Analysis of International News Trend Prior to Islamic Awakening

The purpose of this research which is done by considering the headlines and news values (deviation and social importance) of Shoemaker and Cohen and by adopting content analysis method, is a survey of the news coverage of Islamic countries and the world in certain TV networks prior to the recent successive revolutions in the Middle - East. The statistical society of research was the six- month nightly programs of these networks (May 30, 2010 to Nov 9, 2010), i.e. exactly one month before the Islamic Awakening uprisings. The statistical sampling used systematic probable sampling method. The results show that BBS news coverage followed this order of importance: The western world (using neutral and positive tone), Asia and Africa and Latin America (neutral and negative tone), Islamic world (neutral and negative tone), and Eastern Europe (neutral and positive tone). Most of CNN coverage pertains to the West (neutral and positive tone), Asia – Africa and Latin America (neutral and negative tone), Islamic world (neutral and negative tone) and Eastern Europe (neutral tone). Those of Press network: The West (neutral and positive), the Islamic World (neutral and negative), Asia, Africa and Latin America (neutral and negative), Eastern Europe (mostly neutral). Al-Jazeera network also deals primarily with the West (neutral and positive), then it covers news related to Asia, Africa and Latin America (neutral and negative), the Islamic world (neutral and negative) and Eastern Europe (mostly negative). Rasha network mostly deals with Eastern Europe (neutral and positive), then the West (neutral and positive), the Islamic World (neutral and negative), and Asia, Africa and Latin America (neutral and positive). Nile network's most coverage is that of the Islamic World (neutral and negative), then the West (neutral and positive), Asia, Africa and Latin America (moderate tone), and finally Eastern Europe (neutral and negative). As for the headlines, the research results show that although news values (deviation and social significance) play a role in that, this influence is lower than other factors such as the role of media organizations, states, foreign policies, and television correspondents and journalists in the global scope.