Al-Jazeera’s “Double Standards” in the Arab Spring

This book finds that Al-Jazeeräs coverage of Bahrain and Syria has conformed with Qatar¿s foreign policy, throughout the last decade (2011-2021). Al-Jazeera Arabic adopted Qatar¿s ¿double standards¿ policy in both countries in the beginning of the Arab Spring, framing Bahrain¿s protests as a ¿sectarian movement,¿ while depicting the Syrian armed conflict as a legitimate ¿revolution¿ (2011-2013). The book observes that when ties between Qatar and Bahrain worsened during the 2017 Gulf crisis, Al-Jazeera Arabic has shifted its coverage from being ¿pro-Bahraini regime¿ to ¿pro-protesters,¿ focusing on violations and giving voice to activists (2014-2021). The book concludes that the lack of ¿Peace Journalism¿ framing in Al-Jazeeräs coverage of Bahrain¿s uprising and Syriäs chemical weapons attacks has represented ¿claims¿ as ¿facts,¿ and justified military action against Syria. It also reveals distinctive differences between Al-Jazeera Arabic and English, with theformer lacking ¿objective reporting standards,¿ and using more sectarian language than the latter.