Identifying with Arabic Journalists

Al-Jazeera typifies the West’s perception of the new Arab satellite news channel. Seemingly rising from out of nowhere, the fledgling Al-Jazeera satellite news channel took a western-style cable news format and adapted it to the cultural perspectives of a Middle Eastern audience. As a result, it has become one of the most popular news channels with people in the Middle East and Arab expatriates around the world. One reason for this popularity may be the result of audiences identifying with their favorite news personalities on the network - possibly even developing a mock-interpersonal relationship with them. This ‘parasocial interaction’ may be linked to viewing levels, perceptions of the network as credible and a number of motives for watching the channel. To test these possibilities, the authors surveyed over 5300 Al-Jazeera users during a two-week period in 2002. They found strong evidence that parasocial interaction is related to amount of time spent with the channel and belief in the network’s credibility.