NAME: KUNASRIY BALO l UOW ID: 4631225 l INTI ID: J13013251

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FINAL ESSAY

TOPIC 3
How do global media exacerbate conflicts and/or contribute to conflict resolution?
Discuss with respect to a recent example such as the Iraq war.

In today's fast-paced world, information is something that is easily available for those
who look for it, be it via the printed media, online or even cable. The speed at which it
spreads is mind-boggling to say the least, with one person being on the Atlantic, posting
something on the web and another soul in the Pacific getting it within seconds. The role of
the media is undeniable and cannot be taken lightly. It possesses extreme power in
determining the direction countries take, even swaying policies adopted by governments of
the day. Sovereign nations are these days, pressured to respond to many a question, after it is
being splattered on the web. Case in point is the decade-long war on terror in Iraq and some
parts of Afghanistan. The images of 2 planes shellacking World Trade Centre, demolishing
Pentagon, will always live in the memory in those who witnessed it. Access to information
and global media played a crucial role in that. Immediately, there was response from the
President of the United States of America, George W. Bush that the US will retaliate. We all
remember that, don't we? We remembered because the media wanted us to. What took place
in the last decade was also down, partly to the media. It painted a very dark picture of life in
Middle East and that the US were saviours of the world but none of us can vouch for that, we
all have similar citations, either CNN, the BBC or Al-Jazeera. Have we actually been on the
ground to know the actual situation and what may have caused the altercation? Maybe some
have, but many of us take the role of 'arm chair critics'.

This final essay focuses mainly on the Uprisings of Arab Spring. On
December 17, 2010, in the provincial Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid, a 26-year-old street
vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire to protest his humiliation at the hands
of corrupt local police, succumbing to his self-inflicted injuries January 4, 2011. Within
weeks his act led to the end of the 23-year rule of Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben
Ali. A wave of protests, uprisings, and insurrections commonly grouped under the term
"Arab Spring" subsequently spread through much of the Arab world.
Few would deny that new media played a highly visible role in the unfolding of the
hashtagged Arab revolutions. But there are major methodological challenges inherent in
determining the actual causal impact of new media on protest and other forms of contentious
politics. The first pathway for the impact of new media was on individual attitudes,
competencies, or behaviour. Users of new media might think or behave differently from those
not exposed to the information or modes of relations in systematic ways. The rise of a
distinctive activist identity across the region offers fairly strong support for this
proposition. Activists across the region, from Tunisia and Egypt to Bahrain and Yemen,
seemed to demonstrate remarkably similar attributes. Most were young, well-educated, and
NAME: KUNASRIY BALO l UOW ID: 4631225 l INTI ID: J13013251


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urban. Most were drawn to street protest and distinctive forms of political action that were
not widely distributed through other sectors of society. Most shared a common political
vocabulary, a common disdain for both regimes and established opposition elites, and a broad
pan-Arab political identity. They followed one anothers political struggles on the Internet
and in real life. Most demonstrated almost unbelievable courage in challenging entrenched
and violently repressive regimes. It remains difficult to demonstrate a unique causal role for
new media. These activists could have acquired these common identities and orientations
through a similar cohort experience and exposure to similar real-world problems which are
education, employment, regional, and international events. Those inclined toward activism
for other reasons may have gravitated toward new media when they were exposed to their
peers using such tools.

The role of new media in influencing international attention is one of the most
dramatic areas of influence confirmed by the Arab uprisings. Social media such as Twitter
connected Western and Arab individuals to participants, bringing unique and unfiltered
content. In Egypt, this meant identifying with the protestors in Tahrir Square. In Syria, it
meant watching horrific videos of murdered civilians. There is also evidence that foreign
governments directly monitored these new media sites to supplement their limited knowledge
of the actors on the ground. It is not an accident that President Barack Obama explained in
the spring of 2011 that he hoped that in the end of Egypts transition, the Google guy will
win (referring to We Are All Khaled Said Facebook page administrator Wael Ghonim).
Generally, however, the links between the local and the international were indirect.
Journalists for mainstream media such as Al-Jazeera or American newspapers and television
relied heavily on new media. In the case of Libya and Syria, almost all video footage used on
the air came from users, either sent to the stations or uploaded to social sharing sites.
Mainstream media outlets used social media to identify activists to interview for their stories,
making many of them (particularly in Egypt) into international stars.

Throughout the journey of writing this final essay, I was able to see first-hand the
different reporting styles of Al -Jazeera and CNN. Especially the focus on foreign
implications as opposed to focus on the individual, respectively. I think this directly
correlates to American media focusing on the sensational and missing bigger trends. The fact
that CNN focused on a few small issues while Al-Jazeera focused on the broader implications
exemplifies that assertion. At least for the day after the attack, CNN seemed to be playing
catch-up with Al-Jazeera who had already moved on past the original event and on to the way
it affected the surrounding countries and groups around the world. I think that this should
indicate that in terms of foreign affairs, it would be beneficial for us, as Americans to look to
outside media sources in the areas where the news is occurring rather than the news stations
like CNN which are primarily stationed in America. Unfortunately, it is a hassle to find these
other news sources and even more of a hassle to acquire a translation of these news sources in
order for Americans to see them as a reliable news source. Until we are able to access and
understand other stations around the world in a way Americans would be willing to use, our
NAME: KUNASRIY BALO l UOW ID: 4631225 l INTI ID: J13013251


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foreign news coverage will continue to be spotty and sensationalized, which prevents us from
seeing the full picture.

Both of these broadcasts write in a specific way to satisfy their target audience (Al
Jazeera to Middle Eastern citizens and CNN to Western civilization). Therefore, both
broadcasts express a point of view to their audience that does not reflect a bad image on their
own country. For example, if there were to be a US attack on Iran, the US would write in way
to make their audience feel like it was the right conclusion and best way to resolve this
situation, but on the other hand, Al Jazeera would write in a consequential point of view on
the attack, placing them on the defensive side. This is the point of view of the Middle Eastern
civilians because, in this example, they would have lost their people in this attack and would
create an infuriating vibe to them. Different broadcasts around the world portray many events
in different ways to satisfy and create the right overview on these topics for their people. It
helps create a general mentality to each country depending on the message that the broadcasts
want to represent.
Social media played a distinctive role in two separate ways that we believe are
particularly salient to our policy recommendations. First, it served to boost international
attention to particular events by facilitating reporting from places where the traditional media
has limited access to, and by providing a bottom-up, decentralized process for generating
news stories. Second, the positive use of social media by many protesters during the Arab
Spring to discuss ideas and plan protest activities is being increasingly countered by its use
by governments eager to repress the activities of protesters and stymie democratic
movements.
The most popular types of social media in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are
generally the same as those used in other regions across the Middle East, North Africa, and
beyond. These include social networks (Facebook), video-sharing sites (YouTube), and
micro-blogging sites (Twitter), among others. UAE respondents were both generally skilled
in the use of a variety of social media, and well aware of its potential ethical and practical
limitations. It has served as a vital source and vehicle for news, information, business
development, opinion sharing, cultural production, and entertainment. But residents were also
well aware of its potential as a platform for making business and government practices more
transparent, and its usefulness as a mobilizing platform for political change.
With all the raised concerns about social networking platforms, privacy management
and the legal environment it would be beneficial if activists were afforded access to social
networking tools that they could exercise more control over, especially with regards to the
hosting of their content, and their privacy and anonymity. It would offer a useful safety
mechanism if social networking accounts could for example be switched off by the owner of
the account, and appear as offline and untraceable at the will of the owner - turned instantly
off or on at certain times, deemed to be safe or not safe.
Each social networking platform has its own strengths and weaknesses. There are
alternatives to social networking platforms such as Twitter or Facebook. Pligg is open-source
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software that allows one to create self-hosted social networks. The Diaspora project hopes to
create multiple, overlapping social networks with a social networking platform called
Diaspora which is self-hosted, nodal and peer-to-peer. Users can host their own identities or
pods, and choose from a range of hosts to host their pod on. Status.net, developed by
Canonical, offers a micro-blogging client that offers an alternative to Twitter which can be
used to create open or closed micro-blogging networks.

To summarize the entire findings, another recent example is what I would say as the
inevitable military action on Syria. Many people have agreed to the possibility of France, UK
and the United States of pursuing military action as recourse to Bashar al-Assad allegedly
using chemical weapons to gas his people, taking the lives of almost 1200 people last week.
The different thing here is this. Now, pressure is on these governments to buck up and use
other avenues to settle it amicably. The ASEAN countries, European Union and Middle East
nations have strongly voiced their opinion against strong-arm tactics by the proverbial big
boys. Reason being the way Global Media has played its role, ever so subtly but it is still
there, showing that these countries cannot now get away with anything. Here, perhaps a
conflict can be resolved; maybe they will not go in hard on Syria and instead try to engage
them in proper discussions, similar to how grown-ups and elected representatives are
expected to behave.















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REFFERENCES
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October 2013