Insulting Islam: Understanding anti-religious discourse online in Post-Revolutionary Egypt

There are a few taboos that the majority of Egyptians who grew up before and during the 2011 revolution learned to avoid in their discussions. These are politics, religion and sex! But on the 25th of January 2011 a revolution started and disrupted all political and social norms in the country. This research examines how a specific online group used offensive discourse to change the master narrative that defies religion in Egypt

News Values on Instagram: A Comparative Study of International News

This study employs the news values theory and method in the examination of a large dataset of international news retrieved from Instagram. News values theory itself is subjected to critical examination, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. Using a mixed method that includes content analysis and topic modeling, the study investigates the major news topics most ‘liked’ by Instagram audiences and compares them with the topics most reported on by news organizations. The findings suggest that Instagram audiences prefer to consume general news, human-interest stories and other stories that are mainly positive in nature, unlike news on politics and other topics on which traditional news organizations tend to focus. Finally, the paper addresses the implications of the above findings