The historic events of the Arab Spring have been accompanied by profound changes in the role of the traditional and new media across the Middle East. Early on in the uprisings, the printed and electronic media played critical roles in disseminating information, and often even conveying compelling sentiments, within and across national boundaries in countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. As the uprisings gained in both intensity and scale, new media, in the form of Twitter, Facebook, and the Blogosphere joined satellite television in helping facilitate popular mobilization aimed at overthrowing authoritarian establishments. Today, satellite television and the internet have also become consequential in countries where popular uprisings are being cast in a sectarian light by some national and international actors, most notably in Bahrain and Syria.
Click here to read more about another related CIRS research initiative, "The Digital Middle East."