Abstract

After 25 January revolution and high penetration rate of Internet in Egypt, the media landscape and the circle of news production has been changed. News production is not any more in news agencies and media organization’ hands after the propagation of the social media, but it becomes in ordinary citizens’ hands. The Egyptian citizens are equipped with their mobile phones and Internet access, which enable them to capture the news instantly and disseminate it to the public online through different online platforms. A survey has been conducted on 350 Egyptians undergraduate and graduate students from different private and public universities in Cairo to examine the perceived credibility and the perceived professional roles of the citizen journalists’ content. However, it was found that the majority of Egyptian depends on Internet for information more than other mediums and they usually spend more than three hours online daily. The most of respondents seek citizen journalists’ content to gratify surveillance needs. The largest portion of the sample has a positive attitude toward citizen journalists’ content and they perceive it as significantly credible information. It was found that there are five major factors that affect the perceived credibility of citizen journalists’ content, which are age, gender of the respondents, the reliance on Internet of information, the pre-existing experience of producing online citizen-based news or content before, and seeking such content for surveillance. It was found also that the Egyptians are more likely to related citizen journalists with the mobilizer, civic, and adversary journalistic professional roles.

Department

Journalism & Mass Communication Department

Degree Name

MA in Journalism & Mass Communication

Graduation Date

6-1-2017

Submission Date

May 2017

First Advisor

Amin, Hussein

Committee Member 1

Allam, Rasha

Committee Member 2

Dawood, Aliaa

Extent

138 p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. The author has granted the American University in Cairo or its agents a non-exclusive license to archive this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study, and to make it accessible, in whole or in part, in all forms of media, now or hereafter known.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Approval has been obtained for this item

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