This Washington Post article is precisely why so much of American corporate media is failing. Here’s the story; find men, only men, to speak about “security” and terrorism. Ignore the democratic aspirations of the Arab people and focus on what America/Israel may lose. The implication is clear; we’d much rather Cairo torture and murder people…
Showing all posts tagged Egypt
Al Jazeera’s Listening Post on Egypt’s revolution
The biggest story in the world right now is the ramifications of the Egyptian uprisings. Al-Jazeera English has been a beacon of reporting and insights over the last weeks (and indeed, leaves every other global news network for dead because it understands the world isn’t simply about what London or Washington thinks or wants). I…
That rare Israeli voice welcoming Egyptian freedom
From Gideon Levy in Haaretz, of course: At 6 A.M. yesterday, shortly before dawn in Cairo, Al Jazeera correspondent correspondent, Jacky Rowland, described the massive street party happening around her as “the hangover of the revolution.” The big words are being taken out of storage. They are still wrapped in a plethora of fears and…
New Assange interview on Australian TV
Here’s the interview on SBS Dateline just aired in Australia. And here’s the gist of what Julian Assange said: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange says the whistleblowing website’s influence on events in Tunisia was the “example” for the political upheaval in Egypt. The material leaked by WikiLeaks which was then published through a Lebanese newspaper, Al…
US won’t predict revolutions because “stability” is the goal
Perhaps Washington should hire an astrologer, too: In the last three years, America’s military and intelligence agencies have spent more than $125 million on computer models that are supposed to forecast political unrest. It’s the latest episode in Washington’s four-decade dalliance with future-spotting programs. But if any of these algorithms saw the upheaval in Egypt…
Memo to US media: Egypt wasn’t about you
Ayman Mohyeldin is the Cairo correspondent for Al Jazeera English. In two recent interviews (one with the New Yorker and the other with New York magazine) he outlines the responsibility of reporting during an uprising. Note the way he highlights the ego-driven nature of much Western journalism: For a day or so, the story in…
What corporates really want in employees during revolutions
Egyptian Google executive Wael Ghonim was a major figure in the uprisings over the last fortnight. A positive thing all around, surely? Don’t be so sure. One: A Google Inc executive who has become a hero of the Egyptian revolution is public relations gold for the Internet power, but analysts say the company must be…
US-backed dictators wonder why their boss turned against Mubarak
This is what happens when Washington consistently backs thugs in the Middle East: …A senior Republican member of Congress who has access to intelligence reports said U.S. spy agencies have seen recent indications that other Middle East leaders were dismayed by the United States’ treatment of Mubarak. “The other countries are mad as hell, and…
Washington as spectator in Egypt (and even that’s too much)
Rupert Cornwell in the Independent on the well deserved sidelining of Washington during the glorious attempt to overthrow a dear US ally: A CIA chief who publicly predicts the departure of Hosni Mubarak on the basis of “press reports”, and a White House that reacted in “disbelief” on Thursday to the Egyptian President’s decision to…