#NeverAgain: Teenagers, Twitter and the US gun debate
How US school shooting survivors spar with gun rights activists on air and online. Plus, media strangled in Eritrea.
On The Listening Post this week: After yet another school shooting in the US, student survivors spar with pro-gun ownership activists on air and online. Plus, media strangled in Eritrea.
#NeverAgain: Aftermath of the Florida school shooting
Sometimes it’s worth waiting for a story to play out and then examining what’s been reported in the aftermath. The Florida school shooting, which happened three weeks ago, is one of those cases. Seventeen were killed in the attack, 14 of them students.
Unlike some previous school shootings in the US, these survivors didn’t shy away from the cameras – they went looking for them.
The teenagers used the plentiful airtime they got to push for tougher gun control laws. And they found themselves taking on not just politicians, but one of the most potent lobby groups around – the National Rifle Association.
Contributors:
Jaclyn Schildkraut, assistant professor of public justice, State University of New York at Oswego
Alvin Chang, reporter, Vox Media
Emily Witt, writer and journalist
Melissa Ryan, visiting fellow, Media Matters for America
John Ziegler, columnist, Mediaite
On our radar
Richard Gizbert speaks to producer Flo Phillips about the killing of a Slovakian journalist Jan Kuciak who had been investigating organised crime and a call by Egyptian authorities for a boycott of the BBC following a report detailing allegations of disappearances by the state.
Reporting Eritrea from the outside
Freedom of the press is virtually non-existent in Eritrea with state-run media the only news outlets available within its borders.
As a consequence, Eritreans have come to rely on a news outlet operating in exile from France – Radio Erena. The station also offers a lifeline to the 5,000 Eritrean refugees who risk kidnapping and death fleeing the country every month.
The Listening Post‘s Nic Muirhead reports on Radio Erena, the Eritrean news outlet on the outside, trying to make a difference.
Contributors:
Meron Estefanos, presenter, Radio Erena and Host, Voices of Eritrean Refugees
Abraham Zere, director, Pen Eritrea
Biniam Simon, editor-in-chief, Radio Erena