Mariam F. Alkazemi

Kuwaiti political cartoons during the Arab Spring: Agenda setting and self-censorship

Where criticism of a government could be punishable, political cartoons are used to make critical social commentary in a less direct way. In this study, political cartoons published in four Kuwaiti newspapers during Arab Spring protests were analyzed. Most of the 261 cartoons linked negative attributes to Arab Spring and Kuwaiti politics, society and economy despite certain press restrictions. Newspapers established after a change in press regulations in 2006 were remarkably similar to older newspapers. Liberal and conservative papers both published mainly negative messages but provided starkly different issue agendas; of the 89 cartoons depicting the Arab Spring, only 8 appeared in conservative papers. Conservative papers concentrated on topics relating to Kuwaiti society, economy, and politics.

The promise to the Arab World: Attributes of U.S. President Obama in Arabic-language tweets

U.S. President Barack Obamas much-anticipated address in Egypt in 2009 promised a new beginning between the U.S. government and the Arab world but only a few years later there were many criticisms that the U.S. President did not live up to his promises, driving Arab attitudes toward the United States to their lowest point in years. Five years later, we analyzed Arabic-language twitter messages involving President Obama to examine cognitive and affective attributes. Results show that tweets by members of the media differed greatly from tweets by members of the public. The public tweets held more negative attitudes towards the U.S. President than tweets by news organizations. Members of the public also were more likely to link the President to a wider range of countries, suggesting a greater diversity of attributes, while primarily fixating on the Palestinian issue.

An Examination of the Roman Catholic Church’s Agenda-Setting Function in Argentina

ABSTRACT A yearly document produced by the Catholic Bishops in Argentina was compared to media coverage before and after its release. The document negatively correlated with media coverage in both time periods, with issues emphasized in the document appearing low on the media agenda. The top three issues in it, however, did receive more coverage after its release. The newspapers also displayed strong partisanship, with the newspaper most critical of the Church being the most negative.

The effect of oil prices on the media agenda: A model of agenda building

A path analysis tested an agenda-building model in which three real-world indicators—price of crude oil, U.S. production and U.S. consumption of oil—would lead to discussions of oil in Congress and media coverage of oil. The model showed the level of U.S. oil production produced the strongest path coefficients. Congress and the news media formed a reciprocal relationship. The model worked better when oil was framed as an economic issue than as an environmental issue.

Journalism and mass communication education in the Arab World: Towards a typology:

This study offers an overview of the current status of journalism and mass communication education in the Arab World. Specifically, through an exploratory analysis of structure, curricula and faculty from ten journalism and mass communication programs in five Arab countries, the study identified four typologies that characterize journalism and mass communication education in the Arab World. These typologies were also determined by political and economic differences in the region. In an effort to expand literature on global journalism and mass communication education, this study was the first to apply typologies in its methodological approach. Through the process of classification, the study was able to provide a better understanding of how and why journalism education differs within a specific region.

How the public and public relations professionals interpret leadership in Spain: Results from the ComGap study

The purpose of this paper is to compare the perspectives of public relations professionals against those of the general public in Spain with respect to which communications activities and organizational attributes are relevant to the leadership images of organizations, and what are the characteristics of effective leaders.,This study combines data from the European Communication Monitor (ECM) with the results of a representative online survey carried out by the global market research company IPSOS.,Results show that the general public sees TV interviews as well as TV advertising as communication tools with the biggest potential to shape the leadership image of organizations. When it comes to the attributes of effective leaders, communication professionals overestimate the role of an organization’s vision, while the population much more stresses basic attributes like leading by example and admitting mistakes. PR practitioners underestimate customer service and environmental responsibility and tend to favor more abstract attributes like innovation and CSR.,This paper touches only four sections of the ECM 2014/2015. Participant fatigue may have negatively impacted the quality of the data. A large sample of professionals was approached, but a much small number initiated and completed the online survey. The size of the sample of communication professionals makes it difficult to generalize the results. In addition, future research should extend the study to different groups of stakeholders, such as employees, investors, and suppliers.,While organizations face intensive pressure from evaluation by their stakeholders, discrepancies between the expectations of the general public in regard to leadership negatively affects the communicator’s work to position organizations in society, as well as CEOs and top executives as leaders. On this regards, getting closer to what the population expects will help to understand and improve leadership perceptions.,Very little work has been done in Spain regarding to leadership in public relations or public relations professional’s perceptions about leadership. Most research published to date has focused on the leader’s position in the company, participation in management levels, types of responsibilities assumed and their relative influence and leadership style. Even fewer public relations studies have tried to identify the communication activities that are relevant to the leadership image of organizations and compare the perspectives of public relations professionals on leadership against those of the general public. This dearth of knowledge about stakeholder expectations negatively affects the communicator’s work to position organizations and executive leaders in society.

Mass Communications Students’ Motivations The Case of Kuwait

Kuwaiti students intending to major in mass communication face a long process that begins in high school. A survey of students at Kuwait University examined whether the process led to disillusionment of the mass communication field and/or mass communication education. Findings show that all respondents viewed the field of journalism positively. Respondents also viewed journalism education in a positive light. Students majoring or minoring in journalism differed from majors in other disciplines in several ways: They were more likely to be female and younger, and were more likely to agree with statements that mass communication is a good field for women, journalists make a good living, the field is highly respected, and friends would support their decision to major in mass communication. This is a significant finding because it demonstrates that mass communications is considered a safe industry for women even when the role of women in the public sphere does not have many decades of precedent. The results also suggest that the more active the students were in selecting a major, the more positive they felt about mass communications education. Students who had published works or internship experience were more likely to declare a major in mass communications. All students agreed that their education increased their appreciation for the field of mass communications. These findings demonstrate that journalism education can be beneficial even in nations where the media system is not completely free.

Mediating Silence: The Media's Role in Silencing Religious Dialogue Among U.S. Muslims

Using the spiral of silence as a theoretical framework, survey data were gathered to examine the degree to which the mass media influence dialogue about religion among Muslim Americans. Survey data were collected from members of religious and cultural organizations across the United States in summer 2012. Participants (N = 166) responded to an electronic questionnaire that addressed several variables, including media use, religiosity, willingness to communicate about religion, tolerance for disagreement about religion, and receivers apprehension about religion. The results show that Muslims who watch more television are less likely to be willing to communicate about religion within the context of an interpersonal relationship. This study contributes to the scholarship of media and religion by providing evidence of the spiral of silence phenomenon when the minority group is a religious one.