Rami Khouri on Lebanon’s Outlook and What Has Happened to the Country’s Media

On October 17, 2019, protests began in Lebanon with angry and largely disenfranchised citizens calling for a complete overhaul of the country’s unique political system. In the year that has followed, Lebanon has suffered through one disaster after another, with seemingly unending political shifting. On October 22, 2020, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri was reinstated, nearly one year after stepping down from the same position in response to massive public unrest. On August 25, two weeks after the massive explosion that rocked downtown Beirut, Arab Media & Society Managing Editor Sarah El-Shaarawi spoke with Rami Khouri about the state of affairs in Lebanon, how the events have been covered by local and international media, and what role social media has played. Khouri is the Director of Global Engagement and an adjunct professor of journalism at the American University of Beirut. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and a syndicated columnist. Khouri spoke to Arab Media & Society from Boston, Massachusetts

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