Broadcasting and national identity construction in Qatar: The case of Al-Rayyan TV

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noureddine Miladi ◽  
Moez Ben Messaoud ◽  
Jamel Zran
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
National Identity ◽  
National Culture ◽  
Al Jazeera ◽  
Social Media Networks ◽  
Video Clips ◽  
Current Affairs ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Survey Questionnaires

This research sought to study the contents of Al-Rayyan TV programmes and their relationship to the construction of national identity in Qatar, a task this channel has taken as an editorial line since its inception in 2012. In this article, we present findings of an audience-based exploration of Al-Rayyan TV’s viewership. Fieldwork data was gathered via a base of 720 survey questionnaires from a sample of Qatari society as well as fifteen interviews conducted with experts and social media activists. The aim was to find out respondents’ views about the role of the channel in promoting Qatari identity and culture. Research questionnaires were managed at intervals between August and November 2020. Fieldwork results showed that the surveyed viewers believe that the channel plays a significant role in preserving Qatari national culture and heritage. However, when it comes to rating Qatari TV channels in order of importance, respondents’ favourite TV broadcaster in terms of news and current affairs programmes was Al Jazeera, followed by beIN Sports, Qatar TV, Al-Rayyan TV and finally Al Kass. Research findings also reveal an evident trend among young Qataris and professionals who find social media networks the most convenient platforms to view and share content from Al-Rayyan TV. People watch video clips from the most popular programmes, such as Al-Sabah Rabah, Umm Rashid, Taraheeb and In the Shadows of Doha, among others, which they receive via Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. However, concerns via-à-vis Al-Rayyan TV’s repetitive content and a programme schedule that does not include much entertainment content cannot be missed from viewers’ responses. The dwindling popularity of the channel among Qatari youth is perceived as one such result of its inability to transform itself in the age of digital explosion.

New Media and Terrorism

2014 ◽  
pp. 184-196
Author(s):  
Pauline Hope Cheong
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
New Media ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
War On Terrorism ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Social Media Networks ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Hearts And Minds ◽  
Video Material

Beyond the widespread coverage of terrorism-related stories on international news outlets, we are witnessing the swift spread of alternative interpretations of these stories online. These alternative narratives typically involve digital transmediation or the remix, remediation, and viral dissemination of textual, audio, and video material on multiple new and social media platforms. This chapter discusses the role of new(er) media in facilitating the transmediated spread of extremist narratives, rumors, and political parody. Drawing from recent case studies based upon multi-modal analyses of digital texts on social media networks, including blogs, vlogs, Twitter, and Jihadist sites associated with acts of terror in Asia, Middle East, and North America, the chapter illustrates how digital transmediation significantly works oftentimes to construct counter narratives to government counter insurgency operations and mainstream media presentations. In discussing these examples, the chapter demonstrates how the new media points to varied narratives and reifies notions of national security, global politics, terrorism, and the media's role in framing the “War on Terrorism.” Moreover, a critical examination of remix texts and digital mashups of popular artifacts inform a Web 2.0 understanding of how the creative communication practices of online prosumers (hybrid consumers and producers) contest dominant interests in the online ideological battlefield for hearts and minds.

scholarly journals THE CREATIVE CINEMATOGRAPHIC PROCESS AT THE SERVICE OF NATIONAL IDENTITY: PEDRO ALMODÓVAR AND THE PROMOTION OF SPANISH STEREOTYPES

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 369-386
Author(s):  
Marta Saavedra Llamas ◽  
Nicolás Grijalba de la Calle
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
National Culture ◽  
Traditional Model ◽  
Cultural Expression ◽  
Pedro Almodovar ◽  
International Standard ◽  
Main Thesis

Cultural expression and creativity contribute to shape national identity; movie experience reflects society. The way in which Pedro Almodóvar’s films facilitates a greater understanding of Spanish culture is the main thesis in this research. This study follows a double methodology: a descriptive documentary phase and an analysis of the filmmaker’s work. The latter includes two substages: a qualitative analysis based on a pattern dealing with different variables related to stereotype perception of Spain abroad; and a quantitative one, which highlights further procedures to approach the national culture. The insight provided by this research proves that Almodóvar actually spreads Spanish identity through his creative universe and empowers its stereotypes, yet by making them more modern: he points out the role of family, but he goes against the traditional model; he turns Madrid, Spain symbolic sight in the international standard about Spanish identity, into the kernel of his work; and he introduces some elements of Spanish popular culture like folklore, gastronomy, bullfighting or rural Spain.

scholarly journals The Town Square in your Pocket: Exploring Four Metaphors of Social Media

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel B. le Roux ◽  
Douglas Parry
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Social Media Use ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Beauty Pageant ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Town

In this paper we explore the use of four metaphors as a means to illuminate particular dimensions of social media logic —the norms, strategies, and economics underpinning its dynamics. Our objective is to utilise metaphor to instigate critical reflection about the nature of social media use behaviour and the role of habitual social media use in our experiences of reality. The first metaphor, social media as a town square, draws attention to the centrality of social media platforms in their users’ lives, fear of missing out, augmented reality and digital dualism. Through the second metaphor, social media as a beauty pageant, we explore self-presentation or image crafting, social comparison and self-evaluation. The third metaphor, social media as a parliament, emphasises the role of social media platforms as spaces for online deliberation and we consider social media capital, homophily and polarisation as themes. Finally, we explore anonymity, deindividuation and deceptive self-presentation through our fourth metaphor, social media as a masquerade ball. We argue that social media scholars can use these and other metaphors to enhance communication of their research findings. Additionally, we believe that social media metaphors can be powerful pedagogical and communication tools, particularly when working with students for whom high levels of social media use is the norm.

scholarly journals State and national culture in P.B. Struve’s writings (on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth)

2020 ◽  
pp. 94-107
Author(s):  
E.M. Amelina
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
National Culture ◽  
The State ◽  
Russian History ◽  
National Belonging ◽  
State Culture ◽  
The People ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Seamless Connection

The author analyzes the views of the famous philosopher, sociologist and politician Petr Struve, whose ideas have enduring relevance in view of the problems of maintaining state unity and developing both culture and national identity. The main object of this research is Struve’s views on the essence of the state and national culture and on their role in the life of Russia. It is indicated that the position of the thinker presupposed a certain historiosophy – an interpretation of history as a process of development of spiritual culture. The features of Peter Struve’s liberal-conservatism and his understanding of the state as a “collective personality”, possessing a “superintelligent” nature are considered. The philosopher’s approach, which aimed at analyzing the seamless connection between state, culture and nationality is analyzed. The author considers how the thinker interpreted the essence of nationality and nationalism, as well as criticized the radical intelligentsia’s “official nationalism” and “absence of a feeling of national belonging”. She examines the philosopher’s views on the outstanding role of the state in Russian history and his understanding of such “fatal” reasons of its destruction as the insufficient involvement of the cultivated elements of the nobility in the ruling of the state as well as the belated abolition of serfdom law. The author also explains Struve’s views on the slogan of class struggle as decisively contributing to the cultural decomposition of the nation and to undermining the unity of the state. She also addresses the views of P.B. Struve, G.P. Fedotov and S.L. Frank concerning the reasons why the sense of national identity was weak in Russia. She concludes that, according to Struve, one of the reasons for the revolutionary radical upheavals in the country was the fact that the radical intelligentsia sowed in the broad masses of the people the ideological poison of “anti-state rebellion” and the “spirit of Bolshevism”. This contributed to a weak demand for national-state ideals and liberal-conservative ideas.

scholarly journals Optimalisasi peran internet dalam mewujudkan digital citizenship dan implikasinya terhadap ketahanan pribadi siswa

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-39
Author(s):  
Armaidy Armawi ◽  
Darto Wahidin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Digital Citizenship ◽  
School Age ◽  
Vocational High School ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Personal Resilience

Individu usia sekolah merupakan salah satu pengakses internet dengan menggunakan media sosial paling aktif. Akses internet menjadi sangat yang rawan, mengingat penggunaannya di dominasi oleh kalangan usia sekolah. Beredarnya isu hoax, fitnah, bahkan menghujat melalui media sosial yang dengan mudahnya di akses melalui internet, menunjukkan belum dewasanya dalam penggunaan internet.  Tujuan dalam penelitian ini mengetahui proses optimalisasi peran internet dalam mewujudkan digital citizenship di Kota Semarang dan mengkaji implikasi dari optimalisasi peran internet terhadap ketahanan pribadi siswa di Kota Semarang. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif. Temuan penelitian menunjukkan bahwa proses optimalisasi peran internet dalam mewujudkan digital citizenship di SMA Negeri 1 Semarang dan SMK Negeri 1 Semarang dilakukan dengan mengoptimalkan akses digital, digital literacy, dan perdagangan digital. Implikasi dari optimalisasi peran internet terhadap ketahanan pribadi siswa dengan adanya hukum digital dan mewujudkan digital citizenship. Sembilan kriteria dalam mewujudkan digital citizenship telah terpenuhi, namun masih harus ada perbaikan untuk mengoptimalkannya.-----School-age is the most active social media. Internet access is very vulnerable, considering that school-age groups dominate its use. Circulation of hoax, slander, and even blasphemy through social media easily accessed via the internet shows not yet mature in using the internet. The purpose of this study is to determine the process of optimizing the role of the internet in realizing digital citizenship in Semarang City and examining the implications of optimizing the role of the internet for the personal endurance of students in the city of Semarang. This research uses a qualitative approach. The research findings that the process of optimizing the role of the internet in realizing digital citizenship in SMA (Senior High Scholl) Negeri 1 Semarang and SMK (Vocational High School) Negeri 1 Semarang carried out by optimizing digital access, digital literacy, and digital commerce. Implications of optimizing the role of the internet on students' personal resilience in the presence of digital laws and realizing digital citizenship. Nine criteria in realizing digital citizenship have met, but there must still be improvements to optimize it.

An Unscientific Postscript

2019 ◽  
pp. 269-278
Author(s):  
Kwame Anthony Appiah
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Political Psychology ◽  
National Culture ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
General Account ◽  
Do So ◽  
Three Components

This chapter explores some of the tensions between cosmopolitanism and nationalism, from above, and ethnic identity and nationalism, from below, in the light of some of the other chapters in this book. To do so, it sketches a general account of identity, with its three components: criteria of membership, psychological identification, and the treatment of members by others as members of the group, and argues that all are standardly contested. It then incorporates the insights of some of the earlier chapters that show that identification can involve (a) feelings of warmth for the nation, or (b) celebrating national culture and achievements, or (c) conceiving of one’s nation as superior to others, and it discusses the different effects of these on redistributive solidarity with minorities and migrants. Finally, it urges attention to the role of national honour in thinking about national identity and suggests that there is scope for more work on the political psychology of nationalism.

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