The Peninsula
Doha: Research at Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) on new global media players has been showcased in a Special Section of the International Journal of Communication.
The journal has published the Special Section to its most recent edition on ‘Global Communication Power: Shift or Stasis?’, drawn from an NU-Q conference on ‘Fresh Global Media Players’ in February last year.
The monograph-length publication explores changing patterns and redistribution of ‘communication power’ and features some of the world’s top media scholars and professionals who came to Doha for the conference sessions and produced the journal articles.
Once the purview of leading industrial nations only, media industries now span the globe and have cropped up in developing nations. Nations like Qatar and Brazil have two of the world’s most potent satellite television networks, for example.
Leading the conference and the Special Section were two NU-Q faculty members who are global media experts — Joe Khalil, Associate Professor of Communication in Residence, and John Downing, Visiting Professor of Communication.
Both initiatives were supported by a grant from the Conference and Workshop Sponsorship Program of Qatar National Research Fund. “The landscape of news and entertainment has undergone a radical transformation over the past decade,” said Everette E. Dennis, Dean and CEO, NU-Q.
“Today as people around the world watch content produced or influenced by the Middle East, and as the Arab world has joined the global conversation with a clear and distinct voice, it is an honour for NU-Q faculty to be recognised for expertise in global media,” he added.
