Journalism and corruption in Lebanon and Tunisia

Kjetil Selvik (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs)

  • Date: 17 MARCH 2021  from 17:00 to 18:30

  • Event location: Online | Zoom

  • Type: BIT-ACT Seminar Series

Registration and Link for the Online Seminar

Our monthly seminars last 1 hour, are open and free of charge.

Those who are not part of the University of Bologna's academic community, please register HERE.

Link to access the online talk: HEREIn case of any doubt, please contact Anwesha Chakraborty (anwesha.chakraborty3@unibo.it) and Fernanda Odilla (fernand.vasconcellos@unibo.it)

Talk Description

The presentation discusses journalism’s contribution to anti-corruption efforts in Lebanon and Tunisia. These countries are the Arab region’s leaders in press freedom but political instrumentalization of media and journalism is also rife. Many journalists are believed to be on politicians and businessmen’s payroll. Consequently, the problem of corruption is not getting the coverage it deserves. However, there are journalists who pursue corruption files relentlessly. The talk analyses how they work and the factors that determine their relative success. 

About the Speaker 

Kjetil Selvik is a Senior Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs where he specializes in the comparative politics of the Middle East. He has written widely on authoritarian regimes, elites, religious politics and the media in the region. Selvik has fieldwork experience from Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria and Tunisia. Selvik leads a four-year research project on Journalism in struggles for democracy: media and polarization in the Middle East.