Where Media in the Arab World Stands Today | Marwan Kraidy

The afikra Podcast

Marwan Kraidy, CEO and Dean of Northwestern Qatar and leading scholar of global communication and media, joins us on the afikra podcast to discuss media, truth, and journalism in the Arab world.

This episode dives into the impact of mobile phones, reflects on whether social media is a force for good or not, and explores the notion of “socio-political maturity”. We discuss how the center of gravity for media in the Arab world has shifted to the Gulf and why the old adage “Cairo writes, Beirut publishes and Baghdad reads” no longer holds true. Finally, we talk about the business model for media in the Arab world right now and why Turkish TV series have seen such major success.

Marwan M. Kraidy is dean and CEO of Northwestern in Qatar. He founded the Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South, which hosts multidisciplinary teams of faculty and students dedicated to evidence-based storytelling on the diverse histories, cultures, societies and media of the Global south. He is a scholar of global communication and an authority on Arab media, culture and politics.

Theme music: Peninsular, Tarek Yamani

Hosted by: Mikey Muhanna

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The afikra Podcast is a part of The Afikra Podcast Network

About afikra | عفكرة: We are a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity. ⚡ Become a member today.