The Listening Post

Egypt’s media war

As journalists face arrest, we ask why the media is seen as being either with the army or with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Egypt is in the midst of a self-declared war on terror.

Since the Muslim Brotherhood was branded a terrorist organisation eight months ago, Egypt’s current leader Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his so-called ‘security solution’ has left no middle ground in the debate.

Egyptians – and their media – are either with the military or they are considered to be with the ‘terrorists’. As a consequence, news organisations have come under huge pressure and the jailing of Al Jazeera journalists has sent a chill through the foreign media contingent in Cairo.

On the domestic side, Egyptian journalists who have not aligned themselves with the Sisi government have had to be very careful about what they report.

Discussing the media climate in Egypt, we speak to journalist, Marwa Mazaid; Dina Matar from the School of Oriental and African Studies; and Sherif Mansour from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

In our News Bytes this week: A Russian TV channel was dropped from the airwaves after its online survey asked a controversial question about the Second World War; a New York Times journalist has been kicked out of China after the foreign ministry said he broke the country’s visa rules; and an Ecuadorian cartoonist has fallen afoul of the country’s seven-month-old communication law after he posted a cartoon showing a military raid.

For more than 15 years, a Chilean satirical magazine called The Clinic has been filling the vacuum left by the shortcomings of mainstream news outlets.

What started out as a pamphlet is now the go-to-source for Chileans after edgy commentary on social and political issues – a sign perhaps, that Chile’s media has finally moved on from its obsequious past.

In this week’s feature, the Listening Post’s Marcela Pizarro reports on the magazine born in Santiago but conceived in London.

Finally, one of the most memorable ads from this year’s NFL Super Bowl did not come from a big agency or a quirky celebrity endorsement but rather from a low budget compilation that did not even air.

Native Americans have long campaigned against the name “Redskins” used by the Washington American Football franchise. Just days before the big game the National Congress of American Indians released a video on its YouTube channel listing all the things they call Native Americans that have nothing to do with the colour of their skin. Proud to be has got more than 1.4 million hits online and it our web video of the week.

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