Matters relating to the independence of the media industry in the Lebanon : the political and sectarian crises leading up to the events of the 12th January 2011 until the 25th January 2011

This thesis explores the national and transnational contexts of political communication during the Lebanese political crisis of the 14th January 2011 through to the 25th January 2011. Specifically, this applies to the role of an independent media in the political discourse within national and transnational geo-political context that generated the initial trigger point and fuelled the crisis. The Lebanon is complex political environment and public opinion is informed through an understanding of political history, political expediency and political agility. First, the study proposes an integrated theoretical framework and empirical analysis for the identification and categorisation of political communication. This provided an insight into the key themes that challenge the media's ability to maintain objectivity and independence when reporting political events. Second, through a complementary content and frame analysis of a representative sample of media headlines that focus on the network relationships promoting sustained political communication during the crisis. Third, by a distributed survey of public opinion, establish the perception of independence and credibility of the media. Fourth, analyse a set of one-to-one interviews with leading Lebanese journalists to confirm the true nature and independence of the media and the influence of local affiliations and transnational players. The study sets out to evaluate whether the media can be truly independent given the legislative framework in which it operates and the partisan nature of the political decision-making process that sustains the conflict. It is proposed that the analysis of the primary data will allow substantive conclusions to be drawn concerning media independence in political reporting and political communication. Further, it will develop an analysis of the key elements of media independence in the Lebanon and the nature of national and transnational influence through political and sectarian affiliations