[Commlist] New Journal Issue 13.1 (April 2020) out now (JAMMR)

I am pleased to announce the publication of _Issue 13.1_ of the /Journal 
of Arab and Muslim Media Research/ (JAMMR), which has an interesting 
line up of timely papers. The journal is an international refereed 
academic platform, published by Intellect in the UK. You may access the 
papers of this issue as well as other issues from the JAMMR’s homepage.

https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-arab-muslim-media-research

We trust you will find this publication a valuable resource for research 
about media, communication and society in the Arab World and the Middle 
East.

*__*

*_JAMMR: 13.1-_*

Volume (13): Issue (1); April 2020.

*‘Our dream is simple: Peace, safe and freedom’: Regime-critical 
activism and artistic expression by Syrians in Denmark and Sweden’*

*Author:* Josepha Ivanka (Joshka) Wessels 
<https://www.intellectbooks.com/josepha-ivanka-joshka-wessels>

*Abstract:* This article seeks to understand mediatized dynamics of 
regime-critical activism and cultural performances by Syrians in Europe. 
The focus of this research is on the Öresund-region between Denmark and 
Sweden. Sweden was the first country in Europe to give immediate 
permanent residence to Syrian refugees. It initially received most of 
the Syrian refugees in 2015. After the arrival of large groups of 
Syrians at Malmö station in that year, a growing network of volunteers 
responded to the influx of refugees. Syrians started to build 
relationships with local activists and have since joined in organizing 
publicly mediated events, creating a new landscape for creative 
industries and performance arts in the region. Applying a protest 
communication ecology approach, I use a wide definition of media which 
includes the aesthetics of street demonstrations, performance arts and 
music, mediated and communicated through digital online platforms. I 
apply an adjusted concept of communitas, including digital media and 
online communication as analytical concept to observe and describe not 
only how communitas is re-formed between Syrian refugees after arrival 
but also how it emerges between Syrians and local hosts.

*‘Arab resistance in the diaspora: Comparing the Saudi dissident and the 
Egyptian whistleblower’*

*Authors:* Sahar Khamis <https://www.intellectbooks.com/sahar-khamis> 
and Randall Fowler <https://www.intellectbooks.com/randall-fowler>
*Abstract:* While much research on Arab and Muslim diasporas in the West 
focuses on the War(s) on Terror, in this article, we explore how two 
particular diasporic groups, Egyptian and Saudi activists, work to shape 
public perceptions of the authoritarian regimes in their countries of 
origin. Contextualizing the efforts of these activists in the post-Arab 
Spring political and mediated environments, we investigate how these 
political exiles employ communication to disrupt, expose and resist the 
resurgent authoritarianism taking root in their countries of origin. 
Using a comparative framework, we analyse the discourse of two prominent 
activists, Mohamed Ali and Omar Abdelaziz, to illustrate the larger 
dynamics of online cyberactivism amongst these diasporic groups. 
Critically, we argue, the differences in these two activists' 
communicative practices demonstrate how ostensibly similar resistance 
movements may lead to disparate political outcomes, as their calls for 
change diverge when it comes to issues of reform versus revolution. In 
doing so, we seek to complicate overly simplistic understandings of Arab 
anti-authoritarian resistance taking place online in the post-Arab 
Spring era.

*‘Silencing the voice of Bahrain? Regime-critical media and Bahrain’s 
London diaspora’*

*Author:* Thomas Fibiger <https://www.intellectbooks.com/thomas-fibiger>

*Abstract:* This article discusses the role of a politically mobilized 
diaspora in the media and politics of Bahrain. The political turmoil of 
several decades has resulted in the exile of a sizeable community of 
Bahrainis, and many key activists have settled in London. From here they 
continue to work with a variety of political activities and a variety of 
media to put pressure on both Gulf and European regimes. The article 
traces the development of media forms, from a print newspaper formed out 
of the diasporic experience, via a particular community-driven homepage 
opened in Bahrain in 1998, whose creator fled to London after the 2011 
'Arab Spring' uprising, to the diversity of the social media that now 
dominates. In this regard, the role of digital surveillance, and 
subsequent demobilization and increasing silence, are key to the discussion

*‘Discourse of Yemeni TV broadcasters and the dilemma of regime 
criticism, 2015–19*’

*Authors:* Mohammed Almahfali 
<https://www.intellectbooks.com/mohammed-almahfali>

*Abstract:* The discourse of the Yemeni TV broadcasters has undergone 
major changes since the Arab Spring in 2011. Moreover, since the 
outbreak of Civil War in 2015, this discourse has been diverse and has 
become a clear reflection of the contexts in which it is produced. This 
article analyses Yemeni media discourse by analysing the titles of news 
reports published on YouTube by five Yemeni TV channels belonging to 
five diversified discourses in terms of political, ideological, cultural 
and social orientation. The article adopts discourse framing as a 
methodological tool, with which we can address media discourse and thus 
reveal its social, political and cultural contexts. The article 
concludes that Yemeni TV broadcasters' discourse depends on a limited 
number of keywords that have a cognitive and cultural balance in Yemeni 
society, words originally taken from cultural, religious and social 
backgrounds in the collective memory of Yemen. Knowing these keywords 
can be employed in different dimensions. While it can contribute to 
developing the recipient awareness, it can also help to raise the degree 
of professionalism in media performance in Yemen, especially in the 
stage of peace-building and post-war.

*‘Supportive, transformative and reverse effects of media on Tunisian 
diaspora’s political identity’*

*Authors:* Mostafa Shehata <https://www.intellectbooks.com/mostafa-shehata>

*Abstract:* The Tunisian diaspora in Europe has gained significant 
research interest due to the fundamental changes recently triggered by 
the Tunisian Revolution with which the diaspora strongly interacted. 
This article investigates the potential effects of media use on the 
political identity of Tunisian diasporic communities in Europe, from a 
sociopolitical communication perspective. Based on 45 interviews 
conducted with Tunisians living in Denmark, Sweden and France, a special 
focus has been set on the patterns of media use in relation to 
components of political identity (homeland orientation, religion and 
ideology), considering the combined influences of both country of origin 
and country of residence. The analysis shows that media exerted 
supportive effects on the diaspora's homeland orientations – a process 
that likely depended on participants' previous connection with Tunisia. 
The media also exerted short-term transformative effects on the 
political ideology and a reverse effect on religious orientations – a 
process that mainly depended on life in both country of origin and 
country of residence. This article proposes that this Tunisian diaspora 
is more likely to construct a hybrid identity, supported by media 
channels that facilitate the adoption of sociopolitical principles 
derived from both country of origin and country of residence.

*‘Ambiguous belonging: Media practices among Syrians in Denmark*’

*Author:* Zenia Yonus <https://www.intellectbooks.com/zenia-yonus>

*Abstract:* This article presents two prevailing media orientations 
among Syrian migrants in Denmark. The purpose is to show how Syrians 
relate to, and evaluate, mediated content, and how it relates to 
political action. The orientations are dyadic, and represent both news 
about the conflict in Syria, as well as Danish politics – migration 
policies in particular. The first is the ambivalent-localizing 
orientation that mirrors the twofold orientation towards both Danish and 
Syrian political events; and the second is the informed-obliterate, in 
which Syrians choose to drop out of media content about Syria due to 
mental health issues, or fear for their families still in Syria. The 
study shows how media practices among diasporic Syrians in Denmark are 
multidimensional, and puts forward the complexities of identity 
processes between here and there, between political activism and 
demobilization, and between gratitude for being safe and never feeling 
safe. The argument is that, these multi-local processes involve multiple 
interdependent factors, diverse encounters, as well as a variety of 
struggles in belonging. Syrians consequently lack agency as well as 
social, media and political recognition.

*_Book Review: (by _*Mazhar Al-Zo’by 
<https://www.intellectbooks.com/mazhar-al-zoby>*_)_*

*/‘Revolutionary Egypt in the Eyes of the Muslim Brotherhood: A Framing 
Analysis of Ikhwanweb/ (*Mohammed el-Nawawy and Mohamad Hamas**Elmasry 
(2018).


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