The year 2011 will go down as the year of the political protests. Anti-government protests that began in Tunisia spread to Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen, and in some countries toppled the leaders who had been at the helm for decades.
 
Never before has the media played such a central role in the political unrest and the movement for political change. While state-owned media's role grew more and more defunct, across the region protestors used social media, blogs and mobile phone footage to get their message out.

Governments, meanwhile, took drastic measures to silence the opposition. In Egypt, authorities shut down the internet. In Libya, journalists were killed and in Syria, social media activists were detained.

But through all of this came some powerful media moments, ones that have captured the spirit of the protests and will go down in history.

This week, the Listening Post breaks with its usual format to give you an end of year review of the pivotal role the media played in this year's biggest story.

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