Category: Egypt

April 28, 2014 media notes: dangers in Pakistan, captivity in Ukraine, harassment in Egypt, all targeting journalists

4/28/2014

For Monday, April 28, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

The Economist writes of the danger for journalists in Pakistan following the recent shooting of one of the country's most famous television journalists, Hamid Mir. The magazine notes that his shooting is further evidence of an intimidation of liberal voices in Pakistan and a suppression of national discourse. Only a few dare challenge the radical religious right, it says.
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Last week, VICE reporter Simon Ostrovsky was held for three days by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine. He spoke this weekend, following his release, of the violent captivity that involved beatings and intimidation.
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Al Jazeera journalists have been on trial in Egypt and the network has been shuttered there, and to date there has been a restrained corporate response in the belief that common sense would prevail. Now, though, the network has decided to launch a lawsuit for $150 million in damages against the Egyptian government for the detention and trial. The matter will be referred to international arbitration in six months if not settled, the company says.

February 27, 2014 media notes: Al Jazeera day of protest, LinkedIn's publishing move, phone-hacking trial evidence

2/27/2014

For Thursday, February 27, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Al Jazeera today deemed a global day of action to protest the trials of four of its journalists in Egypt accused of supporting the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood. The four have been held since December. Their arrests prompted an international outcry, so far to no avail.
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Adam Lashinsky, writing for Fortune, examines the move by LinkedIn to open its blogging platform (eventually) to all its members. He wonders if the company is becoming a publisher. LinkedIn prefers to see itself differently, with its publishing tool as a stronger connector within its network, a better driver of advertising revenue and recruitment information, and an inducement for more premium accounts. Lashinsky believes its next move may be to hire journalists.
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Three News Corp. reporters, a prison guard and a former police official have been charged in the U.K. probe into bribing public officials. Meantime, the phone-hacking trial has heard owner Rupert Murdoch wanted Rebekah Brooks as editor to make the Sun more fun and less about politics and that Brooks consented to payment to a public official for information when she believed there was an overwhelming public interest.

February 18, 2014 media notes: newspapers and civic engagement, NSA and Assange, trial of Al Jazeera journalist

2/18/2014

For Tuesday, February 18, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Andrew Beaujon, writing for Poynter, reviews a study by a Portland State University professor on the impact of two newspaper closings on civic engagement. Not surprisingly, the study found declines in civic engagement in Seattle and Denver that may be "plausibly" linked to the loss of one of their newspapers. While several outlets can serve that engagement, the impact of a paper can often only be understood once it is lost, the report suggests.
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The early efforts of First Look Media involve The Intercept, the digital magazine overseen by Glenn Greenwald, who has leaked surveillance documents from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. A new batch of documents indicates the NSA was conducting surveillance on WikiLeaks leader Julian Assange and pressuring supporters of WikiLeaks. Meantime, Guardian media columnist Roy Greenslade notes press freedom groups are urging the British prime minister to call off an investigation into The Guardian's conduct in publishing the earlier leaks.
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For nearly two months now, Al Jazeera journalists have been held in Egypt and sent to trial, the first of which is imminent. Such leading media organizations as BBC, NBC and Reuters have written a statement of support for Peter Greste and are calling on Egyptian authorities to abandon the legal chase and release him and his colleagues.

February 12, 2014 media notes: global press freedom index, annual report on press risk, Facebook's impact on news

2/12/2014

For Wednesday, February 12, 2014, some media stories of note:

Reporters Without Borders has issued its annual global press freedom index. Finland, The Netherlands and Norway led the list. Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea are the bottom three. The United States dropped 13 spots to 46 and the U.K. three spots to 33, primarily due to surveillance issues. The media watchdog warned that countries are interpreting security needs in an excessively broad manner.
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The Committee to Protect Journalist has released a series of reports today as part of its annual risk assessment on the conditions for journalism worldwide. It noted in 2013 several deteriorating situations, including fatalities and censorship in Egypt, restrictive legislation in Ecuador, Russia, Vietnam, Liberal and Zambia, firings and forced resignations in Turkey, targeted violence in Bangladesh and Russia, abductions in Syria, and crackdowns on online journalism in Russia, Vietnam and Bangladesh. In all eight volumes chronicle the situation.
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Derek Thompson, writing for The Atlantic, examines Facebook's impact on the news. He notes that social media are sending far more page views to sites than are search engines and that, in Facebook's case, is isn't necessarily news but evocative content that succeeds with users.

February 4, 2014 media notes: journalist flees Egypt as arrest video seen, Turkey cracks down, and the need for corrections

2/4/2014

For Tuesday, February 4, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

The trial of Al Jazeera journalists in Egypt has led one Dutch journalist to quickly leave the country for fear of imminent arrest, and the release of video of two of the arrests on a government-friendly television station is being seen as intimidation of journalists in the country. The New Yorker's Joshua Hersh looks at how journalism is suddenly an Egyptian crime.

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In Turkey, a bill about to pass through its Parliament would tighten the government grip on the Internet and further restrict what are already strong measures to suppress press freedom. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports the bill would permit the government to block URLs without court approval, mandate data protection for two years and consolidate service providers into a single association.

A new report by Freedom House chronicles the campaign by the Turkish government to exert media control and intimidation by limiting debate on issues central to the country's democratic ambitions.

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Late last week it emerged that a former New Jersey state official was shedding new light on the controversy involving Governor Chris Christie and a traffic tie-up last year in a district that did not support Christie politically. The governor has asserted he did not know his officials ordered the traffic snarl (on the pretense of a traffic study). Now a former official says there is evidence to refute the governor. Initially, The New York Times said the former official "had the evidence to prove" this. But the story later changed to say "evidence exists." Margaret Sullivan, the Times' public editor, says the newsroom should have noted the editing change for readers of the story because it was a significant iteration.

January 31, 2014 media notes: The New Yorker on Facebook, Hong Kong editor ousted, Egypt tries to reassure media

1/31/2014

Here are some media stories of interest Friday, January 31, 2014:

Vauhini Vara, writing for The New Yorker, offers an insightful piece on Facebook's effort to deliver relevant advertising to users. Vara examines the methods Facebook employs and questions the concerns raised recently that it has lost its grip on teenagers. The better area of study, Vara asserts, is how Facebook has figured out what people are interested in and what it does about it.

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The New York Times reports on the concerns following the recent ouster of the editor of Ming Pao in Hong Kong and the suspicion that the paper was vulnerable to political influence. The traditionally independent news source might be susceptible to an advance by the government in its affairs.

Meanwhile, Agence France Presse reports on how China is responding to U.S. criticism about its treatment of foreign journalists following the departure of a Times correspondent from the country. China says journalists are not being expelled and that the matter is a domestic issue.

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The situation remains blurry for the Al Jazeera journalists detained and facing trial in Egypt. The government has tried to quell accusations that it does not welcome foreign journalists and coverage of its political situation. It asserts that its laws permit contact with the Muslim Brotherhood but not if it assists or incites them. Further, its laws do not protect "thought and opinion" if it threatens national security.

January 29, 2014 media notes: Al Jazeera journalists on trial, local TV news ratings up, Twitter-CNN-Dataminr deal

1/29/2014

Here are some media stories of note for January 29, 2014:

It has gotten quite serious for the 20 Al Jazeera journalists, including four foreigners, under arrest in Egypt. They have been referred to trial on charges of joining or assisting a terrorist group or for spreading false news that endangers national security. British media have joined forces today to call for their release, while other media worldwide have denounced the detentions.

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It is not exactly a full rebound, but the slumping ratings for local television news in the U.S. appear to have stabilized and inched up again. New data from Pew Center's FactTank suggest morning ratings are up six per cent, early evening ratings are up three per cent, and late-night ratings are up one per cent. Considering the previous trend lines, these are hopeful signs for the format. The reasons aren't clear, although there were several large local stories at the time the ratings were taken.

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Twitter is a wonderful platform, but wading through Tweets for the substance of news is often a tricky task for newsrooms. Twitter, CNN and Dataminr announced today a partnership that will deliver alerts into newsrooms (the rollout to news agencies starts later this year) that will essentially not disrupt workflow. An algorithm will identify and deliver the content. Twitter's head of news, Vivian Schiller, says the new tool will "help surface relevant content" more quickly and lead to a better news experience.

January 3, 2014 media notes: Al Jazeera Egypt arrest, Netflix movie algorithm, Times Snowden editorial

1/3/2014

Here are some media notes for Friday, January 3, 2014:

An arrest of a journalist is typically followed by calls for release, including organizational outrage at the detention and wider concerns of the treatment individually and of the press generally. But what happens when the organization is itself delicately positioned in a country and itself the target of public complaint?

The Wall Street Journal examines the cautious campaign to free Al Jazeera English journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and three colleagues, held in Egypt since Sunday. Al Jazeera's Arabic network has been criticized for its coverage of the country in the months since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi for what is perceived to be sympathetic coverage of the Muslim Brotherhood. The legal endeavour to free Fahmy involves "tip-toeing around his affiliation," the WSJ says. Any criticism of the military would move Fahmy from a detainee to a criminally charged journalist.

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Alexis C. Madrigal, senior editor at The Atlantic, has a fascinating piece that helps explain how an algorithm can recommend content for the consumer. He focuses on Netflix and what he concluded are the 76,897 specific genres of movies it has identified in order to create an engine that leads consumers to the most relevant choices.

Madrigal goes another step: He spent weeks pulling apart what Netflix calls "altgenres" that help retain consumers, including the attributes of actors and details of plots, and concludes it is an enormous competitive advantage. To get there Netflix employ a small army of movie-watchers, gave them a 36-page guide to rate the films, and produced its metadata. The engine is affirmed by consumer patterns.

Madrigal speculates that while the algorithm couldn't necessarily make a film, it would be instrumental in helping someone determine what to make.

Felix Salmon of Reuters, meanwhile, takes a contrarian perspective. He says Netflix is losing access to big movies since it moved to streaming from DVDs and that its "dumbed-down" algorithm is largely shifting consumers to second-rate material because it cannot afford to buy the best content from Hollywood.

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When The New York Times published its editorial Thursday calling for clemency for former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, it likely expected strong reaction from both sides. Snowden, the source of information on U.S. surveillance programs, has been living in Russia. The Obama Administration has not indicated he can return home without facing prosecution, but the Times and the Guardian each wrote Thursday that his efforts should not be sending him to jail and that a deal should be sought to permit him to come back to America.

The Times' public editor, Margaret Sullivan, looks at the decision-making behind the editorial (she declares her agreement with it). The Times' editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, says that every so often an editorial goes beyond what is realistic to discuss what "should happen."

media notes 12.30.13

12/30/2013

Here are some media notes for Monday, December 30, 2013:

The Committee to Protect Journalists has issued its year-end report on the dangers of reporting worldwide and it identifies Syria, Iraq and Egypt as the most deadly countries for journalists. Some 70 journalists have been killed in 2013, with the Syrian civil war at the root of some 29 deaths in the year. The continuing Iraqi bloodshed and the political tumult in Egypt are also responsible for journalist deaths.

The New York Times, a giant media outlet, looks at how hobbyists are keeping afloat smaller media, specifically magazines that are keen chroniclers of pastimes. It notes that the business models of these publications depend on the dedication of their editors and readers to constant support to preserve them.

Dan Gillmor, in a year-end piece for The Guardian's Comment is Free, expresses optimism about the year ahead. While it is true that some larger media face challenges, even dissolution, the world is awash with start-ups and investigative entities that hold great promise for journalism. Even if every major organization were to disappear, he says, journalism would not.

media notes 11.29.13

11/29/2013

For Friday, November 29, 2013, here are some media stories of note:

The months-long quest for British press regulation shows no sign of imminent settlement. The latest chapter features a letter from 100 prominent figures from the arts, science, academia and elsewhere who encourage publishers to sign on to a royal charter system. One year after the Leveson inquiry, there are no signs of consensus on the next steps.

Roy Greenslade, the venerable Guardian media columnist, notes that this new letter adds to the pile. Those who have been victims of press misbehaviour have already suggested the royal charter, rather than the industry-created self-regulatory body, is the route to pursue. Among the signatories to the letter are some prominent journalists, including former editors and Nick Davies of the Guardian.

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Human Rights Watch reports that four journalists have been killed in Iraq in the last month. Meanwhile, journalists there are facing prosecution for defamation for their activities and are subjected to increased harassment. Journalists report confiscation of equipment and arrests when they cover politically sensitive topics.

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Alaa Abdel-Fatah, one of Egypt's most prominent bloggers, has been arrested under a new law that restricts protests in the country. A warrant had been issued for his arrest and Abdel-Fatah had indicated he would turn himself in to authorities, but instead his home was raided late Thursday. The AP reports his wife was beaten in the raid and laptops were seized. Among other things, the new law requires a three-day notification of any protests.

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