Al Jazeera in America

The Global Studies Seminar welcomes William Youmans presenting "Al Jazeera in America: Media Economics and the Cultural Politics of US-Arab Relations."With the launch of Al Jazeera America in August, 2013, the Qatar-sponsored network capped off nearly 7 years of failure to break into the US cable news market with its global English news channel. As a channel that was once deemed a terrorist mouthpiece and then hailed as a force for reform during the Arab spring, Al Jazeera is testing the limits of America's marketplace of ideas and exposes the unlikely promise of greater intercultural understanding in US-Arab relations. Youmans is an assistant professor at the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. Broadly interested in questions of transnationalism and news media in conflict, his primary research interests include global news media, journalism, media law, and social movements. Other areas of interest include contemporary American public diplomacy, terrorism and international broadcasting.