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The Struggle Over Narrative in Lebanon Post the October Uprising: Can the Alternative Groups Fight the Ruling Elite's Control Over Media?

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) (2021), 49 pp.
"Despite the growing impact and diversity in the alternative media scene in Lebanon, and the key role they play in producing a counter-hegemonic narrative on political, economic, and sociological matters, they remain nonetheless lacking a viable and sturdy infrastructure. The latter is evident in their lack of a legal infrastructure that could potentially guarantee the rights of their workforce on the long term and simultaneously further their causes. Likewise, their lack of sustainable and stable income generation and funding put strain on their continuity. Yet, most saliently, it is likely the divisive and loose structure that the alternative media scene currently has that mostly curtails its ability to build a parallel and equally competitive narrative against that maintained by the ruling elites and their associated institutions and clientalist networks. The fractures and fragility of the alternative media scene is not a product of its diversity, but rather of the absence of legal, economic, and institutional infrastructure that could built ground for a more collaborative and powerful counter-narrative. Indeed, should these initiatives muster efforts to create such infrastructure, the viability of the alternative media scene remains contingent to the presence of a strong and grounded political opposition force in the country. As this research has indicated, the role of alternative media and the advent of a counter-hegemonic narrative is inextricable from the broader political landscape." (Conclusion)
Media landscape, 6
Struggles of a counter-hegemonic narrative, 14
Conclusion, 33
Recommendations, 34