The Listening Post

Syria, Trump and a media u-turn

A look at the US media’s change in covering Trump after the strike against Syrian base. Plus, the power of social media.

On The Listening Post this week: US President Donald Trump orders missile strikes on Syrian forces and the media changes its tune. Plus, a sit-down interview with Iranian blogger, Hossein Derakhshan.

Syria and the images that ‘crossed the line’

When shocking images emerged out of Syria of an alleged chemical attack, the Trump administration reacted quickly by ordering a strike on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. The apparent u-turn in Washington’s policy over Syria was widely praised by US news outlets, marking a change in the media’s coverage of Trump.

Contributors:
Alessandria Masi, managing editor, Syria Deeply
Omar Al-Ghazzi, media scholar, University of Sheffield
Jamal Dajani, journalist and founder of Arab Talk
Sam Kriss, journalist

On our radar:

  • The team behind the Panama Papers – the biggest collaboration in the history of journalism – has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for excellence in Explanatory Reporting
  • According to the president of RTVE – Spain’s public broadcaster – Spain was never a colonial power
  • Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly is taking a vacation following a sexual harassment scandal. Will he ever return?

The social media era: suffocating diversity?

We sit down with Iranian writer and media analyst Hossein Derakhshan to talk about the demise of the blogosphere and what social media has done to the web.