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Introduction
The media is one of the most powerful forces in society since it provides people with information and helps them to make sense of what is going on around them. The world is becoming more integrated and there are many events going on in our immediate society and the distant world.
Media reports expose people to news and information from distant parts of the world and raises awareness on some issues. In addition to this, media in most times influences the individual’s view and understanding of events. The media provides people with a background of the issues and helps them to gain a better perception of what is going on. This helps people to make sense of new information and form an enlightened opinion.
The media has been instrumental in bringing about change in society. Gentz and Kramer suggest that by informing the society on issues of importance, the media is able to act as a powerful agent of change and reform (24). The media is credited with having played a role in the recent Arab Spring that swept over North Africa and the Middle East.
While the ultimate impact of the Arab Spring in North Africa and the Middle East remains to be seen, it did lead to the collapse of four regimes and the establishment of democratic governments in their place. The revolution also initiated many reforms in the region with governments making changes in response to the demands of the people. This paper will set out to analyze the effects that media had on the Arab Spring. It will highlight the role that both traditional and new media played in the Arab Revolution.
Effects of Traditional Media
Traditional media outlets such as radio, television, and newspapers played a major role in spreading the Arab Spring story to the world. The media brought the world focus to the events that were going on in the Arab world. International media houses engaged in intensive reporting on the events taking place in the Arab countries (Laqueur 75).
The detailed information on the social and political issues that had made a popular uprising necessary made the global community pay attention to the countries involved in the protests. The media was able to turn the Arab Spring into an issue of international concern with people all over the world following the events through their televisions, radios, and newspapers. People increased their reliance on media outlets to provide them with information on the events taking place in the revolting Arab countries.
Hanska-Ahy and Shapour document that the online audience base for BBC Arabic online “grew by 300% during the height of the protests in Egypt and traffic to the broadcasters mobile sites grew by 274% compared with the average weekly reach in 2010″ (2). This interest led to more reporting on the issue as it developed over the months.
The media promoted the local support for the Arab revolution. In most of the countries, people were unconcerned about the social issues and the political situation in their country.
For Example, Tunisia had been under the rule of Ben Ali since October 1987 and during his over 2decade rule, the country had witnessed increasing intolerance of opposition figures and many human rights violations. In the same way, Hosni Mubarak had ruled Egypt since 1981 and during his reign, the country experienced rising unemployment issues and opposition figures were imprisoned and mistreated by the regime.
The media brought these issues to the attention of the civilians of the country. Political activists used media resources to inspire individuals to take action against their oppressive governments (Alqudsi-ghabra 150). Because of media promotion, people who were otherwise uninterested in politics began to notice their environment. They therefore started to protest due to the highlighting of social issues by the media.
International media promoted the expansion and development of the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring can trace its birth to the protests in Tunisia, which were catalyzed when Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest of social conditions. From this event, various political and human rights activists teamed up and began a revolution that led to the eventual collapse of the oppressive Tunisian Regime. The revolution would have remained confined to Tunisia if the media had not been involved.
Because of the publicizing of the events in Tunisia, other Arab countries were able to closely follow the events leading up to the collapse of the Ben Ali Regime (Alqudsi-ghabra 151). After witnessing this success, other Arab countries including Algeria, Egypt, and Yemen engage in their own waves of unrest with the intention of overthrowing their governments. The Media continued to cover these events therefore promoting the growth of the Arab Spring.
The media had a positive effect on the morale of the protestors in most of the North African and Middle Eastern countries engaged in uprisings against their governments. In most countries, media reports encouraged local protestors that they were not alone in their struggle to bring reform in their country.
Laqueur asserts that psychological factors play a decisive role in political trends (75). The psychological support offered by media therefore to optimism even when the governments were attacking protestors in an attempt to stop the revolutions. By seeing images of other protestors engaged in the same struggle, activists were encouraged to continue fighting for their cause.
The media led to the acquisition of material and political support for the Arab Spring by the international community. Gupta and Brooks observe that while protests by Egyptians played a significant role in the overthrow of Mubarak in Egypt, the international community was crucial to the success of this revolt (24).
The Egyptian activists engaged in efforts to publicize their message to the international community and therefore gain worldwide support. Without the involvement of international media, it is likely that government forces would have crushed the uprisings in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia.
Due to the involvement of the international community, the governments in these countries had to act in a more controlled manner. When the governments of Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Gaddafi completely shut down the internet in an attempt to prevent social media from being used to organize anti-government protests or report events to the outside world, the international community offered technical support to the activists in these countries.
In Libya, the international community responded with military action when news reports showed that the Gaddafi regime was using military force to crush the protestors. The opposition forces were also supplied with military equipment by the West helping them to achieve victory against government forces.
Media reporting of the Arab Spring led to worldwide sympathy for the protestors. Countries such as the US that were keen to promote stability in the Middle East and North African region were convinced that the protestors could reform the country.
The stories of ordinary civilians willing to risk their lives for the overthrow of corrupt and cruel dictators was inspiring to many people all over the world. While counties such as the US were previously keen to ensure that established regimes did not collapse, they changed their policy during the Arab Spring.
Laqueur states that the positive reception of the Arab Spring by the Obama Administration was promoted by the media reports that showed enthusiastic protestors calling for change (79). The American government adopted a policy of tolerance and even support for the citizens who wanted to bring democratic change to their country.
The media enabled the international governments to take a stand against most of the Arab governments where the citizens were protesting. The international community always respects the sovereignty of a nation. Without proof that a nation is oppressive to its people, other nations are unlikely to issue strong statements against a functioning government. In the Arab Spring case, the media helped to undermine the legitimacy of government forces.
Gupta and Brooks document that the media displayed vivid examples of government oppression and violence through videos and pictures obtained from the ground by reporters and activists (24). With such proof, the international community led by the United Nations could take a stand against the North African countries in question. These media reports were also used to justify material and technical support to the protestors in the different countries.
Role of Social Media
Social media was responsible for bringing international attention to the events taking place in the Arab countries. Gupta and Brooks state that at the start, international media organizations did not give much attention to the events taking place in the Arab Spring (23).
The governments had a monopoly on information through their tight control of the traditional media outlets. The world was therefore unaware of the events taking place in the North African countries due to the government organized media blackout. Individual efforts by citizens in the Arab countries led to attention being given to the events in the region.
The Arab Spring was characterized by many incidents of citizen journalism where protestors reported on events and presented this material to the public through the internet. The tweets and YouTube videos of government forces committing violence against protestors posted by Tunisian protestors caused international media houses to notice the protest (Alqudsi-ghabra 154). International media outlets such as Al-Jazeera, BBC, and Radio France International therefore began to run stories on the protest and this led to worldwide attention.
Social media was used as a tool of political resistance in real space and cyberspace. Lyombe states that despite the governments’ control of mainstream media, activists were able to use social media to demand regime change and act against the government’s monopoly on information (143). Activists used the media as a weapon in the bitter power struggles with the authoritarian regimes. The lack of a well-defined network and high mobility in social media made it hard for the government to crackdown on these information outlets.
Media played a role in the dissemination of information among the citizens of the countries engaged in the Arab Spring. Specifically, most of these countries relied on social media to spread information on protest locations and coordinate action against government forces.
Gupta and Brooks state that the publicizing and organizing impacts of social media were great since in countries like Egypt and Libya, the government had absolute control of the mainstream media channels and activists could not use these means (25). Alqudsi-ghabra states that by using social media, activists were able to break free from the political restrictions that the authoritarian rulers had placed on the mainstream media outlets (151).
The lack of a well-defined network and high mobility in social media made it hard for the government to crackdown on these information outlets. Activists in the Arab Spring made use of the micro blogging site Twitter to share logistical information concerning the times and locations of protests, whereabouts of governments forces, and other police action.
Conclusion
This paper set out to argue that media contributed to the success of the Arab Spring in many countries. It began by highlighting the great power that media has in society due to its ability to address many issues and shape public views. Media brought the events of the Arab Spring to the world’s attention and led to support for the protestors from governments all over the world.
This support encouraged the protestors to engage in activity against their governments. In addition to this, political activism among ordinary citizens was encouraged by media reports. The paper has noted that while traditional media outlets such as television and radio played a significant had an impact on the events of the Arab revolution, social media also contributed especially within the individual countries engaged in the uprising.
The findings of this research suggest that media was responsible for the international support that protesters received during the Arab Spring. It can therefore be stated that media made the greatest contribution to the success of the Arab Spring and the following collapse of some of the repressive regimes.
Works Cited
Alqudsi-ghabra, Taghreed. “Creative Use of Social Media in the Revolutions of Tunisia, Egypt, & Libya.” International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences 6.6 (2012): 147-158. Web.
Gentz, Natascha, and S. Kramer. Globalization, Cultural Identities, and Media Representations. Canberra: SUNY Press, 2006. Print.
Gupta, Ravi, and H. Brooks. Using Social Media for Global Security. NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2013. Print.
Hanska-Ahy, Maximillian, and R. Shapour. “Who’s Reporting the Protests?: Converging Practices of Citizen Journalists and Two BBC World Service Newsrooms, from Iran’s Election Protests to the Arab Uprisings.” Journalism Studies 13.1 (2012): 1-17. Web.
Laqueur, Walter. “Reality Check: The Hazards of Optimism”. World Affairs 175.6 (2013): 75-83. Web.
Lyombe, Eko. New Media, Old Regimes: Case Studies in Comparative Communication Law and Policy. NY: Lexington Books, 2012. Print.
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