Skip to main content
Journalist Fellows' Papers

Why do we see what we see? A comparison of CNN International, BBC World News and Al Jazeera English analysing the respective drivers influencing editorial content

Reuters Institute Fellow's Paper

Michelle Henery, a King Edward VII Foundation fellow who has worked for the Times and Al Jazeera English, has written a detailed comparison of what drives editorial content on CNN International, BBC World News and Al Jazeera English, called ‘Why do we see what we see? A comparison of CNN International, BBC World News and Al Jazeera English analysing the respective drivers influencing editorial content'.

Henery interviewed top executives from all three channels and then compared their rhetoric with the reality of the output.  She examined the various drivers of editorial content such as institutional culture, audience, funding models and corporate philosophies. She concludes that it is institutional culture which is the main driver for all three of the channels, but there are secondary drivers which determine the differences between them.  Amongst the many observations she quotes are that ‘CNNI is typified by its “American, can-do culture”; BBCWN carries the “burden of its history” and inhibiting pride, with much of its culture reliant on its high performance in the past; whereas AJE’s “underdog mentality” and “culture of inferiority… spurs it towards extremes of… creativity and risk-taking”.

As with all Fellows’ research papers, any opinions expressed are those of the author and not of the Institute.

Image: Hakan Ertan