The demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt in 2010-2011. The semantics of events in the media and the role of the digital networks

Abstract

Following our studies concerning media representation of events, we analyze the news and public speeches regarding the protests in Tunisia and Egypt in 2011. The conceptual and theoretical references and the instruments of analysis are: the semantics of events, to the extent that positioning them “under a description” implies choosing a way of describing them among possible others, and the operations of framing of events. We proceed with a brief analysis of the role of social or digital media that become the support of the protests; which leads us to reflect about the so-called “facebook revolution” that implicates an experience mediated by the technology and interaction in online connections, that is distinct from the public experience of the situated collective action.