This article begins to map the new phenomenon of “counter-hegemonic contra-flow.”
This means the constant erosion of the global dominance of Anglo-American global news
channels on the global news map. The Al-Jazeera “contra-flow” is significantly different
from former “contra-flows” — particularly the “Bollywood” and “telenovela” contra-flows
— which usually complemented rather than opposed Western values when exporting
programs and films on a global level. In stark contrast, Al-Jazeera’s anti-hegemonic reports
have managed to successfully challenge the hegemonic perspective of Western networks on
many levels, as illustrated in this article. The analysis conducted shows that more and more
Western and non-Western viewers are exposed to the counter-hegemonic point-of-view of
events.
Future studies should examine whether the advent of “counter-hegemonic contra-flow”
promotes the much-expected horizontal news flow, or (rather) the emergence of polarization
in the form of a “clash-of-civilizations”-style debate.