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The Al Jazeera Effect: How the New Global Media Are Reshaping World Politics
The battle for hearts and minds in the Middle East is being fought not on the streets of Baghdad, but on the newscasts and talk shows of Al Jazeera. The future of China is being shaped not by Communist Party bureaucrats, but by bloggers working quietly in cyber cafes. The next attacks by al Qaeda will emerge not from Osama bin Laden’s cave, but from cells around the world connected by the Internet.
In these and many other instances, traditional ways of reshaping global politics have been superseded by the influence of new media—satellite television, the Internet, and other high-tech tools. What is involved is more than a refinement of established practices. We are seeing a comprehensive reconnecting of the global village and a reshaping of how the world works.
Al Jazeera is a paradigm of new media’s influence. Ten years ago, there was much talk about “the CNN effect,” the theory that news coverage—especially gripping visual storytelling—was influencing foreign policy throughout the world. Today, “the Al Jazeera effect” takes that a significant step further. The concept encompasses the use of new media as tools in every aspect of global affairs, ranging from democratization to terrorism, and including the concept of “virtual states.”
“The media” are no longer just the media. They have a larger popular base than ever before and, as a result, have unprecedented impact on international politics. The media can be tools of conflict and instruments of peace; they can make traditional borders irrelevant and unify peoples scattered across the globe. This phenomenon, the Al Jazeera effect, is reshaping the world.
In these and many other instances, traditional ways of reshaping global politics have been superseded by the influence of new media—satellite television, the Internet, and other high-tech tools. What is involved is more than a refinement of established practices. We are seeing a comprehensive reconnecting of the global village and a reshaping of how the world works.
Al Jazeera is a paradigm of new media’s influence. Ten years ago, there was much talk about “the CNN effect,” the theory that news coverage—especially gripping visual storytelling—was influencing foreign policy throughout the world. Today, “the Al Jazeera effect” takes that a significant step further. The concept encompasses the use of new media as tools in every aspect of global affairs, ranging from democratization to terrorism, and including the concept of “virtual states.”
“The media” are no longer just the media. They have a larger popular base than ever before and, as a result, have unprecedented impact on international politics. The media can be tools of conflict and instruments of peace; they can make traditional borders irrelevant and unify peoples scattered across the globe. This phenomenon, the Al Jazeera effect, is reshaping the world.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2008
88 people want to read
About the author
Philip Seib
33 books9 followersPhilip Seib is a Professor of Journalism and Public Diplomacy and Professor of International Relations.
Seib's research interests include the effects of news coverage on foreign policy, particularly conflict and terrorism issues. He is author or editor of numerous books, including Headline Diplomacy: How News Coverage Affects Foreign Policy; The Global Journalist: News and Conscience in a World of Conflict; Broadcasts from the Blitz: How Edward R. Murrow Helped Lead America into War; Beyond the Front Lines: How the News Media Cover a World Shaped by War; New Media and the Middle East (2007); The Al Jazeera Effect (2008); Toward a New Public Diplomacy: Redirecting U.S. Foreign Policy (2009); and Real-Time Diplomacy: Politics and Power in the Social Media Era (2012). Seib is also the editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Series in International Political Communication, co-editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Series in Global Public Diplomacy and co-editor of the journal Media, War and Conflict, published by Sage.
Prior to joining the USC faculty in 2007, Seib was a professor at Marquette University and before that at Southern Methodist University.
[source: http://annenberg.usc.edu/faculty/comm... ]
Seib's research interests include the effects of news coverage on foreign policy, particularly conflict and terrorism issues. He is author or editor of numerous books, including Headline Diplomacy: How News Coverage Affects Foreign Policy; The Global Journalist: News and Conscience in a World of Conflict; Broadcasts from the Blitz: How Edward R. Murrow Helped Lead America into War; Beyond the Front Lines: How the News Media Cover a World Shaped by War; New Media and the Middle East (2007); The Al Jazeera Effect (2008); Toward a New Public Diplomacy: Redirecting U.S. Foreign Policy (2009); and Real-Time Diplomacy: Politics and Power in the Social Media Era (2012). Seib is also the editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Series in International Political Communication, co-editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Series in Global Public Diplomacy and co-editor of the journal Media, War and Conflict, published by Sage.
Prior to joining the USC faculty in 2007, Seib was a professor at Marquette University and before that at Southern Methodist University.
[source: http://annenberg.usc.edu/faculty/comm... ]
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 5, 2011
إن " الإعلام " لم يعد إعلاماً فقط. لقد أصبحت لديه قاعدة جماهيرية أوسع من أي وقت مضى، ونتيجة لذلك، أصبح يمارس تأثيراً غير مسبوق في السياسة الدولية. يمكن للغعلام أن يكون أداة للصراع أو أداة للسلام، وبإمكانه أن ينزع عن الحدود التقليدية قيمتها فيوحد الشعوب المتناثرة عبر الكرة الأرضية. إن هذه الظاهرة - تأثير الجزيرة - بصدد إعادة تشكيل العالم . "
ماذا لو كان الكتاب عن تأثير الجزيرة بعد الثورات العربية الآن ، أو الربيع العربي؟
من لم يفهم لغة العصر الذي يعيش فيه لن يؤثر فيه ، هكذا فهمت !
ماذا لو كان الكتاب عن تأثير الجزيرة بعد الثورات العربية الآن ، أو الربيع العربي؟
من لم يفهم لغة العصر الذي يعيش فيه لن يؤثر فيه ، هكذا فهمت !
May 28, 2020
"In some ways, global satellite TV and Internet access have actually made the world a less understanding, less tolerant place. What the media provide is superficial familiarity - images without context, indignation without remedy."
Today, the battle for the hearts and minds of populations is not only fought in streets and warzones but also the studios and talk-shows of modern media. The future of countries now are not only defined by bureaucrats and politicians but also by bloggers and column writers. The next terrorist attack may not be planned in a secret cave in the mountains of Afghanistan but on a virtual forum on the internet.
The Al-Jazeera Effect goes on to factually analyze and discuss the emergence of the news channel Al-Jazeera in competition to already existing popular international media including CNN and BBC and how it drastically changed the political and social structure of the Middle East. There is also reasonable discussion about the galvanization of the Muslims of the world into a collective unit, the Muslim Ummah and the role of media in turning it into a reality.
"Even a flawed argument has appeal when it is allowed to stand in an intellectual vacuum."
The book provides an illuminating insight into how much of the media in the world works and to what extent governments are willing to do in order to control the dissemination of information among its people.
There is also substantial reasoning on how the trust of people in any news greatly depends upon the source of the news.
With its specialized language and technical writing style, it's not a book for everyone. However, for students of political science the book can be a great read.
Today, the battle for the hearts and minds of populations is not only fought in streets and warzones but also the studios and talk-shows of modern media. The future of countries now are not only defined by bureaucrats and politicians but also by bloggers and column writers. The next terrorist attack may not be planned in a secret cave in the mountains of Afghanistan but on a virtual forum on the internet.
The Al-Jazeera Effect goes on to factually analyze and discuss the emergence of the news channel Al-Jazeera in competition to already existing popular international media including CNN and BBC and how it drastically changed the political and social structure of the Middle East. There is also reasonable discussion about the galvanization of the Muslims of the world into a collective unit, the Muslim Ummah and the role of media in turning it into a reality.
"Even a flawed argument has appeal when it is allowed to stand in an intellectual vacuum."
The book provides an illuminating insight into how much of the media in the world works and to what extent governments are willing to do in order to control the dissemination of information among its people.
There is also substantial reasoning on how the trust of people in any news greatly depends upon the source of the news.
With its specialized language and technical writing style, it's not a book for everyone. However, for students of political science the book can be a great read.
July 16, 2012
This book is better read by starting at the last chapter, chapter 8. Starting from here you get the message of this book: what new communication structures can/can't do in the Middle East. The remaining 7 chapters read like 7 technical reports on the use of new media in certain situations. As a result, this book is not a read on its byline. All the examples of new global media show an effect on micropolitics, not world politics. Al Jazeera's effect was mainly on the local populaces in oppressed territories, not France's diplomatic relations with Libya. The other examples provide evidence that global initiatives have local effects, not global effects. From Al Jazeera to OhmyNews to the decentralized blogosphere, the evidence-based conclusion from this work is that the Al Jazeera effect is pointed and local. Satellite and Internet media do not reshape world politics, they reshape within-country politics.
The title of the book is also misleading. The effect described is only called the Al Jazeera effect because the author admits Al Jazeera is the most visible outcome of early 21st century news dissemination. It would be better to call the theory of this book the Internet effect: now that millions can communicate instantly, what are the results? The results are the first 7 chapters of this book, in a hurried organization more befit for journal papers than a novel. The biggest example of Al Jazeera's effect is actually well AFTER this book was published - the Arab Spring. (Side note: the best section of this book is Seib's description of Egyptian media around the '05 presidential election, for its prescience towards what happened 5 years later.) That's not Seib's theory, however. Seib is only telling us the effect of easily-available points and counterpoints in today's dialogue.
Most important of all, Seib offers no new analysis that can't be found in a few New Yorker articles. That's why this book isn't great: it is not insightful, just factual. Facts are on the internet that Seib is studying; it's insights and connections that we look for in books such as Seib's. We don't find insights here. Move along.
The title of the book is also misleading. The effect described is only called the Al Jazeera effect because the author admits Al Jazeera is the most visible outcome of early 21st century news dissemination. It would be better to call the theory of this book the Internet effect: now that millions can communicate instantly, what are the results? The results are the first 7 chapters of this book, in a hurried organization more befit for journal papers than a novel. The biggest example of Al Jazeera's effect is actually well AFTER this book was published - the Arab Spring. (Side note: the best section of this book is Seib's description of Egyptian media around the '05 presidential election, for its prescience towards what happened 5 years later.) That's not Seib's theory, however. Seib is only telling us the effect of easily-available points and counterpoints in today's dialogue.
Most important of all, Seib offers no new analysis that can't be found in a few New Yorker articles. That's why this book isn't great: it is not insightful, just factual. Facts are on the internet that Seib is studying; it's insights and connections that we look for in books such as Seib's. We don't find insights here. Move along.
August 25, 2009
Given my limited knowledge on current affairs in the Middle East, this was quite illuminating as to what extent governments are willing to go to control information, as well as how public opinion is shaped and influenced depending on its source.
Before this book, I had heard of Al Jazeera by name, but I admittedly wasn't clear on what it even was. I was not familiar with Al Hurra either, so you can imagine my surprise when I found out it was an entity borne out of the Bush administration, solely to play up the American nation in a more positive light. Guess which one the audience identified as being more credible?
Seib clarifies the concept of Al Qaeda and asks us to consider them not as a unified group but as a network, perhaps even a virtual state. It's an intriguing concept, further backed by details on their organization makeup, connections, and communication methods. It is important to realize that because it is not a mere hierarchy, the network will not dissipate altogether if Bin Laden were eliminated, as simple as some reporters like to make it seem.
Although the book largely focuses on media influence in the Middle East, he interestingly draws parallels of similar happenings in other countries, such as China, Lebanon, Libya, and so forth, dedicating nearly whole chapters per country. This further propagates the idea that governmental influence and control of information against journalists, bloggers, SMS messages, and the like are not confined to one region of the world.
Before this book, I had heard of Al Jazeera by name, but I admittedly wasn't clear on what it even was. I was not familiar with Al Hurra either, so you can imagine my surprise when I found out it was an entity borne out of the Bush administration, solely to play up the American nation in a more positive light. Guess which one the audience identified as being more credible?
Seib clarifies the concept of Al Qaeda and asks us to consider them not as a unified group but as a network, perhaps even a virtual state. It's an intriguing concept, further backed by details on their organization makeup, connections, and communication methods. It is important to realize that because it is not a mere hierarchy, the network will not dissipate altogether if Bin Laden were eliminated, as simple as some reporters like to make it seem.
Although the book largely focuses on media influence in the Middle East, he interestingly draws parallels of similar happenings in other countries, such as China, Lebanon, Libya, and so forth, dedicating nearly whole chapters per country. This further propagates the idea that governmental influence and control of information against journalists, bloggers, SMS messages, and the like are not confined to one region of the world.
November 27, 2012
Seib, an insightful political scientist and journalism analyst both, brings both barrels to play in looking at how first, satellite TV, and now, blogs, Twitter, etc., are changing news coverage within the Muslim world, especially, but not only, in the Arab heartland.
That includes their impact not just on traditional nation-states, but stateless actors like al Qaeda, and in-between players, quasi-states without borders like Kurdistan.
That said, Seib is a realist. He notes that, while media in Lebanon pinned back Syria's ears as part of the Cedar Revolution, it has had little power to change political structures in places like the Gulf kingdoms, Iran or Egypt.
In any case, without being explicitly predictive, Seib has good insights for future developments.
As part of that, while looking primarily at news coverage issues, he also looks at the financial side, no small matter with the financial backing al-Jazeera, especially, gets. He offers no predictions as to when it will be able to stand on its own two feet, but notes that this too is an issue needing further attention.
That includes their impact not just on traditional nation-states, but stateless actors like al Qaeda, and in-between players, quasi-states without borders like Kurdistan.
That said, Seib is a realist. He notes that, while media in Lebanon pinned back Syria's ears as part of the Cedar Revolution, it has had little power to change political structures in places like the Gulf kingdoms, Iran or Egypt.
In any case, without being explicitly predictive, Seib has good insights for future developments.
As part of that, while looking primarily at news coverage issues, he also looks at the financial side, no small matter with the financial backing al-Jazeera, especially, gets. He offers no predictions as to when it will be able to stand on its own two feet, but notes that this too is an issue needing further attention.
February 10, 2009
I can't finish this book because the library is making me return it. With that said, I got through half and thought it was really interesting. There are a lot of comparisons drawn between what people once called the CNN effect and what the author is now calling the Al Jazeera Effect. There is also a lot of fascinating stuff about people in the Middle East wanting to have home-grown as opposed to Western media and all the problems caused because much of the media are not not able to self-sustain budget-wise without help from governments. Obviously this can in turn effect content. I'll go back and finish this at some point. Good stuff.
Read
July 11, 2009I read the prologue, and felt like I got his point. I didn't think I needed to read the rest of the book. In fact, you can get his theme just by reading the title. A good idea for an article, but not compelling enough for a whole book.
May 16, 2012
Very illuminating in the sense that it introduced me to the news media in the middle east. wish I had read this one during my post graduation days.
December 22, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews