A Case Study: Mada Masr—A Progressive Voice in Egypt and Beyond

Media and Communication

article

Nadia Leihs¹ 

[1] Independent Researcher

关键词: alternative media;    Arab Spring;    authoritarianism;    Egyptian media;    Mada Masr;    media systems;    media transitions;    onlinejournalism;   

DOI  :  10.17645/mac.v9i4.4492

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Cogitatio Press

【 摘 要 】

This article questions the role of the media in times of political transformation. In doing so, it draws on theories on the inter‐connectedness of the different fields of society to explain the sets of roles that media outlets and journalists adopt duringphases of transition. Before 2011, the Egyptian media mostly acted as collaborators of the ruling regime and rarely as anagent of change. Journalists took over the latter role more often following the advent of privately‐owned media outlets,thus helping to pave the way for the events of the so‐called Arab Spring. This case study focuses on the development of theonline news portal Mada Masr and therefore traces the development of two newsrooms. Starting as the English edition ofa privately‐owned Arabic newspaper in 2009 and changing its status to an independent news outlet in 2013, Mada Masris one of the few voices which still openly criticise the Egyptian government. Founded in a time of political turmoil andstruggling against an increasingly authoritarian environment, the outlet implements innovative ways of producing content,securing funding, and reaching out to its readers. A group of young Egyptian and international journalists make use of newspaces for expression that have opened through the global changes in communication infrastructure while struggling withfrequent attacks by representatives of the ruling regime. As such, Mada Masr is a role model for small and regime‐criticalmedia outlets.

【 授权许可】

CC BY