Media in Political Transition
in the Southern Mediterranean after 2011

The idea for this study, as a collaborative project between the University of Cambridge and Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, started with the upheavals of 2011 where across the Arab world, the public expressed the desire for a new political culture and social freedoms. This was followed by huge protests in Gezi Park in Turkey in October 2012, where social media played a critical role. It was clear that social media power was on the rise, and that more needed to be known about it.

Social media can often be perceived as a hot topic that attracts much research focus, however, it does not, particularly when nations’ political and economic environments are experiencing change and stress.

Hence, this unique collaboration between a cutting-edge media company and one of the oldest universities in the world has not only been timely, but ground-breaking.

As change continues to unsettle the southern Mediterranean, the three countries examined in depth - Tunisia, Morocco and Turkey - have been extraordinary lenses through which this unique research has been able to document political, as well as technological, changes in the role of journalism, and the cultural transformation in how people are using media today. The study focused on three main areas: “The Relationship of Government and Media”; “The Media Sector: The Who, Why, What and How?” and “The Audience, the Narrative and the National Impact of Journalism”.

The findings, produced by a team of 20 scholars from around the region and in Cambridge, cover power tussles between the government and media, online surveillance, the role of women on television, the rise of Islamic journalism, and the ongoing effect of social media activism. They include analyses of Ansar al-Sharia videos, different kinds of censorship and self-censorship, and how radio, even in the internet age, remains one of the most beloved and popular ways that people tune-in.

It’s a project that reveals a great deal about the political influence of media today, not only in the region, but as a global form of power. It is also about the coming together of two vastly different organisations to pursue a common vision and develop knowledge to the benefit of all.