The Transformative Egyptian Media Landscape: Changes, Challenges and Comparative Perspectives

Abstract

This article analyzes the transformative Egyptian media landscape that shaped and reflected the equally transformative political landscape that led to Egypt’s historical revolution. It provides an overview of Egyptian media and discusses how that eclectic scene exhibited many paradoxes. It analyzes the role of Egyptian media during the 2011 revolution, in which cyberactivism ignited public mobilization, enabled civic engagement, and encouraged citizen journalism. It discusses the post-revolutionary phase, in which Egyptian media are undergoing a restructuring process that mirrors political transformations. It contextualizes the transformations in the Egyptian media landscape within a comparative perspective that highlights the uniqueness of Egyptian media, as well as how and why they defy categorization or dichotomization. It concludes with observations on comparative media research; its applicability, or lack thereof, to the Egyptian media scene; and future expectations from this research in the Arab Awakening and the communication revolution accompanying it.