A Media Uprising

10 Myths About the Arab Spring

The Arab Spring was just as much of a surprise to media outlets as it was to the governments threatened by popular protest. Television stations and newspapers were slow to react to events, in Tunisia and Egypt especially. Sadly, some inaccurate and confused reporting has undermined the daring role that the media has sought to play.

A woman stares at two television screens showing rival stations Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera

One of the paradoxes of the Arab revolutions this year is that almost all observers and commentators viewed the regimes in a state of paralysis and their communities, boiling under the surface, were coming close to the point of explosion. However, no one, including western countries and intelligence services, could expect what happened later in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Syria.

What happened took everybody by surprise, including print and broadcast media in the region and the wider world
What happened took everybody by surprise, including print and broadcast media in the region and the wider world. No one expected that Ben Ali’s regime would collapse under a popular uprising. When the spark extended to Egypt, not a single commentator imagined that popular protests could topple a regime that seemed very strong in just 18 days. These regimes themselves had not realized what was happening. Even Colonel Qadhafi and issued a statement that revealed his confidence and his strong grip on power, where he denounced the Tunisians for not allowing Ben Ali to complete his term. Then, Qadhafi much to his own surprise found his people revolting against him.

The same took place in Syria.

When Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad supported the events in Egypt, he considered Syria different and far from the revolution. Nevertheless, he found his people revolting against him despite his bloody repression.

Just as the Arab Spring came as a surprise to the regimes and western officials, it shocked the media particularly in the Middle East region. It was not prepared for the events, and its confused coverage has shown this. Though the satellite broadcast media has played a significant role in broadcasting and covering the events, there has been inefficiency and blatantly false coverage by the local television stations of the countries during protests. Tunisia and Egypt are a case in point.

The Arab satellite channels covered the protests in Tunisia with an air that nothing would come of them. The scene in broadcast and even print media, Arab and western, has been similar to someone waking up to hear shouting and fighting and try to understand the situation. It took them weeks to understand what has been going on.

When the various media realized the real situation in Tunisia, the protests in Egypt erupted. Egypt’s events can be said to have received the broadest coverage by Arab or western media, including sending their anchors and assigning long coverage time for the protests. Being an open stage for Arab and foreign media for a long time has made it easier for the media to cover the events in Egypt.

However, the challenge faced by the media was the new players it knew nothing about and had not dealt with before: the protestors. All of us remember confused and provoked reporters hosting young people from Tahrir Square as representatives of political entities, but the guests on the news shows insisted that they did not represent the people in the Square and were not speaking on their behalf, adding to the reporter’s annoyance. Yemen has been a similar experience for the media.

Meanwhile, Libya is different. Reporters have entered the liberated parts that have come under the rebels’ control. Syria has been the most distinct for the media, as media are not allowed to move on the ground. In covering the uprising, the media has had to rely on the internet and YouTube for the story.

An interesting effect of the Arab Spring is the new local media environment in the countries where the so called protestors succeeded, especially in Egypt. From a complete stagnation to totally flooding the society with politics, there are dozens of political talk shows and new channels. Even the former official media, which has found itself despised by the people, wants to correct their mistakes, so it has become more daring than unofficial media.

However, both official and unofficial media provide the audience with more talk and confusion. The Arab Spring is confused due to a main reason: most of the revolutions have been popular but without a leadership or political parties with structures, programs, and cadres to fill the vacuum immediately after the ouster of the regime. Naturally, media performance, especially the local media, has appeared confused; it has become more free and daring but still lacks accuracy. In short, everybody, including the media, is learning by experiencing such exceptional events.