The Restructuring of Broadcasting Methods and Preferences during the North African Insurgencies of 2011: How Social Media Redefined Journalism and the Wider Media in Egypt and Tunisia During the Arab Uprisings of 2011

The revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia during 2011 brought about vast political upheaval. Moreover, these insurrections redefined journalism and media usage. At the heart of this transformation were the social media websites Facebook, Twitter and Blogger. This study will explore the role social media played in changing the traditional media during this tumultuous period, notably determining how news dissemination evolves during periods of dramatic political change. The popular narratives that expounded the importance of social media, plus the empirical studies that questioned its impact will be examined. The extent of the influence social media had on the revolutions will also be discussed. The research is based on twelve detailed, qualitative interviews which were collected with journalists working in Egypt and Tunisia and elsewhere in the Middle East during the period studied. The interview data will reveal the processes by which social media has overhauled journalistic practices, particularly broadcasting, in Egypt and Tunisia. The implications of this research is to show how the process by which social media transforms traditional journalistic practices was accelerated by the uprisings experienced in Egypt and Tunisia after 2011. This supports my stated theory that social media can transform traditional journalistic practices when journalists at established media outlets are exposed to the medium, a view outlined through the literature reviewed.