Ronnie Chatah is host of The Beirut Banyan podcast (@thebeirutbanyan), founder of the WalkBeirut tour and opinion columnist for a variety of outlets on Lebanese affairs. You can find him on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter [at]thebeirutbanyan For this episode Ronnie is joined by George Wardini, content creator and alternative media producer. In this episode Ronnie and George discuss the benefits and disadvantages of political persuasion on social media and reflect on the weaponization and democratization of expression. Instagram platform ‘PolyBlog’ and independent show ‘Assaha’ are highlighted examples of an increasingly blurred media sphere bridging television-quality production with alternative sustainably-funded platforms. Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction
3:15 Traditional & social media merging
5:40 PolyBlog & Instagram
13:45 Weaponization of social media
24:04 Democratization of expression
27:28 Assaha & digital media production
34:22 Sustainability & independent media
41:36 Television & podcasting
48:59 Manipulation
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