Dr Mark Allen Peterson contrasts the Egyptian mediascape in 2011 with its Iranian counterpart in 1979 and concludes that, unlike Iran, Egypt is unlikely to revert to a pre-revolutionary status quo which included state domination of the media.
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The Arab Spring and the discourse of desperation
El Mustapha Lahlali takes a close look at the rhetorical devices by which both Ben Ali and Mubarak tried to retain power when they addressed their nations at critical junctures during the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings.
Read More »The Media Reality in Iraqi Kurdistan
Alice Hlidkova reports on the state of the media in Iraqi Kurdistan, where the reality does not always live up to the ideals promulgated by those who run the autonomous region.
Read More »Ruling the Arab Internet: An Analysis of Internet Ownership Trends of Six Arab Countries
Michael Oghia and Helen Indelicato research Internet ownership in key Arab countries, noting the differences in the extent of state control and in the levels of private and foreign investment in the infrastructure.
Read More »Saintly Soap Operas: An examination of three Coptic saint dramas
Omar Foda looks at the video hagiographies of three Coptic saints and finds that this little-studied genre draws heavily on the tropes of the Egyptian musalsal, including very colloquial Arabic language and exclusive use of melodrama in the presentation of emotions
Read More »Privileging the Private: Media and Development in Syria
Leah Caldwell examines coverage of 'development' by the privately owned Syrian daily al-Watan and finds that it is always discussed in a tightly controlled framework where a handful of participants are allowed to participate and determine exactly what or who needs to be developed.
Read More »Digital Shahid – From Broadcast Media to Citizen Journalism in Palestine
Gianluca Iazzolina traces developments in Palestinian media from the partisan-dominated 1990s to the more diverse forms of the 21st century. He concludes that information technologies are helping to bridge the gap between Israeli and Palestinian civil societies, allowing them to mirror each other in their most human dimension.
Read More »Cloud Computing and the Monolithic Narrativer
Rami Khater discusses the implications of automated translation based on cloud computing and warns that the subaltern’s narrative and voice could be removed from the interpretation of all human history if our collective knowledge passes through the filters of these trained algorithms.
Read More »Catch & Release: Evaluating the Free Kareem Campaignr
Courtney C. Radsch argues on the basis of the Kareem Amer case that although cyberactivists and rights organizations are capable of sustained campaigns in defense of freedom of expression, some governments at least are almost impervious to the pressure, even at the cost of significant damage to their international image.
Read More »Digital Protectionism: Preparing for the coming Internet Embargo
Rami Khater sees the first signs that the United States and its allies might use their dominance of the Internet as a weapon against their enemies in the Middle East and argues that countries in the region would do well to develop indigenous Internet platforms.
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