Shifting Sands: A Qualitative Case Study of Changing Dynamics in the Saudi Media Landscape
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Abstract
This study addressed the Saudi media landscape based on a qualitative approach
focusing on journalists, social media influencers, and media-sector professionals.
Through in-depth interviews and textual analysis of tweets, the study presented various
essential components, influences, and factors in the Saudi media by applying theories of
gatekeeping and media routines. The researcher proposed two models that can be applied
to the Saudi media: Reese and Shoemaker’s (1996, 2014) hierarchy of influences model
of influences on the media and Entman's (2003) cascading activation model of influences
on the media. The results showed that the Saudi media landscape suffers from a lack of
vision, overlapping laws, and the siphoning of journalistic competencies, which has
provided an opportunity for social media influencers to gain public influence, threatening
the future of journalistic practices in Saudi Arabia. The study also sought to dive further
into the nature of the practices of social media influencers and identify the significant
factors and players in the Saudi media landscape.