The Egyptian Uprising: Causes, Implications and Communication
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Transcript The Egyptian Uprising: Causes, Implications and Communication
NEW MEDIA AND POLITICAL
CHANGE IN EGYPT: CAUSES,
IMPLICATIONS AND
COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
Sahar Khamis (Ph.D.)
Department of Communication,
University of Maryland, College Park
THE CAUSES OF THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION:
Thirty years of dictatorship and autocratic rule
Corruption
The emergency law
The faulty constitution
Economic distress: 40% of Egyptians living under the
international poverty line
Growing calls for constitutional, economic, political and
social reform
Forging the latest parliamentary elections
The successful popular revolution in Tunisia
THE IMPLICATIONS FOR EGYPT:
Charged the Egyptian people with a new sense of
positivity, empowerment, determination, national pride,
and solidarity.
A peaceful, youthful grassroots revolution that was
“across the board” involving different political, religious,
and social groups
A unique “leaderless revolution”
Unity between Muslims and Coptic Christians
The significant role of women
A new era of social and democratic reform: “Egypt will
not go back to where it was before Jan. 25th”
THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ARAB WORLD:
The domino effect or the ripple effect: Echoes of both the
Tunisian and the Egyptian revolutions in Libya, Yemen,
Bahrain, Jordan and Syria
Arab rulers started to take some steps in the direction of
political reform
Arab governments can not ignore the power of the Arab
street or the power of public opinion in their own
countries
A new era of political change, empowerment and
awakening already started in the Arab world
THE INTERNATIONAL IMPLICATIONS:
Revisiting the U.S. foreign policy: Forging alliances with
corrupt dictators, who suppress their people under the
claim of preserving stability, is not an effective strategy
Under suppression and repression there is no true
stability: There is only a “boiling pot with a lid ready to
pop off any minute”
Not buying into the “Islamic scare” strategy, which
legitimizes oppression as a means to curb Islamic
influence: Playing on “Islamophobia”
Peace and security can be achieved through fair and
equitable relations between neighbors, not through strong
armies and superior weapons
THE CHANGING ARAB MEDIA LANDSCAPE:
Arab media before 1990: Monolithic, uniform,
strong government control and ownership: No
diversity, plurality or freedom
Arab media after 1990: The introduction of new
media, such as satellite television channels and
the Internet: New avenues for spreading
information and fueling opposition
Paradox: These alternative new media channels
and avenues didn’t lead to a transition to political
mobilization or democratization until 2011
The “safety valve” explanation for the media role
THE GOVERNMENT’S COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES:
Combining the suppression of protestors on the
streets with the suppression of the truth through
national, state-controlled media
Cracking down on foreign journalists
Closing down the office of Al Jazeera in Cairo and
detaining some of its staff members
Cutting off the cell phone lines for a few days
Blocking off the Internet for a whole week:
Pushing down the “kill switch”
Using the mentality of the 50s and the 60s
Failed and incompetent political and
communication strategies
THE PEOPLE’S COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES:
Deploying new social media: posting and chatting
on Facebook, tweeting, blogging and texting
Facebook became the “people’s book”: The
“Facebook Revolution”
Creating the missing link between mediated selfexpression and street mobilization, i.e., between
the “virtual world” and the “real world”
Finding alternative, creative ways to access and
spread information: The “Speak to tweet” service
and using “hot bird” instead of “Nile Sat” to
watch Al Jazeera
THE MULTIPLE ROLES OF NEW MEDIA:
Catalysts that paved the way for a democratic transition
Platforms for self-expression
Channels for communication and organization
Bridge-builders between the young activists and their
followers, between the “virtual world” and the “real
world”
Avenues for civic engagement and popular participation:
From “safety valves” to “mobilization tools”
Arenas for a new form of citizen journalism
A LAST WORD…EGYPT “AFTER MUBARAK”:
There is no turning back: The road to democratization
and reform has already started and will continue
The transition to democratization needs to be done
“swiftly but safely”
New era of civic engagement and popular participation
Greater role for youth leadership
Greater role for women’s participation
Greater role for new media as “mobilization tools”
Enhancing Egypt’s leadership in the Arab world
Enhancing Egypt’s international image & reputation