Rana Arafat

City, University of London · Department of Journalism

Arab newsrooms and journalists are still attempting to process how to benefit from using artificial intelligence (AI) in their daily news production. Many have started experimenting with generative AI. However, in countries with strong economies, or in newsrooms funded by strong economies like in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, news organizations...

The escalating dangers journalists face globally have led to a marked increase in media professionals seeking safety away from their home countries. As a result, journalists are increasingly forced to choose between silence and survival, with many opting for the latter in the form of diaspora relocation. This article investigates the role of kinshi...

Despite the pervasiveness of workplace sexual harassment, the connection between sexual harassment and job satisfaction in the news industry remains insufficiently researched. This 16-country and one state study (N = 1583) sampled news personnel from Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Arab region. The results expand current knowledge by ex...

Drawing on in-depth interviews with 21 Egyptian journalists, this study offers a comprehensive understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic has reconfigured news work and journalistic routines in Egyptian newsrooms. In so doing, the paper examines the various technical and logistical challenges encountered by Egyptian journalists as well as their cha...

By presenting five studies on connected research questions, this cumulative dissertation develops a novel understanding of the concept of Hybrid Diasporic Public Sphere by examining how three groups of diasporic exiles, including journalists, activists, and ordinary refugees settled in democratic states, use digital media to engage in transnational...

Using digital ethnography and in-depth interviews, this study offers a comprehensive understanding of how diaspora journalists maintain connections with their conflict-torn homeland and advocate for transnational human rights and political reforms after fleeing its repressive political sphere. To this end, the paper examines how Syrian diaspora jou...

Diaspora journalists and digital media play an important role as stakeholders for war-ridden homeland media landscapes such as Syria. This study analyzes, from a safety in practice perspective, the physical and digital threats that challenge the work of Syrian citizen journalists examining the role of three online advocacy networks created by Syria...

While political scholars study news media as agents of political learning, the processes of political re-socialization of a conflict-generated diaspora moving from authoritarian to democratic regimes pose significant theoretical challenges that remain insufficiently researched. To this end, this study investigates the importance of traditional and...

Declining consumption rates of traditional news have led media outlets to search for innovative ways for engaging their audiences. News gamification emerged as a way to offer a more personalized news experience and a playful content by employing tools like badges, points, and leaderboards. As we are beginning to understand the benefits and pitfalls...