Reporting in the MENA region: cyber engagement and pan-Arab social media

Noha Mellor
,
Mohammad Ayish

Research Output: Other contribution Other contribution Peer-review

Abstract

In this consideration of media practice in the Arab region, Mohammad Ayish and Noha Mellor explore the changing status and function of journalists and journalism given the new realities of reporting in the digital age. The authors draw on focus group discussions, interviews, and social media traffic surveys to examine how social and new media have been integrated into Arab and pan-Arab newsroom operations and harnessed to enhance engagement with an empowered audience. Efforts to engage with audiences in social space, Ayish and Mellor argue, are part of a broad and long-waged information war aimed at winning hearts and minds in the MENA region. Social platforms present excellent opportunities to engage with audiences, but the extent to which such opportunities can be realized are hamstrung by limits on free expression and online access—and vary significantly from country to country and from media channel to media channel. Overall, Reporting in the MENA Region paints a comprehensive and contemporary picture of how today’s Arab journalists perceive and use digital media

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Other contribution Other contribution Peer-review

Original language

English

Publication milestones

Published - 22/10/2015

Publication status

Published - 22/10/2015

Place of publication

USA

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

ISBN (Print)

9781442237629

External Publication IDs

handle.net: 10547/622421