ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

This project examined the relationship between Arab traditional mass media and the political sphere within the remit of political change in the Arab world. Based on the international scholarly work on media and democratisation, this project investigated the role played by Arab national media in the process of democratisation of Arab political regimes. It also looed into the process of democratisation of national mass media in its evolution to embrace free and professional media industry.

The study focused on traditional media industries in Arab countries that did not witness a change of regimes but rather polemic debates on democratic reforms including the need for a professional and free mass media. Its main focus was on the region of North Africa as being the main laboratory of change generated by the democratic movements swamping the Arab world since 2010, specifically Morocco and Algeria. The choice of these two countries was linked to the impact of the so-called Arab spring on the political and media scenes generating debates on democratic reforms amid tough regional tension due to the implications of the democratic uprisings.

This project forms part of the Academic Collaboration with Arab Universities Programme, funded by the Emirates Foundation.

Project Outputs

• , ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Middle East Centre Report, April 2016.
• , ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Middle East Centre Report, February 2017.

Research Team

Fatima el Issawi | Principal Investigator

Fatima is Senior Lecturer in Journalism at the University of Essex. She was previously Assistant Professorial Research Fellow at the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Middle East Centre.

Bradley Freeman | Co-Principal Investigator

Bradley is Associate Professor of Communication & Information Studies at the Mohammed bin Rashid School for Communication at AUD.