Christine Aster Crone

Short presentation

I am working on a project about the new pan-Arab news station al-Mayadeen. The station is based in Beirut but has regional ambitions. It was launched in June 2011 and has from its first days aimed at presenting itself as the serious alternative to al-Jazeera. The establishment of al-Mayadeen is tightly connected to the ongoing Arab uprisings and the following changes of power balance and alliances.

In spite of the channel being rather young it is clearly playing an important role in the Arab mediascape. By giving priority to the Palestinian case and using an anti-imperialist rhetoric al-Mayadeen is trying to represent an important sentiment in the Arab public, namely the discourse of resistance. Its editorial line is reflecting some of the central political changes which the past years of developments have led to.

Through program analysis and field work in the region I am trying to identify al-Mayadeen's political and ideological position and place it within a broader context.