The "Arab Spring" is closely linked to the question of the role played by the «media». The protests, especially at the beginning, were carried by a young generation that was Internet-savvy and often used social media. Social media were therefore in the focus of journalistic and scientific observation from the very beginning. However, it quickly became apparent that "traditional" media such as television also played a supporting role in circulating the protesters' demands and images as well as the governments' reactions to a regional and global public.
A large amount of important scientific literature has since shown that, on the one hand, social media indeed had an important function in the mobilization of the protests (Herrera 2014[1]; Zayani 2015[2]), but at the same time created a resonant space in which "new" and "old" media strengthened each other (Richter & El Difraoui 2015[3]; Kraidy 2016[4]; Lynch 2015[5]; Armbrust 2012[6], Farmanfarmaian 2021[7], Zayani & Mirgani 2017[8]).
The approach of the main research in Bern highlights the importance of understanding media in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region) not only in terms of their technological functionality. The main goal is to contextualize the current structures in which the media landscapes as a whole are constituted and to contribute to their research.
Methodologically, the focus is located transdisciplinary at the intersection of Middle Eastern studies, media studies, political science, cultural studies, anthropology, and history and economics. Thus, on the one hand, the political and economic systems that structure the media landscape are analysed. At the same time, there is also a focus on the everyday use of media by individuals and societies.
The research focus also aims to view the MENA region in a non-monolithic way. It will consider the local, regional, transnational, and, last but not least, global scale.
In addition to the media systems in the Arab world, Turkey is also part of the research and studies.
References:
[1] Herrera, Linda. Revolution in the Age of Social Media: the Egyptian Popular Insurrection and the Internet. London: Verso, 2014
[2] Zayani, Mohamed. Networked Publics and Digital Contention: The Politics of Everyday Life in Tunisia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
[3] Carola Richter, Asiem El Difraoui. Arabische Medien. UVK Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, 2013.
[4] Kraidy, Marwan M. The Naked Blogger of Cairo: Creative Insurgency in the Arab World. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016
[5] Lynch, Marc. "After the Arab Spring: How the Media Trashed the Transitions." Journal of Democracy 26, no. 4 (2015): 90-99
[6] Walter Armbrust (2012) A History of New Media in the Arab Middle East, Journal for Cultural Research,16:2-3, 155-174
[7] Farmanfarmaian, Roxane. Media and Politics in the Southern Mediterranean: Communicating Power in Transition after 2011. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2021
[8] Zayani, Mohamed, and Suzi Mirgani. Bullets and Bulletins: Media and Politics in the Wake of the Arab Uprisings. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2017.
