The Role of Online Journalism in Political Disputes in Kuwait

After many decades of heavily relying on local newspapers and controlled radio and TV, many Kuwaitis switched to the Internet to obtain information, news and political analysis. The political dispute of power after the death of Kuwaiti Emir Sheik Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on 15 January 2006, followed by parliament's demands to change the electoral constituencies voting system of the National Assembly in May 2006, forced many Kuwaitis to go online to get the latest news and analysis regarding the two disputes. Kuwaiti online journalism created an online public sphere to discuss issues that were banned locally and became a source of instant updated information during the disputes.The researcher used online content analysis to determine the role online journalism plays in political disputes, focusing on the most popular Kuwaiti personal writers' sites, weblogs and forums. The results show that the language of online journalism took a different direction from the local press, with more freedom to write, discuss, and share ideas online with less fear of government retribution. What was considered a taboo red line in the local press became acceptable green line online. Also online journalism has consolidated offline users with online users to force the government to accept their demands.