The Al Jazeera-phenomenon has received massive attention, but it remains under-researched. The growth of transnational satellite television has transformed the global media landscape into a complex web of multi-vocal, multimedia and multi-directional flows. Based on a combination of policy-, production- and content analysis of comprehensive empirical data the book offers an innovative perspective on the theorization of global news contra-flows. By problematizing the distinctive characteristics of AJE, it examines the strategic motivation behind the channel and the ways in which its production processes and news profile are meant to be different from its Anglo-American competitors. These questions underscore a central nexus of the book: the changing relationship between transnational satellite news and power.
Tine Ustad Figenschou is a Postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, Norway. Figenschou has published widely on Al Jazeera English, and her work has appeared in Journalism, Media, Culture & Society, Global Media and Communication and International Journal of Communication.