The Role of Digital Platforms and Television in Reshaping the Media Landscape in Iraq during the Period (2018–2025)

Abstract

Abstract:

This study addresses the rapid transformations in the media landscape in Iraq during the period (2018–2025), in light of the significant expansion in the use of digital platforms and their growing influence alongside the continued presence of television as a traditional medium with sustained social impact. This media overlap has led to the reconfiguration of production and reception patterns, creating a simultaneous state of competition and integration, which has been reflected in media discourse, audience trends, and levels of trust in different sources. Recent literature indicates that digital transformation is not limited to the technical dimension but extends to the professional and structural dimensions of the media system itself, where digital platforms have become an alternative environment for content production and distribution, with a relative decline in the centrality of traditional television, alongside the emergence of more interactive and networked media models. In the Iraqi context, the interaction between television and digital platforms has become a key issue within a media environment characterized by plurality and rapid information flow, making television part of a broader media system in which traditional messages intersect with interactive digital content. Studies have shown that this transformation has contributed to changing news production and distribution patterns and increasing audience participation in content creation, thereby intensifying competition among media outlets. Accordingly, the research problem is defined as understanding the nature of the relationship between digital platforms and television in Iraq during this period, and how the media landscape has been reshaped under this overlap, along with the resulting transformations in communication and media production patterns.