Al Jazeera, Social Media, and Digital Journalism

In many of the countries caught up in revolutionary fervor, it was a small group of civic leaders who first used digital media in creative ways to reach a wider public eager for political change. But in recent years, an even wider public began using consumer electronics in ways that changed the dynamics of news markets. And as a news agency, Al Jazeera has been the most adept and autonomous at keeping up with media habits and demands of people in the region. Across North Africa and the Middle East, a growing cohort of citizens now consumes more international news than ever before. During the Arab Spring protests, Arab citizens learned what was happening in Amman and compared it with what took place in neighboring Cairo, as well as in international Western hubs with large overseas diasporas such as Paris, Toronto, and Chicago.