Watching the Talk: Talk on Television and Talk About Television - The Case Study of Ahmar Bel Khat Areed

Abstract

When studying Arab television, many including some of the better-informed researchers in the Arab world have tended to think mostly of Al Jazeera and news coverage. The academic scholarship thus lacks a more inclusive approach as it excludes a pivotal discussion on entertainment talk shows. This study provides an alternative, unconventional perspective focusing on audience discussion programs. Through content analysis and critical discourse analysis, Ahmar bil-Khat al Areed (Red in Bold Lines), a civic-oriented Lebanese talk show, is critically examined (on the discourse, format and content levels) to fill the knowledge gap left by the existing literature. The present paper proceeds from descriptive studies of this subgenre—drawing on relevant research in communication, media studies, language, sociology and political science—to argue that Ahmar bil-Khat al Areed is an exemplar of issue-oriented talk shows that can contribute to the activation of public spaces through the participation of ordinary individuals in debates on salient personal and social issues during times of conflict.