Blogging the Revolution: New Journalism, New Politics and the New Arab Media

THE EDWARD R. MURROW COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITYLAWRENCE PINTAK, FOUNDING DEAN

Inaugural Conference of The Program on Good Governance and Political

Reform in the Arab WorldCenter on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of

LawMay 11, 2010

Al Jazeera Effect

Media landscape transformed

400+ free-to-air TV stations

New (semi-) independent newspapers

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Reality Check: Media does not create change

Media-fueled aspirations for change and real change two different things

Tool of powerGovernments, oligarchs, politicos, religious figures and would-be players

Future TV

Media and governmentsArab leaders obsessed with media

Struggling to cope with its effects

“…change is coming..”

But they don’t understand it

Mubarak rumors

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Press Freedom 2010

Seven Arab countries named “Predators of Press Freedom”(RSF)

Only two Arab countries “partly free;”

the rest “not free”

Clinton singled out Egypt and Saudi for Internet censorship

Arab satellite charter

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Freedom House 2010

Bloggers and Journalists Detained 2010

“Avoid harm…” "We found ourselves, whether willingly or not, forced to take part in this new world, and we need to learn how to influence it…

Kuwaiti Info Min Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah

"Our message should be to avoid anything that could harm our Arab and Muslim nations, because this newly-found freedom could become a burden if we don't learn how to utilize it properly.”

AMS Chair Mathi Al-Khamis

The New Arab Journalist

More professional

More conscious

More prepared to push the envelop

But they are not clones of Western journalism

They are activists…

Support “democratic”

change

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98% Support Arab reform

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Own governments are the enemy

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Regional/domestic agenda

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Critical of themselves

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And defenders…

Media agenda shifting

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ReportsDarfurProtectionHIV/AIDSOthers

UNICEF: Spike in stories about:

HIV-AIDSFGMDarfur

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Reality Check: Incremental effect

Syria in LebanonBashar Assad: “Tell them to zoom out”

Gulf attitudes toward Hizbullah in the 2006 Lebanon war

“Qatif Girl”

Social Media as Tool of Activists

Beware the Hype: The New Arab Blogger

Cyber-activists – not journalists

Impact is through ripple effect

Concentric circles of change

Torture

Reality Check: Bloggers are not (necessarily) journalists

Wael Abbas’

Tweets:

I have no problem with people pointlessly masturbating…But these people want you too to do it with them and that’s not acceptable!!!

And by the way Robert Fisk, that motherfucker…

All those foreign journalists who call me saying that all of Egypt supports the Brotherhood can fuck off. Also all those bastard nationalists and communists who don’t speak for anyone but themselves.

Internet is an important political tool

Reality Check: Facebook GirlApril 6 Group emblematic of the new media agenda-settersBread strike group: 75,000 membersTotal Egyptian Facebook group: 650,000

More than combined circulation of top four newspapers

ButFirst strike had limited effectSecond was failure

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Reality Check: Blogosphere Not a Monolith

35,000 active Arab blogs

“The writing of most bloggers is centered on personal, diary-style observations.”

Palestine to gay rights

Breaks “gatekeeper monopolies” but…

Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard

Sublime to the Ridiculous

Entire Political Spectrum

Reality Check: Internet Penetration

COUNTRY

% POP

Algeria 10.6

Egypt 7.9

Jordan 17.3

Libya 5.8

Morocco 18.8

Tunisia 15.9

Qatar 25.6

Saudi 33.5

CELL PENETRATION

83.1

71.7

101.2

146.9

80.3

93.5

151.1

165.5

Source: Arab Advisors Group

Conclusions

Arab media is having an effect on the agenda

Journalists are increasing role as watchdogs and gatekeepers

Activists are wielding a new electronic weapon

New networks are emerging that circumvent halls of power

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But media does not = democracy

Berkman: “The Internet lays a good foundation for a battle of ideas, but it does not necessarily favor a winner.”

“Arab spring” gave way to cold snap

14 years after Al Jazeera’s launch, no govt has changed

The sons also rise

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