Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down a few days after 30 years of rule. Media was not a major factor behind his decision, it WAS the major factor. Of course, Mubarak created the conditions that made people protest. He was the one who let the gaps between the rich and poor develop and created a police state.
But once the protests started, it was the new global media of Twitter and Youtube that were able to broadcast images from handheld cell phones and let hundreds of thousands of people deposit Mubarak from power even though they had no clear program or leader. I think that new global media can be a force for both unification and division, but for sure this media is powerful. I am curious though about how though the world was shocked by what happened to the Green movement in Iran, nothing happened there, whereas in Egypt, with no organized movement, serious change happened? In conclusion I think that mass media can have a major political effect, but it cannot by itself effect change.
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