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Abstract

Premiered in 2020, and although representing a grim story to narrate the Khashoggi story – a Saudi prominent journalist – who was ambushed, killed, and his body dismembered in his own country's consulate, The Dissident is more than simply a documentary. It is arguably a narration of the need for freedom of expression and political reform in the Arab world generally and Saudi Arabia in particular. This paper highlights the struggle to disseminate The Dissident documentary publicly as none of the major media corporation streamers (HBO, Netflix, Amazon, and Apple) offered to carry it. The way giant media corporations treat the information in this case not only as a commodity but as a means to avoid political tensions affecting their revenues in the markets. The article addresses this case study from a freedom of expression and the right to communicate perspective arguing for the need of an actual media reform within the middle east media system so journalists, like Khashoggi.

Keywords

Activism alternative media documentary middle East media Netflix The Dissident

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The Dissident: ‘Sawing’ political activism by media corporation?

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