ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the details of media coverage and analyzes its political significance through the eyes of those who performed it. The data collected from the interviewees draws a clear picture of the ways in which news is gathered, processed and disseminated to millions of viewers across the region. It contextualizes the Arab spring and explains the editorial policies and how media coverage engages public participation. The chapter presents a discussion on how the whole concept of an Arab public sphere is undergoing a structural transformation. Al Jazeera created a sort of public awareness that all these peoples now share the same principles, the same goals, the same understanding. So, Al Jazeera expedited the cycle of change in the Arab world. Televising debates about issues and events close to the hearts and minds of Arabs and publicizing them beyond the confines of elitist agendas means that elites are no longer capable of monopolizing the public sphere.
