"Other" news : enemy image construction and otherization of Al Jazeera in American television news

This thesis explores the construction of the Arabic news network Al Jazeera on mainstream American television news. A textual analysis of transcripts from American television news programs on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and Fox News was conducted using a model of enemy image construction and Otherization in order to describe American television news discourse about Al Jazeera. Taking a political economy approach to communication, this paper argues that the construction of Al Jazeera on American television news is a means of further alienating the Arab/Muslim/Middle Eastern community and creating an enemy to serve the needs of the government. The analysis found that while some elements of enemy image construction were used more frequently than others, all were utilized at one point or another in the American television news discourse about Al Jazeera.