This study examines the boundaries and limitations of the diffusion of "development journalism" among both the editorial body and the journalist body in the Egyptian newsrooms after the 2011 Arab Spring. Newsrooms under study represent different perspectives including state-owned, private-independent, and opposition newspapers. Through in-depth interviews with thirty-seven editors in chief and journalists, the authors studied how the editors and journalists at each newspaper define development journalism, whether the diffusion of development journalism follows a top-down or bottom-up approach, and if development journalism could influence the setting of the news agenda. Results show that the differences are not only apparent in the way development journalism is defined inside the different news organizations, but also between managers and journalists within each. Organizational structures and technological developments are as well factors that affect the way development journalism is diffused inside newsrooms.
The convergence of information communication technologies (ICTs) in news-making processes has changed the nature of news production in post-Arab Spring Egypt. Several newsrooms have integrated ICTs into their daily routines to develop their content and reconnect with their audiences. Although on the surface this seems a positive development, it appears that today, just a few years after integrating ICTs, Egyptian newsrooms are lagging behind. This study examines the utilization of ICTs - especially social media - in three Egyptian newsrooms. Three waves of questionnaires in 2012, 2014/2015 and 2018 which constitute a longitudinal survey of ICT convergence across the three newsrooms. The questionnaires' repetition of cross-sectional questions allowed the author to measure changes in newsrooms' adoption of ICTs over this seven-year span. In short, this study measures how newsroom culture has changed in relation to ICTs, how newsroom management views ICTs and the growing role of social media in newsroom operations.
Although Internet technology arrived in Egyptian newsrooms in 1993, it was not until 1996 that the first Egyptian newspaper Al Gomhuria hit the Internet. By 2000, all major Egyptian newspapers had electronic versions on the web claiming to integrate ICT resources in the news production process. In spite of the fact that this trend implies development, whether ICTs have been realised and used in Egyptian newsrooms’ daily routines still needs further examination. This study aims to explore the use and implementation of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), especially Internet technologies (netCTs), in Egyptian newsrooms. Furthermore, the study examines whether/to what extent and in what way(s) Egyptian newsrooms incorporate ICTs in their daily routine. This discussion is important to see the role of newsrooms, before January 25 revolution, in facilitating political discussions with their audience.
News has always been influenced by the utilization of technological innovations inside newsrooms. During the past decade news-making has experienced significant changes, including the convergence of social media, citizen journalism, niche journalism, and data journalism in news production.
In Egypt’s post 20 11 era, journalism function is expected to be more than a source for news, but a bridge between events on the streets and the Internet. They needed to be seen as a body to enhance interaction among various groups and actors in order to influence public opinion and mobilize support. Journalists are needed to create a form of Agenda cutting on government mainstream media creating an alternative form of media including news from margins to the mainstream news media became available in networked information societies.
In democratizing societies such as Egypt, the news media need to be active in the network society seeing different publics as creators, (re)actors, (re)makers and redistributors of news. Further, journalists need to be bridge of information from and among different political activists/networks and their audience(s) providing citizens with vibrant, argumentative and often the most informative commentary available. This study aims at investigating the role played by ICTs in news production.
The utilisation of ICTs in Egyptian media has irrevocably changed the nature of the traditional news consumption. One can see the Egyptian online society as a multiplicity of networks. These networks have developed, transformed and expanded over time, operating across all areas of life. Nonetheless, in essence they are socio-political and cultural in origin. This trend changed the way audiences consumed news, with traditional media -especially independent and opposition- started to utilize ICTs to access online information to develop their media content to escape government control. Several media organisations also started to expand their presence online so that, as well as providing news content, they also provided them with a ‘space’ to interact amongst themselves and with media organisations. Audiences started to provide detailed descriptions of Egyptian street politics, posting multimedia material, generating public interest, and reinforcing citizen power hence democratic capacity.
The utilisation of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in Egypt has irrevocably changed the nature of the traditional Egyptian public sphere. One can see the Egyptian online society as a multiplicity of networks. These networks have developed, transformed and expanded over time, operating across all areas of life. Nonetheless, in essence they are sociopolitical and cultural in origin. This trend changed the way audiences consumed news, with traditional media –especially independent and opposition – started to utilise ICTs to access online information to develop their media content to escape government control. Several media organisations also started to expand their presence online so that, as well as providing news content, they also provided them with a space to interact amongst themselves and with media organisations. Audiences started to provide detailed descriptions of Egyptian street politics, posting multimedia material, generating public interest and reinforcing citizen power hence democratic capacity.
The utilisation of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in Egypt has irrevocably changed the nature of the traditional Egyptian public sphere. One can see the Egyptian online society as a multiplicity of networks. These networks have developed, transformed and expanded over time, operating across all areas of life. Nonetheless, in essence they are sociopolitical and cultural in origin. This trend changed the way audiences consumed news, with traditional media – especially independent and opposition – started to utilise ICTs to access online information to develop their media content to escape government control. Several media organisations also started to expand their presence online so that, as well as providing news content, they also provided them with a “space” to interact amongst themselves and with media organisations. Audiences started to provide detailed descriptions of Egyptian street politics, posting multimedia material, generating public interest and reinforcing citizen power hence democratic capacity.
In the opening months of 2011, the world witnessed a series of tumultuous events in Egypt that soon led to uprisings toppling President Mubarak’s 30-years regime. The Egyptian revolution was the most media-exposed event in the Arab world, not only because of Egypt’s position as a main political hub in the Middle East/North Africa but also because citizens used different media forms—especially Facebook, Twitter, and mobile telephones—to voice Egyptian opposition to the world. This chapter aims at examining the development of the notion of network journalism in Egypt. Further, the chapter focuses on the convergence of social media in Egyptian mainstream media, which created an alternative parallel space where dissidents started to develop paving the road to the January 2011 revolution. The chapter concludes by examining network journalism following the revolution, focusing on new networks developed.