This essay proposes a periodization of the development of the transnational media sphere in the Arab world over a quarter century (1991-2017), in three stages: The first, admittedly expansive period, begins with the beginnings of pan-Arab satellite broadcasting from London in 1991 and ends with the onset of the Arab Uprisings in 2010. The second stretches from the beginning of Tunisia's Jasmin Revolution in late 2010 to the Egyptian military coup that brought a military dictatorship to power in June 2013. The third addresses the ongoing counterrevolutionary period.
Media, politics, culture, arab world, Middle East.