The Relationship between Egyptian Newspapers and Social Media: Competing or Complementary

Abstract

In 2008, President Obama used Social Media in his campaign, demonstrating its importance in reaching the public at this early time (Kaplan A.M, 2015). The importance of social networking became apparent in June 2009 when the American State Department asked the administration of Twitter to postpone their periodic maintenance so that they can follow the Iranian protests. Also, the importance of social media became clearer when a Twitter user in Indonesia was the first to tweet about Bali (Indonesia) explosions in July 2009 before most of the main news organizations. The social networks have changed the news industry and the practice of journalism. Google, Facebook and Twitter competed for the audience with The New York Times, the Guardian, CNN, and the BBC which was previously described as the Fourth State. Now, researchers are calling social media "The Fifth State" (Alegandro, 2010). Abstract: This study seeks to explore the nature of the relationship between Egyptian journalists and the Social Media through a survey conducted in July and August 2018 on a sample of 120 journalists working in some of the major national and private print and electronic newspapers and news sites. In addition, in-depth interviews were made with some of the editors and media professionals in these media organizations. The results showed that there is a growing trend among the respondents to use Social Media especially Facebook to promote newspapers and press content rather than as a source of information. There has been a consensus among journalists that emphasizes the importance of credibility more than achieving beat, for fear of publishing false news. Although, the study found that they are using social media as a source of information. Most of respondents expressed their fear that the future is for social media which can swallow the traditional media, and that they should unite in search for a new formula.