Satellite TV News and the Arab Diaspora in Britain: Comparing Al-Jazeera, the BBC and CNN

This article investigates how members of the Arabic-speaking diaspora in Britain use and interpret Al-Jazeera in comparison with the BBC and CNN. Based on findings from a survey and from household and focus-group interviews, the paper attempts to explain why Arabic-speaking viewers turned to Al-Jazeera after 11 September, and why that channel was deemed more credible and ‘balanced’ than either the BBC or CNN. The article also considers, more generally, the role of Arab satellite TV in diverse cultures of the Arabic diaspora. It examines the claim that Al Jazeera is fanning the flames of extremism among its audiences, and argues that such claims are overstated and unfounded, not least due to the active nature of audiences in consuming news.