Ibrahim became a face of the events in Egypt for much of the media,[24] with Judy Woodruff describing her as "a symbol of the uprising" on PBS NewsHour.[25] On The Daily Show, she told Jon Stewart that she initially joined the protests because of a class she took at the American University in Cairo called "Social Mobilization under Authoritarian Regimes."[26] She was featured on the cover of the February 28, 2011 issue of Time magazine,[27] later criticizing the related article in that issue by saying that the West "needs to believe that we could not have [made revolution possible] without their digital toys."[28] Her political views were rarely mentioned in Western media.[24] A February 2011 Frontline episode titled "Gigi's Revolution" examined her relationship with her elite Egyptian family and "her attempts to convince her family of the righteousness of her cause."[29]