This article investigates how minority and expatriate communities in Kuwait engage with both traditional and digital media to construct their identity, negotiate belonging and claim visibility within a context shaped by demographic imbalance and state regulation. Guided by Stuart Hall’s theory of representation and Nancy Fraser’s concept of subaltern counterpublics, the study adopts a qualitative design integrating semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with media professionals, professors, students and domestic workers. Through a thematic analysis method, five interrelated clusters emerged, indicating intersecting processes of representation, media use, digital participation, belonging and institutional negotiation. The findings show that while mainstream media often marginalize minority voices, ethnic-language broadcasting and digital platforms provide parallel arenas for recognition, solidarity and mediated participation. These spaces enable minorities to reinterpret national narratives and articulate aspirations for inclusion and parity of participation within Kuwait’s evolving public sphere. The study contributes to global debates on media pluralism by extending theories of representation and counterpublics to the Gulf context, illustrating how marginalized communities mobilize media practices as tools of visibility, resilience and agency.
Kassem et al. (Wed,) studied this question.