The changing role of media and its impact on conflict : an analysis of new media in the Arab Spring Uprising of Egypt 2011.

Abstract

The Arab Spring Uprising of Egypt, that took place from the beginning of January 2011, received a considerable amount of attention from the media and broader international community. The Arab Spring Uprising of Egypt is in reaction to decades of dictatorship, degraded and undervalued standards of living, high inflation rates, failing economies, corruption and high unemployment rates. The Egyptian Uprising included demonstrations by widespread provincial activity and spontaneous protests in order to raise awareness and increase pressure on the Egyptian government to fulfil the demands of its people. New media was identified as a catalyst for the Egyptian revolution, since it was used as a tool to inform Egyptians as well as the rest of the world about the condition of the Egyptian conflict, it provided evidence of the regime’s illegitimacy, and it provided Egyptians with a platform to air their grievances with the Mubarak regime as well as to promote pro-democratic protests. This study is concerned with identifying how new media was used in Egypt’s Arab Spring Uprising as a tool to obtain pro-democratic goals and whether it resulted in a constructive transition to democracy. A discussion of the history of the Middle East and Egypt is provided as well as the Arab Spring Uprising of Egypt. Two predominant themes, namely: conflict, and the media will also be discussed. Furthermore, Conflict Theory and The Mass Communication Theory is applied in this study in order to interpret the uprising of Egypt.