Mirage in the Desert? Reporting the 'Arab Spring'

It started in Tunisia in December 2010, spread to Egypt in January, Bahrain and Yemen in February - then to Libya and Syria. The 'Arab Spring' became the hot summer of civil war in Libya and may yet end in a winter of unprecedented bloodshed in Syria. These are major events transforming the political landscape in Arab countries and beyond. But how well were the Arab uprisings reported in the British media? To what extent did talk of 'Twitter revolutions' distort the coverage? How did the television channel Al Jareera fare? This book is a unique collaboration as practice meets theory. Frontline correspondents write exclusively on their experiences dodging the bullets and joining the anti-Gaddafi fighters as they stormed into Tripoli, Libya's capital. In addition, there's analysis by significant journo big name thinkers plus a rich mixture of 'hackademics' and their take from Britain and further afield. - Sky News reporter Alex Crawford beat the world's media to report bravely on the collapse of Col. Gaddafi's empire in Tripoli. In this exclusive report, she tells how she secured the scoop - Marwan Darweish assesses the impact of the extraordinary events in the Middle East on the Palestinian/Israeli conflict - John Jewell examines the mainstream media's demonisation of "mad dog" Gaddafi - Daniel Bennett puts the critical spotlight on the 'Gay Girl in Damascus' fake blog. Other contributors include Will Barton, Andrew Beck, Teodora Beleaga, Simon Cottle, Wyre Davies, Alan Fisher, Jackie Gregory, Christine Sylva Hamieh, David Hayward, Lindsey Hilsum, Alexander Kazamias, Jon Leyne, Tim Luckhurst, Kevin Marsh, Ben McConville, Mashaal Mir, Okoth Fred Mudhai, Eamonn O'Neill, Alpaslan Ozerden, Oliver Poole, James Rodgers, Kate Smith, Julie Tomlin, Justin Webb. This is the fifth in a series of books coming out of the Coventry Conversations Conferences held jointly with the BBC College of Journalism and the School of Journalism at the University of Lincoln.