Best Video Narration of Research
Milena Jessy Mary Uwikozo Kaligirwa – NU-Q
The First TikTok War: Impact of Media in the Russia-Ukraine War
This project explores the Russian vs. Ukrainian conflict, also known as “The First TikTok War,” through the lens of Media and Politics. The conflict gained popularity on social media, particularly TikTok, and this project aims to understand the role of media in shaping public perception and understanding of the conflict. I also discuss the link between media and politics from two perspectives: communication and political angles. The communication perspective explains the media’s interaction with politics as political communication, involving the transmission of information between politicians, news media, and the public. The political angle recognizes the indirect involvement of media in international affairs, where technology has become a significant actor in politics, as evidenced by its impact on events such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Yasmeen Mekawy
E-Portfolio: https://sites.google.com/u.northwestern.edu/cmape-portfolio/home?authuser=0
Alak Raad – GU-Q
Engineering Terror: Daesh’s Media Strategy and Tactics in Recruiting Members from the Western World
Alak Raad is a senior majoring in International Politics, Interested in counter-terrorism, peacebuilding, and child protection in war-torn countries. And pursuing a Certificate in Media and Politics. Thesis Title: Engineering Terror: Daesh’s Media Strategy and Tactics in Recruiting Members from the Western World. This capstone project explores how the internet’s decentralized and unregulated nature has created a virtual battlefield between Daesh and vulnerable youth from the Western world. Moreover, it investigates the reasons for Daesh’s overly-produced videos of brutally killing its “enemies” by comparing these videos with one of the first engineers of terror, Vlad III Drăculea, who designed a valley of impaled bodies in response to not winning a face-to-face war with the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. This project also examines theories such as globalization, reversed orientalism, and actor-network theory.
Faculty Mentor: Rory Miller
CMAP E-Portfolio: https://sites.google.com/georgetown.edu/alak-cmap-e-portfolio/home
Best Reflective Essay
Nathenael Gemechu – NU-Q
The presentation is about the portrayal of inequality as it pertains to migrants in the media. As an Ethiopian expat, I discuss how the media can form opinions, humanize, include, and exclude migrants, and how the lens in which they are viewed shapes their experiences. The first point of discussion is the power of the media and how messages are conveyed. There is also a deeper discussion on the pervasive, unkind depiction of these oppressed groups which are positioned as economic, social, and security threats. The presentation also explores three sociological concepts used in the media portrayal of migration and inequality: social conflict theory, structural functionalism, and symbolic interactionism. The importance of a communal, micro-level depiction is highlighted with multiple examples provided.
Faculty Mentor: Heather Jaber
E-Portfolio: https://nathenaelgemechu20.wixsite.com/my-site
Alaa Elrayah – GU-Q
From Action to Hashtags: The Impact of Digital Diplomacy on Sudan’s Revolution
I am Alaa Elrayah, a senior at Georgetown University in Qatar majoring in International Politics and pursuing a Certificate in Media and Politics.
My e-portfolio is on digital diplomacy’s role in the Sudanese revolution, titled: “From Action to Hashtags: The Impact of Digital Diplomacy on Sudan’s Revolution.” Globalization and digitization forced diplomacy to adapt to this ever-changing world. Therefore, this portfolio engages with the emergence of digital diplomacy, allowing for an interactive and more engaging form of diplomacy with citizens and the international community during the Sudanese revolution. I looked at to what extent the relationship between street protests, social media activism, and digital diplomacy maximized the potential of the protests by raising awareness, calling for change, and promoting a democratic civilian-led Sudan. I argue that digital diplomacy during the Sudanese revolution played a pivotal role in calling for the international community’s attention insofar as it went alongside street protests and social media activism. I used Twitter as the social media platform to analyze tweets from state and non-state actors who engaged with the crisis, in addition to tweets from the Former Prime Minister of Sudan, to indicate how digital diplomacy also impacted the Sudanese government to adapt to the change in diplomacy.
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Nadine Ghamloush
CMAP E-Portfolio: https://sites.google.com/georgetown.edu/alaaelrayahcmap
Best Thesis
Zain Assaf – GU-Q
Hegemonic Frames in Mainstream Coverage on Palestine: A Case Study of Shireen Abu Akleh’s Killing
Zain Assaf is a graduating senior at Georgetown University in Qatar, majoring in Culture and Politics and minoring in History. Her major concentration is on settler colonialism and Palestine. Her CMAP thesis examines the hegemonic frames that manifest in mainstream media coverage on Palestine.
This thesis examines the mainstream media’s initial coverage of the killing of Palestinian-American Al Jazeera journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, by Israeli occupation forces in May 2022. The initial reports on her murder failed to identify Israel as the responsible party, despite witness accounts affirming their involvement. Using Greg Shupak’s frames prevalent in media coverage of Israel/Palestine, this paper conducts a content analysis of the preliminary reports issued by prominent mainstream media agencies to argue that the biased coverage of the tragic killing of Shireen Abu Akleh is a consequence of dominant frames that facilitate hegemony in journalism. Through this case study, this thesis illuminates the ways hegemonic frames shape mainstream media coverage of Palestine and continue to perpetuate the inaccurate portrayal of Israel’s occupation and colonization.
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Sami Hermez
CMAP Thesis: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h9kIGIHlcU1Z9ORXpF5Le65-tMJtZ_iR/view?usp=sharing
Best E-Portfolio
Alanoud Al-Aqeedi – NU-Q
Media and the People, as a Vessel for Political Perspectives
The process of my studies and research integrates media and politics through a visualization of the context of what it means to have a political voice and how many minorities need that voice, so they project it through their own forms of media. This Presentation will discuss issues such as disinformation and oppression through media censorship, and how they are combated with various formats of activism, whether it’s political/fictional documentaries or alternative media of minorities. My curiosity with the integration of both topics peaked when I began to observe real-life political crises and how the media aids these crises in different ways and this was one of the major results of this capstone minor. This has overall allowed me to reflect on how certain communities in the media react to the mainstream or combat political authorities through their own creation of media.
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Banu Akdenizli
E-portfolio: https://sites.google.com/u.northwestern.edu/mediapolitics-alanoudm
Habiba Mohamed – GU-Q
Beyond Tokenism: Media Representation of Copts for Social Integration in Egypt
As an Egyptian expat, I have often felt detached from my own culture. I turned to films and television as a means to connect with and understand Egyptian culture and to inform my identity. Egyptian cultural identity in the media is presented as an entirely Arab and Islamic continuity. I was surprised to discover, through research during my undergraduate studies at Georgetown University, that various diverse cultural continuities exist within Egypt. I became increasingly curious as to why I was never introduced to these cultures outside the academic realm, and why I have never seen Coptic dishes, languages, festivals, traditions, music, and other cultural practices in Egyptian media. I explore the reasons and consequences for this media exclusion and the ways in which it leads to the social exclusion and misconception of Egyptian Copts. I will do this primarily through interviews with Copts. I also discuss Egyptian cinema’s monopoly-like influence in creating, maintaining, and driving the narrative around intangible cultural heritage in Egypt. This problem ultimately erodes the richness of the country’s plural culture. Additionally, the consequences of the social exclusion created by media under representation is exhibited as severe vulnerability of Copts in Egyptian society. Change must start with an authentic and accurate representation of Coptic culture in Egyptian cinema. A grassroots approach is necessary to remedy this exclusionary phenomenon.
Faculty Mentor: Firat Oruc
CMAP E-Portfolio: https://magdhabiba.wixsite.com/my-site
