Global Media News

Global Media News Webcast #4: February 23, 2012

 

Global Media News 4: February 23, 2012

Global Media News is a weekly webcast covering media news from around the world.  This webcast is a production of  Media Studies students from the SUNY College @ Oldwestbury.

This week on GMN:

• Media Funerals:  Creating the legend of Whitney & Heavy D
• China Changing Channels:  TV censorship by the Chinese Government
• A Short Spring:  Media censorship in Egypt
• Revolt:  P.Diddy's New TV Channel
• Facebook's Music App:  Can Facebook takeover music streaming too?
• Murdoch's Response:  Murdoch handles the scandal in the UK
• More LIN-SANITY!  Jeremy Lin the NBA's New Brand.

 See you next week for more breaking media news!

Listen to our webcast streaming live every Thursday @ 11am EST.

Can't listen live? Our next webcast will be posted by 2:00pm, Thursday, March 1 2012.

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Our Second Webcast! Digital Revolutions Around the World

Digital Revolutions around the World

How are the new media transforming the world of politics?  How  important are the new media in global politics? What part did the Internet play in the Jasmine Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa?   Can a government keep the Internet from the people? 

Here's the rundown of our webcast:

• New Media in Egypt & Tunisia
• The Syrian Electronic Army:  The Syrian government's defense against the Internet.
• The Digital Divide in India
• Internet Censorship in China

Next Week:  Fact: The Digital Revolution in Information

 

Listen to our webcast streaming live every Thursday @ 11am EST.

Can't listen live?   Our  next webcast will be posted by 2:00pm, Thursday, September 29.

Subscribe Now!

21 Century Revolution Tools Used in Egypt

 

Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook were very important for the revolution in Egypt. The revolution in Egypt took place on January 25 2011 for 18 days. The main goal was to stop the corruption and to create a better lifestyle for the Egyptian people.  The revolution was conceived by a group of young middle class people, who used social networking sites to express their views and concerns.  Videos were uploaded onto Youtube from Initiative Media.

 
A New York Times article written by David Kirkpatrick this past February discussed the social networking tactics used for the Revolution. It all started when a small group of young Egyptians created Facebook group that gained over hundreds of thousands of members and used the page to promote the early protests in Cairo. The social networking groups soon turned into a digital revolution. The groups organized to rebel against the Egypt Political system, and soon became physical by having protest and holding positions in the Egyptian squares.

“We can breathe fresh air, we can feel our freedom,” said Gamal Heshamt, a former independent member of Parliament. “After 30 years of absence from the world, Egypt is back.”

In a CNN article written by Emily Banks in Febuary 2011 talks about how the Egyptian government quickly found out that the protests in the streets were being organized over Facebook and Twitter. In an attempt to stop the revolution the government blocked Facebook and twitter and shut down internet access.The government drastic atempts, still could not keep the Egyptian people’s desire for justice and change. Some people found ways to get around the block until access was fully restored. The Egyptian Revolution was a success.  The Egyptian president Mubarak stepped down from his position 18 days after the protest began on January 25 2011. What does this mean for World politics? Can the government just shut down the internet because they dont like whats going on? 

Can China have their own Jasmine Revolution?

China's communist government has been on alert since the uprisings have begun in North Africa and the Middle East.  The are similarities between what is going on in these regions.  According to a NY Times article by Didi Kirsten Tatlow from 2/23/2011:

"Even the government concedes that China shares many of Egypt’s problems, like rampant corruption, social injustice, a growing wealth gap and inflation."

Since all of Chinese media is state run they have controlled  over what is being written and shown about the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.  It was strange looking and searching different Chinese news websites and not seeing the same kind of coverage about the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa as you would see in privately owned media. 

 

Global Media News from Egypt: Our Second Webcast

 

Click to listen: Media in the Egyptian Revolution

Global Media News on the role of the media in the Egyptian revolution:

• Can the Egyptian government really shut down the internet and silence the cell phones of Cairo?  
• What part have social media like Twitter and Facebook played in this revolution?   
• Journalists are being beaten in the streets and human rights groups are under attack.   Is the whole world watching?

Next Week: Global Media News leaves the Middle East and moves on to Great Britain and Western Europe.     Tune in on Thursday, February 17 to learn about:

• A brief history of British media
• The decline of British Newspapers
• Can the iPad, smart phones and killer apps save British journalism?
• The BBC for Beginners:  What's next for British Broadcasting?
• Irish media in the economic crisis & the European Union. 

Listen to our webcast streaming live every Thursday @ 11am EST.

Can't listen live?   

Our webcast will be posted by 1:00pm, Thursday, February 17.

Use of Social Media to Communicate With the World

    Egypt is an excellent example of how the internet and social media can be used to quickly unite people and to inform the world on current situations.  With the continuous protests, demonstrations and riots having to do with the people of Egypt going against the government, many of the people have used the internet, including the social networks to their advantage.  From the use of the world wide famous Facebook, to the posts online from local news stations, information about the violent protests can be brought up on a computer screen almost instantly.  CNN's Jack Cafferty has posted articles stating how important the use of the internet and social networks were is the uprising against the government.

"As popular uprisings sweep the middle east, its hard to underestimate the role played y social media and new technology.  For starters, these communication tools allow ordinary citizens to plan and organize protest in a way that was unthinkable just a few years ago.  They can spread the word about mass protests, ensuring more people will show up.  In turn, the shear size of these protests make it close to impossible for officials to stop them."

    The use of the internet and the social networks were such a big part in the protests, it is stated that if it weren't for these tools, not as many people would have shown up to protest.  The use of the social networks actually made people more confident to join in on the protests.  It seemed that it was much easier for people to join in because the social networks made it obvious that they weren't alone in the rebellion.  

"Did Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube send people out into the streets? Of course not.  Did they speed up the process of protest? Absolutely."

    Pictures were also used to spread the word about the uprising against the government in Egypt.  And since Facebook, Twitter and YouTube all allow pictures to be posted on the sites, it was just as easy to post pictures of what was going on as it was to type in text.  This not only told people what was actually going on and how serious it was getting, but it allowed people to actually see the amount of people, and begin to feel how intense it actually was over in Egypt.

Egyptians: Cut off from each other and the World

In an effort to control the protesters in Tahir Square, the Egyptian government severed internet and cell phone communications early Friday morning January 28th.  Egpyt is under an autocratic government, and in times of tension and unrest these types of government try to control the means of communication between its people.  Matt Richtel writes in an article for the NY Times:

"Autocratic governments often limit phone and Internet access in tense times. But the Internet has never faced anything like what happened in Egypt on Friday, when the government of a country with 80 million people and a modernizing economy cut off nearly all access to the network and shut down cellphone service."

 You may wonder how it is possible for the government to shut down the internet and mobile communication.  In the case of Egypt it only took a few phone calls, a flip of some switches and armed police forces showing up at the offices.  In the Wall Street Journal Blog Digits, Jennifer Valentino-DeVries finds out from Jime Cowie the co-founder and chief technology officer of Renesys Corp., how this shutdown occurred:

"Mr. Cowie said a detailed look at the traffic shows that Egypt’s Internet providers started shutting down their networks at about midnight Cairo time. Rather than turning off all at once, they each initiated the process separately, starting with Telecom Egypt at 12 minutes and 43 seconds after midnight. Raya started the process about a minute later, and the other networks followed at intervals of two to six minutes. This could lend credence to the theory that a decision to shut down was made around midnight and each operator was notified in succession and began the process shortly thereafter."

In the case of mobile phones, the Egyptian authorities under Egyptian legislation have the right to issue orders to suspend services and the companies must oblige.  The orders were issued and cell service in Egypt was cut off under protest of the cell phone companies.

The Egyptian government then forced the same cellphone companies (Vodafone Group and France Telecom)  to send out mass text messages  Thursday February 3rd to its subscribers.  Below is a translation of the text messages from the slideshow:

Image #1 says:

"Youth of Egypt , beware rumors and listen to the sound of reason-Egypt is above all so preserve it."

Image #2 says:

"The Armed Forces asks Egypt's honest and loyal men to confront the traitors and criminals and protect our people and honor our precious Egypt."

Image #3 says the same as the first one.

Image #4 says:

1st text: "To every mother-father-sister-brother, to every honest citizen preserve this country as the nation is forever."

2nd text: "The Armed Forces cares for your saftey and will being and will not resort to using force against this great nation."

Image #5 says:

"The Armed Forces aske Egypt's honest and loyal men to confront the traitors and criminals and protect our people and honor and our Egypt."

It is interesting to see the government use text messaging to get a message out when it severeded that same communication tool when the protesters were using it to get a message out.

 

Facebook & Twitter in Egypt: Don't Believe the Hype?

In "Wallflowers at the Revolution," New York Times columnist Frank Rich  is leading the charge to deflate the hype about the role of social media as a cause of the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia.  He argues that our "American" fascination with the impact of Facebook and Twitter is actually a sign of our general ignorance of the history and politics of the region:

"Perhaps the most revealing window into America’s media-fed isolation from this crisis — small an example as it may seem — is the default assumption that the Egyptian uprising, like every other paroxysm in the region since the Green Revolution in Iran 18 months ago, must be powered by the twin American-born phenomena of Twitter and Facebook. Television news — at once threatened by the power of the Internet and fearful of appearing unhip — can’t get enough of this cliché."

He blames this popular, media-driven fascination with the role of the social media on the American media's general failure to educate the public about world politics, economics and culture.   Talking about something these "American-born" social media is a much easier story to present than a real in-depth analysis of the turmoil in the region.   Conclusion:  the role of the new media in these revolutions is being hyped out of proportion by the American media.

Rich cites a few  American reporters who are criticizing this general over-emphasis on the importance of Twitter and Facebook in the the Egyptian revolution:

"“Let’s get a reality check here,” said Jim Clancy, a CNN International anchor, who broke through the bloviation on Jan. 29 by noting that the biggest demonstrations to date occurred on a day when the Internet was down. “There wasn’t any Twitter. There wasn’t any Facebook,” he said. No less exasperated was another knowledgeable on-the-scene journalist, Richard Engel, who set the record straight on MSNBC in a satellite hook-up with Rachel Maddow. “This didn’t have anything to do with Twitter and Facebook,” he said. “This had to do with people’s dignity, people’s pride. People are not able to feed their families.”"

Rich writes that this hyping of the social media  had to deflate when  the crowds of protestors continued to grow even after  Moubarak shut down the major ISP's of Egypt.   The Week in Review "Laugh Lines" features features Conan O'Brian's  spin on this question:

"We’ve all been watching the goings-on in Egypt. Incredible protests that have riveted the world. And the Egyptian government has responded by shutting down most of the country’s Internet. Just a word of advice: If you want people to stay at home and do nothing, you should turn the Internet back on."

Great Statistical Graphic on Internet Usage in North Africa & Middle East

Charles M. Blow has a op-ed in the New York Times: "The Kindling of Change" featuring this fabulous graphic comparing measures of development and especially internet access across the region (Click on the link or the  image for a higher resolution pop-up):

 
 
Notice the useful sources of his data:  

• The CIA world factbook : Great for basic economic, demographic and political information.
• Economic Inteligence Unit:  Use this resource from the Economist magazine to learn about the nation and region (You will have to set up a free account for access.)   Check out their "Democracy Index 2010,"  to learn about the state of the political system of the nation under scrutiny.
• Miniwatts Marketing Group: internetworldstats.com:  This corporate site compiles statistics about interet usage around the world.  Their statistics  " come mainly from data published by Nielsen Online , ITU, WWW, and other trustworthy local sources"

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: