Global Media News

Revolutionary Rap in North Africa

    

    Ever since its inception in New York, Hip Hop/Rap has become a voice for the voiceless, speaking out against social injustices. Urban youth were let down by America and created an art form with which to strike back and claim an empowerment that would help their voice span the globe.

    This is the case in North Africa as many rappers have emerged as a result of corrupt politics, conflict, and revolution. Though their lyrics are not in English, their message is clear: "We want change." Revolution has occurred in places like  Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Libya, but some artists feel there has not been any change. They've used their lyrics encouraging people to become more politically conscious as well as call out corrupt government officials and institutions. Rap has now become the unofficial soundtrack for revolution.

    Among these rappers is "El Général" who in 2010 released a song called "Rais Le Bled" which translates to "Head of State" in English. The song spoke out against former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. El Général was arrested in 2011 for this track, and released after three days of interrogation. Social media helped his cause as it does many rappers of the region. The track was released on YouTube and was able to circumnavigate the world. This is the case with the majority of North African rappers who don't need to professionally record and produce their music, lest they be censored by the powers that control media distribution. Using Hip Hop and the internet in tandem have made it an unstoppable force, helping these artists to gain international fame. With that fame, comes their message and themes of political consciousness. These rappers have actually been able to develop an American fan base, and visit New York to perform in the home of Hip Hop.

    In some ways, American Hip Hop has devolved from political activism to promoting consumerism, lavish lifestyles, violence, drug use and sexual promiscuity. It's because of this modern mainstream music that Hip Hop is  berated for having an adverse effect on those who listen to it, primarily modern youth; Parents groups will say Hip Hop has no place as an art form, or even as music. They'll say that it influences listeners to act out the lyrics they hear in songs and take after the rappers that sing them. Hopefully in this case, Hip Hop's detractors are correct. If music can influence listeners that much, then perhaps revolutionary lyrics can shake modern day youth out of apathy and into a role of self-empowerment and self-advocacy; to fight for the future they will one day be responsible for.

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.

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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. 

 

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"

Global Media News from Tunisa: Our First Webcast of the Season

 

Photo: CJB22, El Nafsia, Tunis, January 20, 2011.

Click to Listen: Tunisian Media & Revolution

Welcome to a new season of Global Media News!   For our first webcast we are covering the revolution in Tunisia.  What was the role of the media in the recent tumult that overthrew the dictatorship of Ben Ali?    Click on the grey bar above to listen to our discussion of media in the revolution.

Next Week's Webcast:   Global MediaNews moves on to Egypt and the struggle to overthrow President Hosni Moubarak.   

• 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?

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

Can't listen live?   

Our webcast will be posted by 1:00pm, Thursday, February 11.

Facebook: A Revolution Starter?

    Facebook, Twitter, and other social media has made it possible for people in countries like Tunisia, Iran and Egypt fuel their protests and send their messages across the world.  Normally people around the world would have to wait to hear or see what is going on in Tunisia on their nightly news program.  Now we are able to see what is happening literally seconds to minutes after it has occurred but can it be said that Facebook, Twitter and other social media are responsible for the revolutions.  In a Op-Ed piece in the New York Times written by Andrew K. Woods he explains that chatter on Twitter or Facebook can not replace true activism. 

"Critics like Evgeny Morozov respond by noting that the influence of new media has been exaggerated by a press enthralled with “techno-utopianism.”Social media enables fast coordination, critics say, not the narrative or resolve necessary to sustain a movement; flashmobs do not a political organization make."

 (Evgeny Morozov is a Belarus born American scholar who has written a book titled "The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom)

    To say that Facebook and other social media caused a revolution in Tunisia would minimize the decades of oppression these people went through.  It reduces their plight to  160 words of a tweet or a status update on Facebook.  Kentaro Toyama writes in an article for The Atlantic:

"Thus, claims of communication technologies as the primary cause -- or even the catalyst -- of large-scale positive social change are misleading, and they lead to poor policy in foreign affairs and international development. They commit the classic error of confusing correlation with cause. It's not so much that tweeting foments rebellion, but that in our age, all rebellions are tweeted."

Social media cannot cause a revolution but it can help to feed the fire that was already smoldering.

Censorship: All in the Past for Tunisian Media

    Tunisian media outlets have been tied down by censorship and restriction since the country was granted independence from the French in 1956. But finally, in 2011, journalists and writers as well as the citizens have a reason to celebrate as censorship barriers continue to be broken in a rejuvenated Tunisia.

    When former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali took office in 1987, free speech became non existant (but not extinct). All forms of literature required approval from the Ministry of the Interior before legally being distributed. Radio, television, and internet were also regulated by the government. Certain newspapers from France and other countries were banned if they didn't satisfy the regime of Ben Ali.     

    But with the overthrow of President Ben Ali, steps are being taken towards a free speaking Tunisia. Current Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi has since abolished the Ministry of Information and has guaranteed freedom of the press.  People no longer need to hide in fear of arrest for posting their thoughts on Facebook and Twitter. The new acting government has removed filters from many social websites including YouTube and Facebook. Tunisian blogger Slim Amamou was detained on behalf of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali for circulating information throughout the internet despite Tunisia's internet censorship program. Amamou has not only been released by the reformed government, he's been hired as the interim Minister for Youth and Sport and assists other cabinet members in understanding social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Another man, journalist Fahem Boukadous, was jailed and sentenced to four years in prison after writing about protests in the mining region of Tunisia a year prior. He was freed on January 21st.

    So much has changed and change will continue for the people of Tunisia. Both domestic and imported books that were initially banned are now being sold in book stores. Literature is now being written and distributed without fear of government interference. Newspapers that were initally outlets for propaganda can now operate as they see fit.  Citizens may use the internet as they please and ideas are freely being shared throughout Tunisia. This change is sure to be beneficial to the economy in Tunisia. The people are happy, and they should be.