International news media coverage of the "Arab Spring": actors, technology and political impacts

• Main Author: Dube, Julian
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center 2013
• Subjects: Political Science
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/dissertations/3284; http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4823&context=dissertations

This study examines the strengths and influence of International News Media Coverage in Politics as manifested in the "Arab Spring." Key variables that shape global news coverage are examined with Western media institutions in particular being the focal point. The analytical agenda or purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between international news media and politics by evaluating news media coverage of protests, demonstrations and uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria, in an effort to determine how the Western media has shaped political views on those countries and other parts of the world using its technology, political principles and advantages. A case study analysis approach was used to explore the systemic factors that influence international news coverage and how these factors determine the volume and content of news that flows from various parts of the world. The researcher found that news coverage does not change the policy, but it does create the environment in which the policy is made and that the media remains crucial in focusing international attention on the Arab Spring, but they do not determine the policy, the key decisions, nor their implementations. The conclusion drawn from the findings suggests that although global news media is increasingly becoming a source of rapid real time information, it is used by politics to convey its ideological messages and propaganda.