Global Media News

Ethiopia Disconnected

Ethiopia is one of the most censored countries in the world, ranking an 82 on Freedom House, (100 being the worst). The country is located in Sub Saharan Africa. It is the second most populated country in the region. Surprisingly, this densely populated country is extremely disconnected from the rest of the world. They have the lowest internet connectivity rate in the world, with only a 4.4% penetration. The minuscule population who is online, has very limited access. Freedom House reports that it can take 6 minutes to log on and open up one email! Consider yourself spoiled next time you clear out your inbox. 

Social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are often blocked in Ethiopia. In one case, the government claimed a social media ban was in order to prevent any distraction from students taking online entry exams. According to AlJazeera, the exam was in fact leaked and shared via social media which led to the ban.

In more serious cases the internet is often blocked to prevent protests and rallies. Earlier this month, the government declared a state of emergency after many people were hurt and 50 people were killed during a protest. The internet was blocked in attempt to prevent demonstrators from organizing further protests. Viber, Ethiopia's most popular messaging app was included in the ban. 

With unreliable internet access and blocked content, citizens in Ethiopia are going to have to resort to primitive means of organization. 

Al Jazeera Journalist Released From Egyptian Prison, Two Others Remain

    According to Wadah Khanfar, writing for theguardian.com, Peter Greste, journalist for al-Jazeera, was released from an Egyptian prison after 400 days.  Khanfar and his two fellow journalist were arrested due to the lack of freedom of press in Egypt under dictator Hosni Mubarak.  Despite the fact that Khanfar was released, his two fellow journalists are still being detained in the Egyptian prison.  Mohamed Fahmy, one of the two detainees, has been asked to revoke his Egyptian citizenship because he has dual nationality in Canada, and will make is easier to be deported.  The court has discriminated against Baher Mohamed, the third journalist, because he was given three extra years more than the other two journalists, making him imprisoned for ten years, rather than seven.

“They were arrested while conducting their professional duties, but the court imprisoned them for allegedly spreading lies and distorted the image of Egypt.”

    Under Egypt’s dictatorship, there is no freedom of press, making it very difficult for journalists to report on any news.  Egyptian citizens are fearful of their dictator and have no voice to help detained journalists be set free.  These men were doing their jobs and it’s saddening to see that journalists may be jailed or killed for reporting the news. 

BBC.com reports that there are campaigns running to urge the release of the other two journalists.  Greste spoke with a fellow journalist on the phone while he waited at Cairo's airport for departure.  Sue Turton, an Al Jazeera journalist who was also charged 10 years in an Egyptian prison, explained Greste was of course excited, but after his excitement the seriousness set in.  

"She said one of her colleagues managed to talk to Mr Greste on the phone as he waited at a departure lounge at Cairo's airport. She said "he was joking, and obviously he's elated. But his second sentence straight after that elation was - we've still got to get the other two out"."

Although the fate of these two journalists is unclear, the hope for their return is still kept alive.  The campaigns continue to pull in, and will hopefully make a difference.  

Turkey Temporarily Bans Media Coverage

   

This past week has seen a graphic hostage situation in Istanbul. A prosecutor named Mehmet Selim Kiraz had been investigating the death of a boy who had been injured by police during a protest in 2013. When a group known as the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front took Kiraz hostage, Turkey banned media coverage on the crisis. The situation ended when both the gunmen and the prosecutor were killed.

    Whereas the turnout was very tragic, one must think why the media coverage had been halted. The prime ministry of Turkey says that a ban can be introduced "under circumstances that national security clearly requires or poses possible threats against the public order." It seems that this ban was a tactical decision put in place to try and dissolve the situation and end it as peacefully as possible. In the event the hostage-takers were able to see how authorities were handling the situation, perhaps they'd have been given an advantage. Unfortunately this ban did not help the situation.

    This is not the first time Turkey has imposed a media ban. The country has a notorious history of banning media coverage of certain events. In the past four years, matters of security and politics have both been banned from media coverage. As a matter of fact, there have been over 150 media stiflings in the past four years. In the case of the hostage situation, this seems reasonable. From the looks of things, Turkey has some more media bannings up its sleeve for the future. It begs to question how are they discriminating between these bannings, if they are at all?

Global Media News Spring 2015 Premiere!

Global Media News: North African Media!

Global Media News is a weekly webcast covering media news from around the world.  GMN is a production of  Media Studies students from the SUNY College @ Old Westbury.   We scour the web for news about the world's media.

This week on Global Media News:  North Africa!  

Media news about Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Algeria & Tunisia:

• Egyptian Press Freedom:  Two Al Jazeera Journalists Still in Prison
• Bassem Youseff:  Poltical Satire on Egyptian Television?
• Revolutionary Rap from North Africa
• Social Media in Libya since the Overthrow of Gaddafi
• Moroccan Media Reform:  Free Press or Censorship?
• TV News in Algeria: Khabar Broadcasting Corporation

This is our first webcast of the season!   See you next week!

Listen to our next webcast from the New Media Newsroom  streaming live on Thursday, February 12 @ 11am EST.

Can't listen live? Our next webcast of the season will be posted by 2:00pm, Thursday, February 12, 2015.

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Egyptian Government detains and mistreats Al Jazeera journalists

    Journalists who work for the Al Jazeera T.V. network are being charged with conspiring with a terrorist group and broadcasting inaccurate images of “a civil war that raises alarms about the state’s collapse.” by Egyptian prosecutors according to New York Times. 

    Al Jazeera has basically been the only major Arabic-language news outlet available in Egypt that will stand against the government. For this reason the government is considering those who work for this news outlet terrorists. ThePresident Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was exposed six months ago and since then the Egyptian government has been on a rampage to shut down any media outlets that have some sort of connection to either him or the Brotherhood. Private owned news organizations have been in support of this extreme crack-down from the government. 

 

    According to CNN, four of the men who were detained are not Egyptian natives. One of the correspondents is an Australian, Peter Greste, two are  Englishmen who have yet to be identified and one is an unnamed Dutchman. Peter Greste of Australia has actually been able to reach out and have a letter released by Al Jazeera straight from his jail cell. How the network recieved this letter is unknown but he explains that he and the others

“had been doing exactly as any responsible, professional journalist would"                                               

Greste believes were just another way for the Egyptian government to limit media freedoms. He also explains that the prisons have horrible conditions. They are denied rights that are given to all prisoners  like visits from lawyers and in some cases are being locked in cells for 20-24 hours a day.

   It is a true shame that these men were working to expose the truth as journalists but being considered terrorists by those in charge because they chose to speak out against the injustices in Egypt. This shows just how much power the government has over the media. While they may not be able to right out make laws banning media from going against them they can charge members of the media with bogus charges. Once those who want to expose the truth are placed in jail it becomes tougher for the truth to be told. Hopefully, these men return home safely and are able to continue to fight for justice and the truth.

Threats Against Al Jazeera Journalists in Syria

According to The Telegraph, a Syrian businessman, Fahim Saqr, has issued threats against Al Jazeera reporters working in Syria and offered a bounty of 10 million liras (about $95,000) to any citizen who brought those journalists to the Syrian authorities. Saqr was quoted as saying, "These people mislead Syrian citizens inside and outside the country, mislead the Arab world and mislead the whole world with their false reporting, which aims to fragment the country and Syria's social fabric."

The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned these threats and Sherif Mansour, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, said, "Our Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya colleagues face enormous risk in their coverage of the Syrian conflict, and this reckless announcement can further raise the danger"

The Al Jazeera Media Network has also denounced the threats. The director of news for Al Jazeera Arabic, Ibrahim Helal, said,  “Al Jazeera prides itself on honest and objective reporting, people who feel Al Jazeera does not reflect their point of view have no basis for any argument when they use threats of intimidation and violence through social media portals like Facebook and Twitter."

The danger is very real for journalists working in turbulent countries like Syria. They are at risk simply for being where they are and threats for simply doing their jobs make things that much harder. Al Jazeera is a powerful media presence in the Middle East - if even its reporters aren't safe from threats, can any really be?

Square Up On The Competition

    Although the Square application has received a great deal of recognition and popularity throughout the few years that it has been out, there are other companies that have come out with a concept similar to the Square application.

    An example of this is Intuit’s GoPayment credit card reader, which provides its customer with the same benefits as Square because it allows its users to get paid while on the go. However, according to The Business Insider, “there’s no credit check or sign up fee with Square, but you still have to pay 2.75% plus $0.15 for each transaction. On the other hand, Intuit’s GoPayment requires a credit check, but you get a slightly better rate at 2.7% plus $0.15”.

    Another application that’s similar to Square is GoPago, which is also based in San Francisco, CA, and bankrolled by JP Morgan Chase. Unlike Square, GoPago does not give its merchants a card reader and software. It gives them a free Android tablet and Verizon 4G wireless data to be used solely for GoPago purposes. One main disadvantage that GoPago has is that it charges .10 percent more than Square. GoPago charges 2.85% per transaction while Square charges 2.75%. The slight advantage that GoPago has over Square is that it allows you to place a takeout order in advance when using its application.

   According to a CNN Money article, “The Company says it is currently processing transactions at an annualized rate of $6 billion, up from just $2 billion late last year. It has grown from 80 employees to over 300 in the past year… But Square is also under attack from a growing number of deep-pocketed competitors. In recent months, eBay's (EBAY) PayPal unit introduced a competing card reader for mobile devices as well as a set of apps that mimic the functionality of Square's apps. VeriFone, the giant maker of point of sale terminals, followed suit with its own card reader and a new business unit that is going after the same kind of mom-and-pop merchants that have been Square's core market. And others, like Groupon (GRPN) and Google, are said to be close to introducing products that will directly compete with Square's”.

All in all, as more technological advances come into place the Square application will face more competition, but as of right now Square is one of the most well-known card readers out right now. 

Al Jazeera: Leader in international news media

What was a failed venture of the BBC is now an independent 24/7 television news channel based in Qatar.  Al Jazeera was launched in November 1996. Sheik Hamad of Qatar was disappointed by the lack of press freedom in the Arab world that he pledged to back the network and give it full editorial and content control.  Sheik Hamad said:

"I believe criticism can be a good thing," the emir said in a 1997 speech, "and some discomfort for government officials is a small price to pay for this new freedom."

In a history about Al Jazeera on Allied-Media.com it gives a brief overview of where Al Jazeera began and where it is now.   What started as a small network is now one of the leaders in global media.  Here is information about present day Al Jazeera:

"The station has come a long way since it was launched in November 1996. With more than 30 bureaus and dozens of correspondents covering the four corners of the world Al Jazeera has given millions of people a refreshing new perspective on global events. Free from the shackles of censorship and government control, Al Jazeera has offered its audiences in the Arab world much needed freedom of thought, and room for debate."

Al Jazeera gives a new and different perspective about world news.  It has been both praised and criticized about it coverage of world news.  During the second Gulf War, Al Jazeera covered the war and showed images of the war that people were not prepared to see.  There is a documentary film "Control Room" that follows Al Jazeera network and its journalists during the the second Gulf War.  During that war some label the network the "mouthpiece of Osama Bin Ladin", supporters of Al Quada and the Taliban.

Al Jazeera Still Streaming Live from Tahir Square

 
Tahir Square, Cairo,  1/25/11 . Source: CBC.

Al Jazeera has a live feedfrom the protest in Tahir Square in Cairo.  

How is that possible?

The New York Times Media Decoder  blogger Brian Stetler posts that Al Jazeera is being assisted by other channels from the region:

"In a show of solidarity, ten channels in the region have started to simulcast Al Jazeera’s broadcasts, according to Al Jazeera. Twitter messages from viewers said A Hewar, Al Jadeed, Al Karama, Al Suhail, and Aden were among the channels that have participated in the simulcast."

Twitter blocked?   Yes and no.   Yes,Twitter itself is being blocked but th tweets are still flowing out of Egypt  because of some fascinating work-arounds that allow Egyptians to call a phone number and record a message that is tranformed into a Tweet.  

New York Times reporter Christine Hauser describes the service as combining Google, Twitter and a  "voice-based social media platform" called Saynow .    Check this out: