Fighting to be heard in a climate of fear
Listening Post looks at the people using the media to push against the wall of fear in the Arab world.
Using the media to push against the wall of fear: From Eman al-Obeidy in Libya to Wissam Taraf in Syria. And media in post revolutionary Egypt – an interview with Ibrahim Eissa.
There have been widespread atrocities committed in Libya – some of them have been reported by the international media, some of them, unfortunately, have not. But when a woman storms into a hotel lobby full of foreign journalists and starts screaming that she was gang-raped by Gaddafi’s men, it is going to make headlines. Then, when that woman is bundled away by the authorities – not to be seen again – it is going to stay in the headlines. The plight of Eman al-Obeidy highlighted the ongoing dangers Libyans face when speaking out against the Gaddafi regime. Our News Divide this week starts in Tripoli but goes beyond Libya to show that even in this climate of fear, Arabs are still fighting to get their story heard.
Quick hits from the media world: Iraq’s bloodiest day in months and a local reporter is among the victims; Ukraine opens an investigation into the murder of a journalist targeting the country’s former president; Mexican news outlets set out guidelines on how to cover the ongoing drug war; and it is a case of tit for tat as France expels an Iranian journalist in retaliation at the expulsion of a French reporter.
Dissident Egyptian journalist Ibrahim Eissa was not a popular figure with the former Egyptian government. During his career, Eissa worked at 10 newspapers that were all closed down by the Mubarak regime and most recently, was fired as the editor of the opposition newspaper al-Dustour. In the second part of our show, we talk to the outspoken journalist about the re-launch of his own publication and the media environment in post – revolutionary Egypt.
The Rap News crew have featured on our show before – their take on the politics and the media is popular with the team. This time, they take on the uprisings in the Arab world and how the American media have given blanket coverage to the story, while offering limited airtime to a political revolt that has been happening on US soil. It is our internet video of the week.
This episode of Listening Post can be seen from Saturday, April 2, at the following times GMT: Saturday: 0830, 1930; Sunday: 1430; Monday: 0430.