Ph.D. candidate Shawn Powers (pictured, right) co-authored a study about Al-Jazeera English's impact around the world that found the broadcast station is more likely to cover contentious issues in a way that creates an environment conducive to cooperation, negotiation and reconciliation.

The study, titled Mediating Conflict: Al-Jazeera English and the Possibility of a Conciliatory Media (Figueroa Press) and co-authored by Mohammed El-Nawawy of Queens University, compiled findings from 597 AJE viewers in six countries over the past year. Viewers rated the network favorably in covering stories of injustice in the world, and providing public space for politically underrepresented groups.

"Needless to say, this was an invaluable experience, both professionally and personally," Powers said. "Personally, I had the opportunity to meet quite a few exceptional people during the research process. Professionally, in addition to the research experience, we hope to author several publication based on our findings."

The findings included:

• Al-Jazeera English viewers found it to function as a “conciliatory media,” which is a news broadcaster that is more likely to cover contentious issues in a way that contributes to creating an environment that is more conducive to cooperation, negotiation and reconciliation. Overall, viewers found that AJE was a conciliatory media, and the longer they had been watching AJE, the better they thought it was at fulfilling its conciliatory role.
• The more months a viewer had been watching AJE, the less dogmatic they were in their thinking. Here, dogmatism is a measure of how open or closed one is to other people's ideas, arguments and values and able to change his/her opinion based on the introduction of new information.  Importantly, previous research has demonstrated a positive correlation between levels of dogmatism and confrontational behavior in conflict situations, thus AJE may have the potential to decrease people's proclivity to think and behave in such confrontational ways.
• Viewers tune into international news for affirmation rather than information. For example, viewers that were dependent on CNN were more likely to be supportive of US foreign policy in Iraq and towards the Israeli-Arab conflict, whereas viewers dependent on AJE were less likely to be supportive of US policy in these areas. Our research provided strong evidence to argue that viewers seek out broadcasters that they think will provide news and stories that will reaffirm their pre-existing opinions rather than inform and educate them of other people's perspectives.

"We hope that people are more willing to listen to other people's ideas and be more open to alternative sources of information," Powers said. "Our study argues that, if people simply continue to tune into media that reinforce their pre-exiting opinions, global conversations on difficult international problems become more and more difficult. Today's international environment demands global cooperation on issues ranging from global warming to solving tensions in the Middle East, and that cooperation requires a softening of stereotypes of cultural 'others'. This can only be achieved if people are willing to be more open to conflicting opinions and arguments, something that Al-Jazeera English was found to provide in a productive and professional manner."

Powers' research was featured in recent articles in the Charlotte Observer and Miami Herald.

Powers is a Ph.D candidate at USC Annenberg and a research associate at USC’s Center on Public Diplomacy. His research interests are focused on the use of media in times of war and conflict and the potential roles that media technologies can have on resolving cross-cultural disagreements and international tensions. He previously worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and has conducted field and media research in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia.

The research was funded by The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which invests in journalism excellence worldwide and in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers.

Powers and El-Nawawy will present their findings at the Arab-U.S. Association for Communication Educators conference in Richmond, Va. from Nov. 14-17.

Complete study
Miami Herald article
Charlotte Observer article