ABSTRACT
The news of war in Iraq that was carried on Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based Arabic satellite channel, diff ered from the news reported by American media (Aday, Livingston, & Hebert, 2005). The diff erence came not just from the fact that Al Jazeera and CNN or Fox News Channel are diff erent news organizations or face diff erent social institutional infl uences. Media organizations in Qatar and the United States obviously operate in very diff erent contexts: News is as diff erent in the Middle East and the United States as are governments or economies. Diff erent places in the world may produce diff erent institutions, but explaining the source of those diff erences is not straightforward.
