The Annapolis Conference as a failed media event: the mediatization of international politics

This article deals with the concept of media events, but seen from a perspective not often taken of an international media event in the Middle East, the Annapolis Conference in November 2007, that failed in some aspects but still managed to set an agenda in international politics. The article looks at the mediatization of politics in a globalized world but pays specific attention to the way this conference was treated within the Arab media, mainly newspapers in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, but also with a broader look including, for instance, Al-Jazeera and the Western 24-hour channels CNN and BBC World. Discussing modern media events the article also focuses on the multi-media aspects of media events, from print media to the Internet. By looking behind the scenes and from different media and regions the article theorizes and analyzes the complicated patterns of modern, mediated and global politics.