Rabie Barakat

Rabie Barakat’s expertise primarily relates to media and politics in the Arab world. He received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 2016. His research addressed al-Jazeera’s coverage of the 2011 Arab uprisings and the network’s contribution to reconfiguring social and political realities in the Arab world. Barakat has co-authored Politics of Sectarianism in Postwar Lebanon (Pluto Press, 2015) in which he casts light on the role of Lebanese media in reinforcing sectarian modes of identification and mobilization. He has also taught a range of courses at the American University of Beirut covering interdisciplinary areas including gender, communication and conflict resolution; communication theory; journalism and society; media law and ethics; political communication campaigns; public opinion; and media activism for social change. He has also taught a graduate course addressing Political Communication in the Digital Age and an introductory course on Arab and International Media at the Lebanese American University (LAU).   Barakat managed the Journalism and Communication Training Program at AUB where he co-developed a 10-month online training curriculum targeting journalists in closed countries in partnership with International Media Support (IMS). He also has over fifteen years of experience in journalism including print and television. His work includes heading the Opinion Section of al-Safir newspaper, writing analytical pieces for BBC Arabic, and training with the Al-Jazeera Training Institute and Deutsche Welle Akademie. It also comprises broadcasting from conflict zones and conducting hundreds of TV interviews. Barakat co-founded Awan ( www.awanmedia.net), an independent media platform that offers multimedia engagements with Arab and international affairs in the form of in-depth analysis, commentary, investigative reports, cultural portrayals, and creative audiovisual content.