Explore my reflective essay, which provides a comprehensive examination and interpretation of my journey through the Media and Politics Minor, along with the thematic connections across all six courses:

Amna Al-Kuwari

Mentor : Professor. Marc Owen Jones

March 2025

Media as a Strategic Tool for Political Narratives

Thematic Links

            Starting up the essay, I will discuss the common ideas and concepts forming the theme of media as a strategic tool for political narratives across my coursework in Media and Politics courses. One key thematic link is that the media plays a part in strategically presenting situations and events in ways that promote certain political views and values. This connection is represented by how governments today use digital tools to exercise their authority to control and manage the conduct and content of ideas communicated via mass media usually by manipulating information. For example, during “Digital Authoritarianism,” we explored how Middle Eastern states use surveillance and fake news to mold public opinion using the article “Saudis’ Image Makers.” It mentioned how Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his top advisers trained a Saudi worker at Twitter to spy on the accounts of critics within and outside Saudi Arabia, such as The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and report their activities to the kingdom’s campaign to silence dissidents and improve its image on the world stage as a vibrant and progressive nation. Likewise, “A Storm of Tweets” studies the exploitation of Twitter by Gulf countries for political publicity. The tweets of active figures like the Qatari businessman Adel Ali Bin Ali were retweeted by dubious accounts, which indicated that he possibly bought fake followers and retweets to push the #Tamim_is_Everywhere hashtag against the “Get Out, Tamim!” hashtag spread by Emirati and Saudi users who opposed Qatar’s attempts to stop Hajj pilgrims from traveling to Mecca. These cases confirm Jones’s argument in “Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East” that social media can be weaponized through bots and troll farms to force a common account of key political, economic, and social events. More specifically, infiltrating Twitter by analyzing millions of tweets and forensically probing numerous trends using bots and automated user accounts is a key technique implemented to control the information space in a near-personalized style of authoritarianism where status, ego, and an unacceptance of criticism encourages radical forms of intervention in digital media to spread the version of reality preferred by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt. Based on these examples and readings, a strong link exists between media effectively functioning as a source of information as well as an intentional tool of political influence.

            Legal frameworks and ethics interact in ways that point out the media’s deliberate role in politics. The fact that media practices are restricted by both legal and ethical debates means political and governmental functions and capabilities change accordingly. In “Sports and Entertainment Law,” we analyzed legal disputes over image rights in sports events, which taught me that media laws and regulations can sway media accounts of political and sports events. This classroom exercise reminded me of the Saudi Arabian football team Al Nassr acquiring professional football player Cristiano Ronaldo as part of a campaign to use his fame, image, and celebrity status to detract from the numerous accusations of human rights abuses by the kingdom. This observation is also related to the civil laws that make this kind of manipulation possible as examined in “Media Law and Ethics.” The First Amendment in the U.S. is unlikely to censor speech and news publications because it hardly conflicts with the standards of media outlets. It grants greater press freedom that explains the wide range of partisan and centrist news media outlets in the US, such as Vox and Slate on the far left and Fox News and Newsmax on the far right. This connection stresses that the power of media depends on how it is operated within the established legal limits.

            Another link is the use of media to project national influence and identify with a culture. During “Qatar, Energy Security, and Strategic Planning,” I learned that mass media could be used to broadcast a carefully chosen and thoughtfully organized account of national power to the public to evoke action either by force or voluntarily. For instance, Sudha Mahalingam’s case study of India’s fuel pricing policies in Goldthau’s “The Handbook of Global Energy Policy” showed that intense weekly debates in the news about the government raising petrol and diesel prices gave the coalition of oil marketers ample time to rally public views against the price hike. I also enjoyed Högselius’s discussion of the media’s functions in his book “Energy and Geopolitics.” He emphasized only specific kinds of stories and accounts attract many readers and produce views of energy and geopolitics that are frequently strongly biased, such as how more people read about sudden outbreaks of international conflicts related to energy in contrast to boring news stories about resolving said conflicts. I observed that this approach appears parallel to the use of social media by authoritarian governments to consolidate power as explored in “Digital Authoritarianism.” Discussions about the articles “Saudis’ Image Makers” and “A Storm of Tweets” made it clear that using bots, automated accounts, and influencers to create less space for political protesters and more for propaganda is likely to attract the foreign investment and natural public participation that Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE desperately need to secure the futures of their economies beyond their reliance on oil and gas revenues. Therefore, both courses reinforced that the media helps define how people see their country and cultures as well as those of nations around the globe.

            Finally, the media’s impact on stories about diversity and gender further informs its value to political actors and agendas. “The Politics of Diversity in Europe and the United States” showed that media representations can redefine social views of identity. For instance, it was fascinating how the news considerably influenced Porochista Khakpour’s experience in Shukla and Suleyman’s “The Good Immigrant.” Khakpour needed an esteemed newspaper that praised his previous publications to obtain a platform for expressing his genuine views about what it feels like to be of Iranian origin in modern America. The fact that US news was preoccupied with the countries of origin of immigrants like Khakpour to the extent that he worried about being put in Muslim camps demonstrated that mass media could portray Arabic people and traditions in ways that may reinforce extreme and stereotypical narratives. Likewise, after examining the diverse interpretations of marriage and divorce in Islamic legal philosophy across different regions and eras during “Women and Gender in the Middle East,” I discovered that media publications that acknowledge these interpretations can create opportunities for reform. I observed that Western news outlets like the BBC were more likely to reference the Quran, such as the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad, when explaining marriage, divorce, and family in Islam, whereas Arabic news media like the Khaleej Times consulted the heads of family counseling and verdicts of Ras Al Khaimah court about Muslim women seeking divorce. This coursework means that the media can point out that women can intervene in finding ways through Islamic religious and social frameworks to advocate for their rights in marriage and divorce. This work promotes the subtle elements of interpretations of gender roles usually missed by media representations outside the Muslim world. My observation links back to the theme by demonstrating that the media can inform public opinion and transform identities.

Relevant Example

            The 2017 Gulf Crisis crystallized the theme of media as a tool for political narratives. It was a real-world scenario for the manipulation of digital media, state messaging, and international diplomacy. In “Digital Authoritarianism,” “A Storm of Tweets” presented yet another opportunity to assess how the diplomatic crisis played out on Twitter. For example, Saud al-Qahtani, a previous advisor to the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia, created a Twitter hashtag intended to blacklist Saudis and other Gulf citizens supportive of Qatar during the crisis. His office also regularly circulated reports on Twitter traffic in the Gulf to prove that Qatar manipulates social media. It was fascinating how two countries can use social media to run disinformation campaigns that create and recreate political narratives that sway public opinion against each other in real-time. This observation strengthened Daniel Byman’s main argument in “The Social Media War in the Middle East” that social media can be used to easily control whole populations. It is an especially attractive site for the propaganda of Middle Eastern governments active in information campaigns because social media is cheap, allows for deniability, reaches many people while separating messages, and is easy to exploit. For example, state actors utilize modern media during emergencies to make the public see them favorably and affirm their authority. The crisis clarified the workings of controlling digital media and its direct effects on political conversations.

            Also, the calculated use of media during the Gulf Crisis showed the pattern of media acting as a tool for gaining political influence. In “Qatar, Energy Security, and Strategic Planning,” I grasped the media’s part in advancing diplomatic interests and frustrating those of adversary nations during times of instability. For example, Qatar’s Al Jazeera was a major point of contention for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which used it to justify the blockade on Qatar. Saudi Arabia and the UAE firmly believed the news outlet spread insightful messages to their enemies such that they demanded Qatar shut it down if it wanted to end the crisis. This difference revealed the immense power media houses hold over diplomatic issues. The media’s influence is also echoed in Europe’s handling of cultural and immigration problems. In “The Politics of Diversity in Europe and the United States,” we critiqued France’s 2011 ban on full-face scarves in public, which conflicted with the motivations for French Muslim women wearing burqas and niqabs. They believed Western ads and media presented a model of women who were sexually available to men, hence, the need to cover their bodies. This case mirrors the Gulf Crisis through media strategies based on political acceptance determining social, cultural, or political matters. Media messages with well-planned objectives might affirm a nation’s culture and advance its status among peers.

            Additionally, the Gulf Crisis brought to light stories about gender in the media designed to convey specific political ideas and values. Media representations during political and cultural turning points change public perceptions of women and the roles of both men and women in handling these changes. “The Politics of Diversity in Europe and the United States” led me to study reports on the sexist images painted by European social media users, which were comparable to Muslim women’s portrayals. Women who protested the despotic actions of Victor Orban’s government in Hungary were savagely attacked on Twitter as part of the far-right Fidesz party’s social media efforts to silence female political dissidents through disinformation campaigns, doxing, and online harassment. In this case, the media shows a capacity to send messages that sideline ambitious women in power. However, “Women and Gender in the Middle East” proved that it can also spread awareness of resisting such acts and beliefs. I was inspired by Huda Shaarawi's unveiling of how men dictated upper-class women’s dresses and movements. Her founding of the Egyptian feminist movement to support systemic reforms in family law and equal rights between men and women can be replicated by women today on social media since it is an ideal venue for showing their lives cannot be separated from the country’s success. The narratives created from such media strategies go beyond politics and economics to also impact notions of identity and social justice.

Reflection and Self-Assessment

            Completing the Media and Politics minor classes considerably increased my awareness of the media's power in politics. I now see how the media connects with the changing aspects of politics, law, and culture. I can combine lessons from “Digital Authoritarianism” and “Qatar, Energy Security, and Strategic Planning” to inspire public action against insidious governmental control of their views. Learning that Saudi Arabia, UAE and many other countries hack Twitter accounts of political opponents, use bots to amplify tweets with half-truths, and buy fake accounts to retweet said posts shows their totalitarian leanings. Therefore, the responsibility to create fairer information spaces that spread political messages grounded in truth cannot be placed entirely on them. These platforms’ owners are also responsible for regulating content and strengthening their codes for running government pages. Högselius reaches the same conclusions about the numerous small and medium actors that serve the energy industry’s needs for maintenance, supplies, and consultancy, yet hardly receive media attention despite their vital contributions to the world economy. Similarly, Jones argues that social media’s ability to reimagine new realities for the people of MENA is stifled by the stiff penalties for criticizing the government media or expressing political disagreement.

            The minor also strengthened my abilities to reason analytically and critically about the multiple sides of political issues. The coursework on the Gulf Crisis was so rigorous that it substantially improved my ability to assess media content for bias, strategic purpose, and ethical consequences. Miller’s “The Gulf Crisis” illustrated how the blockade led Qatar to use its social media outlets to draw attention to how the state’s energy investments secure its economy when isolated geopolitically. It reminded me of the statement that was made by the Qatar’s Minister of Energy to Al Jazeera Arabic’s Liqa al-Yaum (To-day’s Meeting Show)  during the crisis that “the country will continue to generate revenue from exporting natural gas to the UAE and Oman via the Dolphin’s energy pipeline despite the blockade.” Around the same time, the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs went on CNN to confirm that Qatar would not retaliate against the GCC’s sanctions by blocking the energy supply deal because all countries were devoted to its legal foundations. This coverage established that local laws can quickly adapt to meet international demands. This was the case when debating Qatar’s “Law No. 10 of 2021” in “Sports and Entertainment Law.” When Qatar hosted the World Cup in 2022, its legal measures on broadcasting and advertising considered specific words, images, and signs in commercials without FIFA’s written consent as unfair competition, and thus banned them. This deeper understanding supplements my academic knowledge and skills and adequately prepares me for a meaningful future in media and politics.

            The Media and Politics minor ultimately led me to think about promoting media ethics that can produce the best practices. The classes encouraged me to assume the responsibility to defy media stories that are partisan or biased against minorities and gender. Setting agendas aimed at contributing to more inclusive communication is the most ideal method of ensuring this outcome. My encouragement originated from the lessons from “Women and Gender in the Middle East” concerning magnifying the voices of Muslim women within and outside the Middle East and advocating for balanced reporting. Abu-Lughod’s answer to the question “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” was poignant as it pointed to the consequences of the rhetoric of salvation. Efforts to save other women are ultimately conditional on and strengthen a feeling of superiority by the West and akin to the Christian mission of the 1800s, which is a kind of arrogance that needs to be confronted. Abu-Lughod’s profound critique convinced me that only critical engagement with questions of narrow accounts of women in the media can give them the fair representation they deserve.

Works Cited : 

Benner, K., Mazzetti, M., Hubbard, B., & Isaac, M. (2018, October 20). Saudis’ image makers: A troll army and a Twitter Insider. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/20/us/politics/saudi-image-campaign-twitter.html

Leber, A., & Abrahams, A. (2019, December 11). A storm of tweets: Social media manipulation during the Gulf Crisis: Review of Middle East Studies. Cambridge Core. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/review-of-middle-east-studies/article/storm-of-tweets-social-media-manipulation-during-the-gulf-crisis/56F18499A63115DF038BF3157578DCF2

Jones, M. O. (2022). Digital authoritarianism in the Middle East. Review of Middle East Studies.https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/digital-authoritarianism-in-the-middle-east/

Mahalingam, S. (2013). India's fuel pricing policies. In A. Goldthau (Ed.), The Handbook of Global Energy Policy.Wiley-Blackwell. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118326275.ch6

Högselius, P. (2019). Energy and geopolitics. Routledge.https://www.routledge.com/Energy-and-Geopolitics/Hogselius/p/book/9781138038394?srsltid=AfmBOoqLKIOKdobo3sSEtNkY2ByUdXzudlaTKIio8tc9PR4CmnwW20lc

Khakpour, P. (2019). The good immigrant. In N. Shukla & S. Suleyman (Eds.), The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America. Little, Brown. https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/nikesh-shukla/the-good-immigrant/9780316524285/

Abu-Lughod, L. (2002). Do Muslim women really need saving? American Anthropologist. https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1525/aa.2002.104.3.783