Dr Omar Al-Ghazzi is Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. His research expertise is in the reporting and representation of conflict, digital journalism and the politics of time and memory— with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa.
Omar, did you always intend to go into academia? If not, what made you pursue a career in this field?
In my undergraduate studies, I chose a Communication Arts major (at the Lebanese American University) with the intention of pursuing a career in filmmaking. But I found myself more drawn to media theory courses. When I graduated, I worked for a while at a newspaper in Beirut but always dreamt of pursuing graduate studies. I was fortunate to win a Fulbright scholarship, which allowed me to pursue an MA in International Communication at American University in DC. Though I was encouraged by some professors to do a PhD straight away, I was not ready at that point. I worked in journalism as a reporter for an Arabic paper in New York, then moved to the UK and worked as a journalist and media analyst at BBC Monitoring. At that point in my career, I thought that if I do not pursue a PhD then, I may not get the chance later. So I applied to PhD programmes in the US and was very happy to get accepted and to choose the programme at the Annenberg School for Communication, the University of Pennsylvania.
What made you interested in media and communications and specifically the area you research?
I was interested in media as that was where my expertise and experience lied. It is hard to articulate the reason for interest in researching a particular area as you find yourself drawn to an area of literature and to a particular research question. When I began reading academic literature, I gravitated towards questions of how we understand history and collective memory through media. Also, months after I started my PhD, the 2011 Arab uprising kicked off, so I was doing a lot of thinking about political contention, activism, and the mediation of war— particularly in relation to collective memory and temporality more broadly.
What advice would you give students who are thinking of pursuing a PhD or a career in academia?
I would advise them not to rush into it solely based on intellectual curiosity. Academia is an industry and unfortunately one in which it is becoming more difficult to find stable employment. That said, I think having a PhD, particularly in the field of Communications, is an asset for a variety of career paths. While pursing a PhD is an intellectually and emotionally difficult process, it is unique in giving you the time and space to read, think and write. If you choose to pursue a PhD, my advice would to be to think about what you want out of it in terms of career and to prepare accordingly as you start it. Also, choose your supervisor wisely as that is the most important professional relationship when you start an academic career.
What was the main issue of the day in terms of media and communications when you were a student? How has it developed?
One of the main issues was how social media impacts politics. At the time (2010-2015), there were a lot of techno-determinist and techno-optimist approaches to analysing social media, particularly when it came to how they may lead to democratisation. I think now the debate has gotten more nuanced as it became clear that the answer was not so simple and as digital technologies advanced, became more pervasive, and more prone to be driven by government and corporate agendas.
What do you think is the most important contemporary issue in the field of media and communications, both for soon to graduate students and for long time professionals in the field?
With the COVID-19 crisis, questions that were long raised by communications scholars have become even more urgent as most of our activities moved online and new digital infrastructures are being built. Issues like misinformation and disinformation are now matters of life and death in the most literal sense. It does seem like we are entering a new phase in digital media structures and cultures. In my research, I will continue to explore the place of media and communications in the ways we engage with the concept of truth, with collective belonging, and also with political conflict.
What do you enjoy most about teaching students and why?
I enjoy teaching when I feel that students learnt something they did not already know, recognized an issue anew, changed their minds about an assumption they had, made an analytical connection they hadn’t articulated before, or felt inspired to learn more about a phenomenon. I also enjoy discussions and debates in class as the learning process goes both ways.
What do you like doing when you’re not busy being an academic?
I go on long walks, (try to) exercise often, closely follow the news, cook, travel, and watch a lot of TV— as well as of course simply hang out and catch up with friends.