to examine how credible they judge Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya,
Al-Hurra and local Arab stations. More specifically, this study compares and contrasts the
degree to which Al-Jazeera viewers judge the satellite networks in terms of depth, accuracy,
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 3
fairness, believability, trustworthiness and expertise. It also examines the degree to which
attitudes toward press freedom, demographics and political measures correlate with credibility of
Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations.
Source and Sponsor Credibility
Early persuasion research found that expertise and trustworthiness were the two main
factors influencing credibility of a source (Hovland et al., 1949, 1953). Expertise referred to the
degree to which the audience consider someone qualified to know the truth of a topic, while
trustworthiness referred to the degree to which the audience perceived the person was motivated
to tell the truth about that subject.
The emergence of the Internet focused attention on source credibility as well as expanded
the definition of what is considered a source (Metzger et al., 2003). Internet researchers
considered the websites themselves as sources of information.
Studies by Johnson and Kaye (1998, 2002) found that differences between online and
traditional versions of the same source were not significantly different, as people focused on the
credibility of the source itself rather than the way information is delivered. Other studies have
suggested that different news organizations are rated differently for credibility (Pew Center for
People and the Press, 2006).
Credibility in the Arab World
Until the mid90s, Arab people had little reason to trust the information they received
from their media as Arab governments held a monopoly over television. Arab governments
believed that television should promote national development goals. Therefore, television
stations operated within ministries of information and were funded by the government (Rugh,
2004). Journalists enjoyed few press rights because they were perceived as part of the
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 4
government bureaucracy and should be working on behalf of the government (Fahmy &
Johnson, 2007b; Lynch, 2006; Rugh, 2004).
Scholars suggest the rise of satellite news networks, most notably Al-Jazeera, in the wake
of the Gulf War not only has caused Arab governments to encourage more Western style of news
gathering and presentations, but have also served as a political and cultural phenomenon that
have transformed the Arab region (el-Naway & Iskandar, 2002; Rugh, 2004; Seib, 2007).
Satellite news networks such Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya and Al-Hurra news have adopted a
more Western style broadcasting style with state-of-the art technology, advertising as a source of
revenue, and broadcasting a wide range of news and public affairs programming shows, as well
as entertainment and family-oriented offerings (Ayish, 2001; Seib, 2007).
Credibility of Al-Jazeera
As credibility scholars have demonstrated, credibility is a perception held by the
audience, not a trait inherent in a medium (Berlo et al., 1969). Therefore, credibility perceptions
can vary widely depending on who is asked. This seems particularly true for Al-Jazeera.
Al-Jazeera is condemned as a news source by both Arab governments and coalition
countries alike. Arab governments criticize Al-Jazeera for negative coverage of Arab leaders, for
interviewing Israeli and Western officials, and for covering taboo topics such as sex, polygamy
and government corruption (Jamal & Melkote, 2008; Zayani & Ayish, 2006).
Similarly, Western governments have accused Al-Jazeera of presenting the news,
particularly Iraq War stories, from a pro-Arab perspective, (Zayani & Ayish, 2006) and for
ignoring journalistic values by presenting graphic images of civilians injured or killed by
coalition forces (Fahmy & Johnson 2007a). Worse, coalition governments claim that the network
has aided terrorists because it has frequently aired tapes from Osama bin Laden and by al-Qaeda
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 5
intermediaries (Seib, 2007). On the other hand, Al-Jazeera has been hailed by supporters as the
CNN of the Arab World for being one of the most important news organizations and a leading
political actor in the world today (Miles, 2005; Seib, 2007). The English-language version of Al-
Jazeera has been touted as a potential conciliatory medium that covers contentious issues as a
way conducive to cooperation, negotiation and reconciliation (el-Nawawy & Powers, 2008).
Although Al-Jazeera has been criticized by some for being less critical of the Qatar
government, which provides it with its funding (Zayani & Ayish 2006), Al-Jazeera has won a
loyal following as the first Arab news source to offer Arab viewers a largely uncensored 24-hour
news service that has provided them the opportunity to express their views through live phone-in
shows (el-Nawawy & Iskandar, 2002; Zayani & Ayish 2006). Consequently, studies have found
that Al-Jazeera ranks extremely high in credibility among Arab audiences (Association for
International Broadcasting, 2008; Auter et al., 2004), even more than CNN or the BBC (Johnson
& Fahmy, 2008, 2009).
Al-Hurra and Credibility
Al-Hurra, along with radio station Radio Sawa, were created as part of a large-scale
public diplomacy effort to improve America’s image in the Middle East, increase understanding
of American society and culture, and to explain U.S. foreign policy (el-Nawawy, 2007).
Al-Hurra (which means The Free One in Arabic) has pledged to provide fresh
perspectives on the news. However, political observers debate how successful Al-Hurra has been
in winning the hearts and minds of the Arab audience because Arab viewers are savvy media
consumers who can pick from hundreds of satellite channels (Wise, 2005). Critics claim that
Arab viewers will always hold Al-Hurra’s credibility under suspicion because it is funded by the
United States and therefore is perceived as a propaganda station created to sell the ideas of the
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 6
U.S. government (el-Nawawy, 2007; Wise 2005). Al-Hurra’s approach of detached objectivity
may hold little appeal for Arab audiences, particularly on issues such as the Palestinian/Israeli
conflict, where audiences will seek out sources to support their convictions (el-Nawawy, 2007).
There are no objective data about audience size of different Arab media (Jamal &
Metkote, 2008; Rugh, 2004), and this is apparent in surveys of the Al-Hurra audience. For
instance, Ipsos-Stat, a research company hired by the Broadcasting Board of Governors that
supervises Al-Hurra, found in April 2005 that an average of 29 percent of adults had watched Al-
Hurra in the last week. AC Nielsen surveys indicate that more than 27 million viewers turn into
the channel at least once a week, which would put its audience above Al-Arabiya. (See Table 4)
But other studies suggest if people are regular viewers of Al-Hurra it is for the entertainment
content, not the news. For instance, Zogby International found in June 2004 that no one picked
Al-Hurra as the main source of news and information and only 3.8 percent rated it second.
(Baylouyni, 2005). When the Maryland University and Zogby International Poll (2009) asked
Arab respondents in 2009 which broadcast station they watch to find out about international
news, about 0.5 percent listed Al-Hurra. While 60 percent of those surveyed said they watched
Al-Jazeera news regularly (5 times or more a week), only 9 percent said they were regular Al-
Hurra news viewers.
At least two studies have directly examined credibility of Al-Hurra. Dabbous and
Nasser (2009) compared Al-Hurra’s credibility to Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya and found that
people judged Al-Hurra the least credible and it had the lowest viewership. Also, Al-Hurra
viewership did not predict a positive attitude toward the United States, lending fuel to claims that
Al-Hurra is not an effective instrument of diplomacy.
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 7
El-Nawawy (2007) surveyed students from Morocco, Kuwait, Jordan, Palestine and the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) using 12 measures to gauge Al-Hurra credibility. Al-Hurra rated
relatively low for credibility. However, heavy users of Al-Hurra were more likely to judge it as
credible. Students said their attitudes toward U.S. foreign policy have worsened since they began
watching Al-Hurra, however. Thus, it is unclear whether Al-Hurra has achieved its primary aim
of shifting perceptions of Arabic audiences in favor of U.S. policy.
Al-Arabiya and Credibility
The all-news channel Al-Arabiya was launched in March 2003 by Saudi Arabia’s Middle
East Broadcasting Centre to compete with Al-Jazeera for the pan-Arabic audience. Because Al-
Arabiya positioned itself as a moderate alternative to Al-Jazeera (al-Saggaf, 2006), some polls
have suggested that it has surpassed Al-Jazeera in terms of audience (Snyder, 2006a, 2006b).
However, because Al-Jazeera is perceived as better able to present the Arab perspective on the
news, Al-Arabiya still trails Al-Jazeera is terms of credibility (Ayish, 2004).
Scholars say that in many ways, Al-Arabiya was modeled on Al-Jazeera. Al-Arabiya was
designed to be an independent voice, trying to provide multiple perspectives on the news with an
emphasis on news of interest to Arab viewers (Zayani & Ayish, 2006). However, in other ways
Al-Arabiya positioned itself as an alternative and as a counterweight to Al-Jazeera. It has
avoided the talk shows that have generated many of the criticisms leveled at Al-Jazeera (Lynch,
2006), sticking to hourly news bulletins, commentaries, business, sports and documentaries
(Zayani & Ayish, 2006).
Audience polls by IPSOS-STAT suggest that Al-Arabiya has surpassed Al-Jazeera in the
ratings among Arab audiences by 2006 (Snyder, 2006a, 2006b). Network officials credit its gain
both to adding family-oriented content in the morning and for a series of exclusive interviews
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 8
and controversial interview topics (Snyder, 2006a). But several critics have questioned the
IPSOS-STAT findings. For instance, Al-Arabiya has a competitive advantage because it can be
picked up by roof antennas, while Al-Jazeera requires a satellite hookup (Snyder, 2006a). Also
viewership does not necessarily transfer into preference. Polls by University of Maryland/Zogby
International (Telhami 2009) indicated that Al-Jazeera is the first choice for international news
among 55 percent of the audience, far and away the most popular network, with 10 percent
selecting Al-Arabiya.
Scholars debate whether a surge in number of people turning to Al-Arabiya equals high
levels of credibility. Ayish (2004), in a study of UAE students, found Al-Arabiya ranked a
distant third beyond Al-Jazeera and Abu Dhabi Television. On the other hand, studies by the
Arab Advisors group (2004) found Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya were rated as equally credible.
Credibility and Press Freedom
Only a few studies have examined the link between press freedom and media credibility,
and most have examined this connection in democratic press systems (e.g., Andsager, Wyatt &
Martin, 2004; Blake & Wyatt, 2002; Wyatt, Andsager & Bodle, 1994; Wyatt, Smith & Andsager,
1996). Studies that have examined the relationship between press freedom and credibility in an
Arab context have reported conflicting results. While studies indicate that people from the
Middle East generally cherish press freedom, support for press freedom did not predict
credibility of Al-Jazeera (Johnson & Fahmy, 2009).
Support has been mixed among Western scholars for the claim that attitudes toward press
freedom and credibility is directly linked to freedom of the press. Some studies have suggested
that those who judged the media low in credibility were more likely to agree that the media
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 9
abuse the First Amendment and that newspapers sometimes have too much freedom of the press,
a finding supported by other credibility studies (i.e. Gaziano & McGrath, 1986).
Other studies have failed to find a strong relationship between credibility and press
freedom. Blake and Wyatt (2002) examined the relationship between confidence of the press and
civic tolerance between 1980 and 1987, and failed to find a relationship in most years. The
authors contend these findings suggested that support for freedom of the press is more tied to
attitudes about balancing free speech rights against other rights than credibility.
However, Blake and Wyatt (2002) suggest that freedom of press may not predict
credibility in the United States because First Amendment rights are taken for granted. Support
for press freedom may be stronger in the Middle East where journalists have enjoyed few
freedoms (See Fahmy & Johnson, 2007b; Pew Center for People and the Press, 2003).
While Johnson and Fahmy (2008) found that Al-Jazeera viewers strongly believed that
Arab media should be free to criticize the government and that Al-Jazeera contributes to press
freedom in the Middle East, press freedom did not predict attitudes toward credibility of Al-
Jazeera. The authors speculated that one reason press freedom did not predict credibility is that
Al-Jazeera viewers believed the press enjoys few freedoms in the Middle East.
Credibility and Political Variables
Few studies have examined the effects of most political variables on traditional measures
of credibility. However, Johnson and Kaye (2002) reported that political variables, with the
exception of trust, were weakly linked with online credibility.
Johnson and Fahmy (2008) examined the influence of political activity, political interest
and ideology on credibility of Al-Jazeera, but none of these measures proved significant. El-
Nawawy did not directly examine political variables, but did indicate that heavy Al-Hurra use
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 10
was linked to support for U.S. foreign policy, which suggests political ideology of Al-Hurra
viewers could be linked to Al-Hurra credibility.
Credibility and Demographics
Credibility studies conducted in the West found that while males with high education and
income are the heaviest information consumers, this group is less likely to judge the media as
credible (Mulder 1981). On the other hand, women, as well as those who are younger and less
educated, are more likely to judge television as credible (Metzger et al., 2003).
Auter, Arafa and Al-Jaber (2005) reported the average Al-Jazeera viewer tends to be
young, highly educated, male and Muslim. A recent study by Allied Media Corp (2007), posted
on Al-Jazeera website, also found that most viewers were young, with a low income, and
Muslim, However, Allied Media Corp found a closer gender divide (66 percent male) and found
viewers were less educated (29 percent had a university degree or above) than the studies by
Auter and associates (2005).
Based on earlier demographic studies of Al-Jazeera, it would appear that most
characteristics associated with high credibility (i.e. being a male with a high income) would not
be linked with high credibility of Al-Jazeera. Indeed, Johnson and Fahmy (2008, 2009)
discovered demographics had little influence on credibility. Young users of both the Arabic and
English-language Al-Jazeera website judged the satellite network credible, but no other
demographic variable proved significant.
Research Questions and Hypothesis
RQ1: To what degree will Al-Jazeera viewers perceive Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations as expert sources, as well as trustworthy, in depth, accurate, fair and believable? H1: Al-Jazeera will be judged as significantly more credible than Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations.
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 11
RQ2: To what degree will credibility of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations correlate with press freedom, political variables (political ideology, level of political interest and level of political activity) and demographic variables (gender, age, education and income)?
Method
An Arabic-language survey examining the credibility of Al-Jazeera viewers was posted
on Al-Jazeera website’s Arab language (http://www.aljazeera.net). The hyperlink was posted for
three weeks – from September 21, 2004 to October 12, 2004. The authors were not able to
secure links on the Al-Arabiya and Al-Hurra websites. This study did not attempt to secure links
on the numerous local Arab stations. Local Arab stations are terrestrial rather than satellite
stations that serve a specific geographic area and remain largely under the control of that
country’s government (Arab Advisors Group 2009).
The questionnaire was first written in English and then translated into Arabic and once
more back-translated into English. Back-translation was done to ensure accurate translation and
cultural compatibility in the Arab culture. The questionnaire was then pre-tested to ensure
collecting valid and reliable data.
The survey’s respondents were Al-Jazeera television viewers who seek more information
from the Al-Jazeera Arabic website. Using an online questionnaire proved to be the preferred
method for this study as it allowed the researchers to directly survey Al-Jazeera viewers who
spoke Arabic. Attempting to select a group of Arab viewers through traditional means would be
almost impossible because of the limited degree of freedom enjoyed in the Arab world. (Rugh,
2004). This study’s respondents, therefore, can be classified as a purposive sample of Al-Jazeera
viewers who have access to the Internet. Results therefore may not be represented of the larger
population and care must be taken not to generalize the results to the population at large.
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 12
Measures
Credibility, To compare the overall credibility of Al-Jazeera with the overall credibility
of Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations and to examine the degree to which press
freedom, political variables, and demographics predict the credibility of all four TV outlets,
summated indices measuring media credibility was made up of the following six items:
believability; fairness; accuracy; depth of information; trustworthiness and expertise. The
response options for each item was a five-point scale that ranged from not at all to very. The
Cronbach alphas testing the reliability of the credibility indices were as follows: Al-Jazeera .90;
Al-Arabiya .88; Al-Hurra .92; local Arab stations .93.
Press Freedom. To test the relationship between the overall credibility of the stations
examined and press freedom, a press freedom index was computed. The index was composed of
two measures. The Cronbach alpha testing the reliability of the press freedom scale was .64.
Respondents were asked to state their level of agreement with statements dealing with the
following: whether Arab media should be allowed to publish free from government control and
whether Arab media should be allowed to freely criticize their governments. The five-point scale
for the two measures ranged from strongly agree to strongly disagree.
Political Variables. Measures of political activity and political interest were also
employed. Respondents were asked to rate their level of political activity and their level of
political interest on a scale that ranged from 0 to 10. Respondents were also asked to report
whether they politically viewed themselves as very liberal; liberal; independent; conservative or
very conservative.
Demographic Variables. A set of background questions used for descriptive and
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 13
comparison purposes were used. This study specifically examined associations between
credibility and gender, age, education and income.
Data Analysis
The data were analyzed in three stages. First, frequencies and means were run on the six
credibility measures of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations. Second, paired
sample t-tests were computed to test whether Al-Jazeera was judged as significantly more
credible than Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations. Third, a series of correlation
analyses examined relationships between the credibility of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and
local Arab stations and attitudes toward press freedom, political variables (political ideology,
level of political interest and level of political activity) and demographic variables (gender, age,
education and income).
Results
A total of 646 usable responses were analyzed for this study. Geographically,
respondents completed the survey from 53 different countries, with 97.6 percent of the
respondents indicating backgrounds from 20 Arab countries and two Muslim countries
(Afghanistan and Pakistan).
In this study, 47.2 percent of Al-Jazeera users were between 25 and 35 with a mean of
32. Males greatly outnumbered females (89 to 11 percent). The vast majority (95 percent)
reported they were Muslims, three percent reported they were Christians and less than one
percent reported they were Jewish. In terms of income, 55 percent reported an annual income
that ranged between $1001 and $25,000. Almost one-fifths (19 percent) indicated an annual
income of less than $1000. Few of the respondents (3.6 percent) indicated an annual income
more than $100,000. Respondents strongly agreed the Arab media should be allowed to publish
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 14
free from government control (M = 4.5) and should be allowed to freely criticize their
governments (M = 4.73). On a scale from 1 to 10, press freedom in the Arab world scored low
(M = 2.82) and press freedom in the United States scored average (M = 5.35). In other words,
results show press freedom in the United States, although average, is perceived to be higher than
press freedom in the Arab world.
Credibility of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations
The first research question asked to what degree will Al-Jazeera viewers perceive Al-
Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations as expert sources, as well as trustworthy,
in depth, accurate, fair and believable. Table 1 shows responses concerning credibility measures
of all four network-stations. Overall, respondents rated the six credibility measures of Al-
Jazeera higher than credibility measures for Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations. The
mean scores for the believability, accuracy, and depth of information, trustworthiness and
expertise of Al-Jazeera television news were larger than 4.0, which corresponded with
considerable. Only the score for fairness dipped below 4 (M = 3.77). Al-Arabiya ranked second
with mean scores that were less than 4, corresponding with considerable. The U.S.-sponsored Al-
Hurra station ranked third, overall. The mean scores for the believability, fairness, accuracy, and
depth of information, trustworthiness of Al-Hurra TV were lower than 2.0, which corresponded
with little. Al-Hurra trustworthiness scored the lowest mean overall (M = 1.44), which was
between the not at all and the little response categories. Only the score for Al-Hurra expertise
exceeded 2 (M = 2.09), which corresponded with little. Overall, local Arab stations ranked last
and scored lowest on five of the credibility measures examined.
Respondents used different criteria in judging the four networks. Al-Jazeera and local
Arab stations were rated highest on level of expertise, although Al-Jazeera was rated
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 15
considerably higher on that measure. Al-Arabiya and Al-Hurra, on the other hand, were rated
highest for depth of information. Similarly, while believability was the second highest measure
for Al-Jazeera, it was no higher than fourth for any other network.
Our hypothesis that predicted Al-Jazeera would be judged as significantly more credible
than Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations was supported. As shown in table 2 for each
of the three-paired items, the overall mean for Al-Jazeera credibility was larger than the overall
means for Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations. All were statistically significant at the
p < .001 level. The mean differences between both Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya and Al-Arabiya
and Al-Hurra were larger than the mean difference between Al-Hurra and local Arab stations.
Factors Related to Media Credibility
Research question two examined to what degree credibility of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya,
Al-Hurra and local Arab stations will correlate with press freedom, political variables (political
ideology, level of political interest and level of political activity) and demographic variables
(gender, age, education and income).
As shown in table 3, the relationship between press freedom and credibility of Al-Jazeera
was statistically significant (r = .098 p <.05). Results indicated the more respondents believed
that Arab media should be allowed to publish free from government control and that Arab media
should be allowed to freely criticize their governments the more they assessed Al-Jazeera as a
credible source of news. Results also showed significant relationships between how respondents
viewed press freedom and credibility of Al-Hurra (r = -.135 p <.05) and local Arab stations (r = -
.259 p <.01). These relationships were in the opposite direction, however. The more respondents
believed in press freedom the less they assessed the credibility of Al-Hurra and local Arab
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 16
stations. In terms of Al-Arabiya, our findings indicated no significant relationship between press
freedom views and its perceived credibility (r = -.068 p >.05).
Regarding the relationship between political variables and perceived credibility of Al-
Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations, results showed only one significant
correlation. The level of political interest was positively correlated with the perceived credibility
of Al-Jazeera (r = .147 p >.01). The level of political interest, however, was not related to
perceived credibility of Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations. Further, all other political
variables examined, including political ideology and level of political activity, were not related
to perceived credibility of all four news outlets examined. Finally, results showed that
demographic variables of gender, age, education and income were not related to how
respondents assessed the credibility of the four sources.
Discussion
While studies have examined the credibility of both Al-Jazeera (Auter et. al, 2004, 2005;
Johnson & Fahmy, 2008, 2009) and Al-Hurra (el-Nawawy, 2007; Telhami, 2005; Wise, 2005),
less attention has been paid to credibility of Al-Arabiya. No studies could be found that has both
systematically compared and contrasted credibility of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and
local Arab media as well as what factors predict the credibility of these Arab satellite stations.
In a span of a little more than 10 years Al-Jazeera has transformed Arab politics and
culture and has become a critical political player in the region and an agent of democratic change
in the Middle East (Powers & Gilboa, 2007). Al-Jazeera has built a strong following among
Arab-language viewers by being the first Arab news source to offer viewers a largely uncensored
24-hour news service that has provided Arabs a forum to express their views through live phone-
in shows (el-Nawawy & Iskandar 2002).
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 17
Al-Jazeera viewers judge the satellite network as highly credible. These results support
other studies that have found that Al-Jazeera viewers judged the network as credible (Auter et al.
2004; Johnson & Fahmy, 2008, 2009). Seib (2007) suggests Arab audiences do not necessarily
use the same standards as Western ones in judging credibility. An Arab source is perceived as
credible if the information is gathered independently from government control and if the news is
told by Arabs for other Arabs and is presented from an Arabic perspective (See Fahmy &
Johnson, 2007a). Indeed, a study of why people used or avoided Al-Jazeera found out that while
they sought out the satellite channel because it was a credible source that helped them judge how
well Arab government officials are performing, those who avoided Al-Jazeera did so because it
presented views they disagreed with (Jamal & Melkote, 2008).
Al-Jazeera satisfied the standards of credibility that Seib (2007) claims is used by Arab
audiences and therefore, not surprisingly, it rated as the most credible station. Though Al-
Jazeera is funded by the government of Qatar, it is perceived as the most independent voice in
the Middle East, while Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations are perceived as being
controlled by Saudi Arabia, other Arab governments (Ayish, 2004; Fahmy & Johnson, 2007b;
Rugh, 2004) or the United States (el-Nawawy, 2007; al-Seggaf, 2004). Studies also found that
respondents often rely on the reputation of the source sponsor in gauging credibility (i.e.
Metzger, et al., 2003), which undoubtedly hurt the reputation of Al-Hurra, that is sponsored by
the United States and is therefore perceived as a propaganda tool for the U.S. government (el-
Nawawy, 2007; al-Seggaf, 2004; Wise 2005). Furthermore, Al-Hurra adheres to the more
Western approach of detached objectivity, an unappealing position for Arab audiences who look
for passionate support for Arab causes (Zayani & Ayish, 2006).
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 18
Researchers since the seminar works of Hovland and associates (1949, 1953) have argued
that the two main elements of source credibility are expertise (the degree the communicator is
viewed as an authority on the issue) and truthfulness (the confidence respondents have that the
source will tell the truth). When Johnson and Fahmy (2008) compared the credibility of Al-
Jazeera, CNN and the BBC they found that all three sources were judged high for expertise.
Both CNN and the BBC were networks established long before Al-Jazeera. Al-Jazeera viewers,
however, questioned the authoritativeness of CNN and the BBC news reports. Both CNN and the
BBC recorded some of their lowest credibility scores for truthfulness as undoubtedly Al-Jazeera
viewers believed that CNN and the BBC filter news through a Western lens. Consequently, CNN
and the BBC also scored below average on accuracy and fairness.
But among Arab satellite networks, Al-Jazeera was the trailblazer. It was the one to
introduce 24-hour news based in part on the Western model of slick presentation and showing
different sides of the issues as well as presenting news on Arabs from an Arabic perspective (el-
Nawawy & Iskandar 2002). Al-Jazeera’s success spurred on several imitators, most notably Al-
Arabiya, which not only copied much of Al-Jazeera’s style, but also hired away many of the
network’s top people (Zayani & Ayish, 2006). But respondents in our study clearly perceive Al-
Jazeera’s competitors as pale imitators. The gap between Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya is largest
on level of expertise. Believability, which is the most common individual measure of credibility
used by scholars (Metzger et al., 2003), ranked second among credibility traits for Al-Jazeera
and no higher than fourth for any other network. Therefore, perceptions of Al-Jazeera’s high
level of expertise helped produce perceptions that the network is believable and therefore more
fair, accurate and in depth. Because credibility lies in the perception of the audience rather than
being a characteristic inherent in the source (Berlo et. al 1969), our results do not demonstrate
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 19
that Al-Jazeera is more credible than Al-Arabiya and Al-Hurra. Rather our results show viewers
of Al-Jazeera perceive that network as more credible than its two Arabic-language competitors
and local Arab stations. A study of regular Al-Arabiya or Al-Hurra viewers would undoubtedly
yield different results.
This study correlated credibility of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya and Al-Hurra with attitudes
toward press freedom, political and demographic variables. Press freedom proved the only
consistent predictor of media credibility with those who valued press freedom judging Al-
Jazeera as more credible and Al-Hurra and local Arab stations as less credible. These results run
counter to studies of the U.S. media where scholars suggest that the public develops its attitudes
toward press freedom independently from how one judges source credibility (Blake & Wyatt
2002). Respondents in this study clearly valued press freedom as they strongly argued that Arab
media should be allowed to publish free from government control and that Arab media should be
allowed to freely criticize their governments. Respondents in this study also lamented that
despite the rise of satellite networks, little press freedom exists in the Arab world (M = 2.82 on a
10-point scale).
The fact that Al-Jazeera does not suffer under the weight of direct government control may
promote more support for press freedoms as viewers can compare the largely uncensored
coverage of Al-Jazeera with the more tightly managed content in local Arab media. This
parallels studies (Jamal & Melkote; 2008; Abdurahim, al-Kandari, & Haque, 2008) that
discovered that a main reason people sought out Al-Jazeera was because it provided uncensored
information and is free to discuss any political perspective and criticize Arab officials for
misconduct. On the other hand, Al Hurra is funded by the U.S. government and is not perceived
as a free voice but a puppet of the U.S. government (el-Nawawy, 2007; al-Seggaf, 2004; Wise
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 20
2005). Therefore because both the content of local Arab media and Al-Hurra are perceived as
heavily controlled, those who value press freedom judge these sources low in credibility.
Limitations
The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast credibility perceptions of Al-
Jazeera with those of Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations through an online survey
posted on Al-Jazeera Arabic-language Website. In a largely oral society, where it would be
difficult to survey by traditional techniques and where people may be afraid to voice their real
opinions because of fear of retribution from their authoritarian governments, an online survey
posted on an Arabic-language website may be the best way to reach Arab television viewers who
speak Arabic. However Internet penetration in Arab countries is still relatively low. Because this
study relied on a self-selected sample of those who visit Al-Jazeera website, results may not be
representative of all Al-Jazeera users. Also, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations
undoubtedly attract different audiences than Al-Jazeera. Further research, therefore, needs to be
conducted on a more neutral Arabic site to get a clearer sense of how the Arab audience judges
these three networks and local Arab stations in terms of credibility.
This study used a host of variables to explore what predicts credibility of the three
satellite networks and local Arab stations. Only support for press freedom and political interest
predicted credibility of any of the sources. Future studies could include other variables, such as
confidence in government institutions and political trust, which have been linked both to
credibility and to press freedom (Blake & Wyatt, 2002). Presumably the less viewers trust their
government, and by extension the less they trust information by their government-controlled
media, the more likely they would be to watch Al-Jazeera and perhaps Al-Arabiya and rate the
networks as credible. On the other hand, the less they trust their own governments and the U.S.
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 21
government, the less they are likely to rely on local Arab stations and the U.S.-sponsored channel
Al-Hurra.
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Table 1 Mean scores results for questions regarding credibility measures of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations (N=646). Believability Fairness Accuracy Depth of
Information Trust-worthiness
Expertise Overall Credibility Index
Al-Jazeera
4.36 3.77 4.30 4.32 4.28 4.55 4.26
Al-Arabiya 3.22 2.75 3.24 3.26 2.89 3.21 3.10
Al-Hurra 1.58 1.55 1.87 1.96 1.44 2.09 1.74
Local Arab Stations
1.55 1.55 1.65 1.65 1.57 1.78 1.63
(Note: 1=Not at all; 2=little; 3= Somewhat; 4= Considerable; 5=Very much) Table 2 Differences between the credibility index of Al-Jazeera, and the credibility indexes of Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and local Arab stations (N=646). Mean Difference
T-Score Sign
Al-Arabiya 1.16 21.96 .000
Al-Hurra 2.52 37.80 .000
Local Arab Stations
2.63 39.90 .000
(Note: 1=Not at all; 2=little; 3= Somewhat; 4= Considerable; 5=Very much) (Note: Mean differences are the credibility index of Al-Jazeera minus the credibility indexes of other satellite channels examined above)
Who is Winning the Hearts and Minds of the Arab Public? - 27
Table 3: Pearson correlation coefficients for the association of the credibility indexes of Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, Al-Hurra and Local Arab stations with press freedom index, political and demographic variables (N=646). Variables Al-Jazeera Al-Arabiya Al-Hurra Local Arab
Stations
Press Freedom
.098*
-.068
-.135*
-.259**
Political Variables
Political Ideology
Level of Political Interest
Level of Political Activity
.055
.147**
.026
-.049
-.017
.001
-.009
-.006
-.007
.072
-.009
.016
Demographics
Gender
Age
Education
Income
.009
.068
-.003
.000
.018
-.017
.004
-.007
-.010
.053
-.051
.004
.010
.048
.038
.018
(Note: * correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed); ** correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) Table 4: Pertinent information on each news network examined.
Year Established
Estimated
Audience Size
Funding
Based City/Country
Al-Jazeera
1996 40 million Emir of Qatar Doha/Qatar
Al-Arabiya 2003 24 million Mainly from Saudi Arabia
Dubai/U.A.E.
Al-Hurra 2004 27 million* U.S. Congress Washington Area/U.S.A.
Sources: Allied Media research available at http://www.allied-media.com (Note: *Circulation figures for Al-Hurra come from AC Nielsen http://www.jameskglassman.com/?p=180)