103. Name: Paula Daibert Title: Seeing is Believing: Al Jazeera’s Role in the Egyptian Revolution Institution: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Country: Spain Date: 2011 Language: Spanish Abstract: The success of the 2011 Egyptian revolution was partly due to the role of effective communication. Although not solely the cause of the uprisings, social media and communication technologies played a crucial role in facilitating communication between activists and disseminating information throughout the country. Understanding the importance of these tools, the Egyptian government blocked the Internet for five days from 28 January onward. Nevertheless, Arab and international satellite news channels such as the most watched news channel in Egypt, Al Jazeera, managed to carry on with their coverage and kept Egyptians informed about what was going on in their country. This study analyzes the role of Al Jazeera in the Egyptian uprising, particularly after it dedicated its 24-hour coverage to the events that took place in the country between 25 January and 11 February. The analysis focuses on Al Jazeera’s role as a political actor, and looks at the role of social media as democratizing tools in the Arab world. Since ‘seeing is believing’, the rise of the Egyptian masses could be partly credited to Al Jazeera that acted as a unifying force.
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