![]() Rather, it offers a way to extend the "grapevine" networks to link otherwise geographically separated individuals into an entirely new public sphere, on the one hand, and to appropriate, supplement, comment on and reframe other media on the other. ![]() Social media does not replace either "the grapevine" of networks of face-to-face interaction nor the monodirectional power of television (which was, in fact, somewhat less unitary than 1970s Iran because of satellite programming). The Egyptian uprising had new elements absent in the Iranian revolution, most notably social media and satellite television. After briefly discussing the relationship between interpersonal gossip ("the grapevine"), and state television and radio, he discusses the dramatic changes in the news media as the revolution progressed, only to settle back into its original role as a voice for the regime-albeit a new regime. In 1984 William Beeman published a brief but useful essay on the media ecology of Iran before, during and after the revolution. Contrasting the roles of alternative and state-run media machines in different phases of the revolution, the article traces how peripheries could challenge the existing opportunity structure through alternative media, but also how their role has contracted again after the revolution reached its peak. Social media thus gained critical mass and expanded to the point that it had an overflow effect from the virtual sphere to the real world. YouTube videos and Twitter messages from peripheral areas exposed police brutality towards protestors in the backstreets that could otherwise have been unnoticed and saved lives in isolated areas in Egypt. This article employs statistical data on the use of alternative media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, blogs and YouTube) in Egypt’s spring to show how an alternative media structure was expanding which not only empowered social and geographic peripheral actors but was, in turn, also empowered by their contributions. Apart from the fact that Maspero simply adapts to the new centres of power, the most important change is the increase in internal contestation and dissidence.ĪBSTRACT The growing literature on the use of social media for social protests generally, and during the Arab Spring in particular, has generally failed to show a periphery-inclusive perspective. ![]() The research presented in this article shows there are next to no changes at the state television in this period. Soon, however, Maspero became Morsi's pall-bearer. After Morsi was elected president, a short period of confusion and power-struggle followed. In this period, with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces as leaders of the country, the state TV was there to praise them and prove their innocence. In the previous elections, they had been all but ignored. The parliamentary elections bring other changes to light: while they were the most free elections in recent history, the Freedom and Justice party received a disproportionate share of attention on air. Soon, the protesters lose any standing, and they become once more the thugs that are trying to destroy Egypt. The star part, however, is played by the military, that has now become the saviour of the motherland. Next, we can see the image of the protesters change from thugs under Mubarak's rule, to patriotic revolutionaries a few days later. Notwithstanding several changes, all those in power considered the state television of the utmost importance. First, the history of state television in Egypt is outlined, showing that Maspero has always played an important role. The changes are sought, by means of literature research and qualitative interviews, at the informal stage of culture and climate, since only there those subtle shifts can be discovered. Even today, the state television is still one of the most important media outlets in Egypt, despite of the recent evolution to private satellite television and the new media. This article examines the changes at the Egyptian state television since the ouster of Mubarak on 11 February 2011.
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