The battle for Gaza’s airwaves
Plus how West African journalists are covering Charles Taylor’s trial.
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| Hamas fighters in the presidential headquarters in Gaza [Reuters] |
Our main story this week is the bitter power struggle in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas may have gained the upper hand politically in this latest round of fighting, but has it made serious tactical errors in the media war?
Television footage of Hamas members lowering the Palestinian flag and raising the Hamas flag in its place shocked Arab viewers. And graphic pictures of the torture of Fatah leader, Sameeh Al-Madhun, dealt a further blow to Hamas’ media campaign both in the Middle East and internationally.
Hamas fought back via sites it controls on the internet. On a website called The Voice of Palestine it directed viewers to videos showing Fatah security beating up Hamas members to make the point that Fatah is not the only victim in this war. But will this tactic be enough to salvage Hamas’ tarnished media image?
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| Charles Taylor is the first African leader to be tried in an international court [AFP] |
Our other top story this week is the media coverage of the Charles Taylor trial at the Hague. The former Liberian dictator is the first African leader to be tried in an international court for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Sierra Leone’s decade long civil war. So far Taylor has failed to show up in court where he faces 11 charges, including murder, rape, mutilation, slavery and the use of child soldiers.
After a decade of civil war, Sierra Leone does not have a strong media infrastructure and it is not straight forward for local journalists to relocate to the Netherlands for a case that may last 18 months or more.
However, the West African journalists covering the trial are passionate about relaying the news back home and despite their own personal experiences of the war, they are determined to stay impartial.
In Newsbytes, we look at the other big media stories this week. In Pakistan, a radical cleric issued a fatwa against the editor and publisher of Pakistani fashion magazine, Octane. The June edition of the magazine ran an advertisement depicting two scantily clad models as Adam and Eve, which the cleric claimed was blasphemous. Editor Zubair Kasuri said he intended no offence to Islam and added that the advertisement had already run in other magazines.
US celebrity heiress Paris Hilton’s release from jail unleashed a frenzied bidding war for her first interview. But one newscaster was not impressed with the story. MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski refused to read the Paris story on the network’s morning show. When her producer insisted, she first tried to burn the script and finally put it through the paper shredder live on air.
Last but not least is our internet video of the week. With the release of the iPhone imminent, the battle between Mac and PC is heating up. Here is a rap parody of the war of the laptops.
Watch this episode of Listening Post here:
Part 1:
Part 2:
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