Middle East Media

Abu Heitham Qasqos, who was quoted by Al-Jazeera as an eyewitness to the Jisr al Shagoor killings, said that the network offered him $200 and a meal and asked him to say what they wanted him to say. Abu Heitham disclosed his allegations with regard to the bribe on 29th November 2011 in an interview with Iran's Fars newsagency. This is one of a number of allegedly false reports by Al Jazeera at this time.
See this link

As Iran is getting closer to the March Parliamentary elections, press freedom standard is rapidly deteriorating in the country, with seven journalists arrested since the beginning of 2012. The last three, Marzieh Rasouli, Parastoo Dokouhaki and the photojournalist Sahamoddin Bourghani, worked for different reformist opposition newspapers and publications, and they have been imprisoned with the charge of acting against the national security of the Islamic Republic. Rasouli has long worked as a freelance journalist, notably for art and cultural publications. Parastoo used to work with Zanan Magazine, a reform-minded feminist magazine that was active for 16 years before being shut down by the authorities in 2008. Sahamoddin Bourghani, national press director for the Ministry of Culture under former president Mohammad Khatami, was also arrested Jan. 17. In the last years, it has been common for journalist in Iran to change continuously publisher, due to temporary closure of the newspaper by the government. Iranian authorities have adopted a policy of putting pressure on the journalist community with frequent arrests and newspapers closures. According to the Committee to Protect Journalist, 42 journalists were in jail at the end of 2011, and the recent increase is a sign of a worrying tendency for the following months. Moreover, 3 Web technologists have been recently sentenced to death. Among them, Saeed Malekpour has been accused of developing software used in porno websites, and he has been forced to confess his alleged crimes on state television. In addition to reduce freedom of press and speech in the country, proceedings against journalists and reformists are used by different factions in their struggle for internal power, especially on the eve of electoral terms. The March 2012 Parliamentary elections will be the first ones since June 2009, and are becoming a turning point for the internal political struggle among different conservative groups.

Two Sudanese private newspapers have been closed by the police in less than two weeks in January 2012. Alwan and Rai al-Shaab were two independent opposition dailies, published in Arabic: the first one was closed after having published an interview with a local religious leader, while the second was the official newspaper of the opposition group Popular National Congress. Khartoum authorities stated that the two dailies had violated the journalist ethical and professional standards, and this caused the closure. While asking to remove the block, Reports Without Borders denounces the deteriorating situation of press freedom in Sudan, and asked the President al- Bashir to stop his campaign against local newspapers and opposition media.

On the 18th January, prominent Egyptian activist, blogger and newspaper columnist, Nawara Negm, was attacked as she left work at the Nileside state television HQ.  Nawara works for the Egyptian Nile Television Network (NTN) as a translator and news editor. The attack was caught on video and uploaded to social networking sites, and showed a small crowd both physically and verbally assailing her.  A key figure in the 2011 uprising and a vocal critic of the military government, Negm's attack appears to be the latest in a string of violence against protest participants, including the violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in December.  This trend is all the more worrying in light of a thinly veiled warning to anti-military activists by Egypt's milutary ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.  In comments published on Wednesday, he said Egypt was facing "grave dangers" but assured the nation that the armed forces would protect it.  What this means for demonstrators will depend on what Tantawi's definition of 'protect'.  The attack on Negm is an indication that Egypt is certainly not through the woods, and the upcoming anniversary of the start of the uprising will prove to be telling.

British media authority Ofcom has revoked the licence to Iranian broadcasting channel Press TV on January 20, and the channel has been removed from Sky platform. The decision was taken after Press TV was found guilty of breaching rules of editorial control, and Press TV failed to pay a previous £100,000 fine imposed last year. The struggle between Ofcom and Press TV erupted in 2009, with the “Maziar Bahari case”: Maziar Bahari is a Newsweek and Channel 4 journalist who was interviewed by Press TV while detained in Tehran after the June 2009 elections. After investigations, Ofcom found that the real editorial control of the English channel of the Iranian TV was in Tehran, and accused Press TV of several breaches of UK broadcasting code. Press TV accused Ofcom’s decision to be just a move toward an UK attack against Iran, silencing an inconvenient voice of the British-American actions in the Middle East- Gulf area. After the expulsion of the Iranian representatives in November, now Tehran has to welcome back home also its journalistic staff, while international pressure is really increasing in the effort to stop its nuclear programme.

Iranian state-owned Press TV is again accused for its conduct. After being fined £100.000 by UK Ofcom for a fabricated interview of a journalist in jail, now its reports of US drone strikes in Somalia are said false by many source. Since September 2009, the Iranian media group has reported more than 57 attacks, with more than 1370 victims in the local population. Given the high protests against the use of drone in other countries (especially Pakistan), these cases would support the position against the use of this un-man weapon in the American campaign against global terrorism. But many sources disavow Press TV’s claims. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism finds most of the Iranian reports uncompleted, with missing references and details. For instance, on September 15 Press TV reported the alleged killing of 9 women and children by a US drone strike on the outskirts of the Somali town of Kismayo: even if no on-the-field operator confirmed the event, some international organizations reported it as true. It has to be taken into consideration that the situation on the ground is much confused, and it is quite difficult to fund reliable source. According to US journalist Jeremy Scahill of The Nation, American attacks with other weapons could have been confused with other weapons, for instance with cruise missiles. Said that, the misreporting of drone attacks can be seen as a propaganda tool used by Iran in the struggle against the “Big Satan”, while the situation in the Gulf is increasingly dangerous. While the situation in the Horn of Africa is in need of great effort by the international community to find a way out, the US is primarily concerned with its own objectives – killing suspected terrorists – without a significant engagement in solving the problems of the area. For sure, reports of an alleged secret drone strike on the Iranian soil would have major consequences for the parties involved.

26 journalists were arrested in Turkey on December 20, in a broad operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and the Kurdistan Communities Union that lead to 38 imprisonments. The journalists are employees of Kurdish newspapers and agencies, and they have been arrested under the Turkish anti-terrorism law, with the charge they spread propaganda on behalf of terrorist groups through their journalistic activities. Five journalists from Turkey’s main Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem were among those detained, as well as reporters from Birgün and Vatan newspapers. This operation is part of a broader attempt made by Ankara’s authorities to tackle Kurdish minorities and groups in the country, involving also military means in a conflict that is more than 30 years old. Several European and American free speech agencies and human rights activists have protested against the arrest of journalist in Turkey: the International Federation of Journalists reports that more than 70 journalist are in jail at the moment, expressing great concern for the Turkish media standards and respect of personal rights.

In an article titled "We Are All Martyrdom-Seekers," published on 13th December 2011 in the Gaza-based daily Filastin, columnist Fakher Shreteh said that the salvation of the Palestinian people would only be achieved through resistance, gunpowder, and "the shedding of blood that would water the land," and that he who loved life more than death would always be the one to lose the fight.

The article goes on to glorify suicide bombing and concludes "As the Israelis know, today is not like yesterday. They are now facing the great army of mujahideen and anticipating the day they will meet [us]: the day of the marriage of martyrdom and liberation, [when] the mujahid sacrifices his life for the sake of Allah in order to earn life in heaven. The Zionists know that their end will come at the pure hand of those who do not fear death, and through self-sacrifice operations, when [the martyrs] put their souls in the palms of their hands and bear their [burial] shrouds on their backs. The Jews also know that the Palestinians will stand up to them and wipe them out, according to the divine promise, when the divine decree is passed down."


A full transcript of the text of the article (from Memri) can be found at this link

Here is a report prepared by Camille Hennion, a media research intern at the NCF. Media Credibility Index: Egypt Section.Preliminary research - Cairo, 20111. The Egyptian MediaNewspapers - Government-owned§ Ahram /al Ahram weekly§ Al Akhbar§ Al GoumhuryaParty-owned newspapers§ Al Ahrar§ Al Wafd§ Al GhadIndependent newspapers:Daily:§ Al Masry al Youm§ Al Shoruk§ Nahdet Misr§ Al Youm al sab'aa (Cairo; online)Weekly:§ Al Osboa§ Al Dostour§ Al Fajr§ Sout al UmahTelevision§ ERTU (The Egyptian Radio and Television Union) controls state owned terrestrial television of which there are eight channels (two national and six local). ERTU operates the Nile TV network.§ Satellite (Arabsat / NileSat) are major Egypt based satellite providers providing the satellite “bouquets” that give the Middle East 452 channels at the latest count. In an Egyptian context however, their channels include:

• The Egyptian National Channel
• The Nile Programmes (Nile sports, Nile variety, Nile News and so forth)
• Dream TV (private): Dream I and Dream II
• El Mehwer
• ONTV
• Al Hayat (3 channels)

Remarks· The Egyptian audience is accustomed to official propaganda. It is characterized by a strong critical awareness regarding the quality of media coverage and by a great ability to read between the lines of the official and media discourses.· Before the Revolution, the newspapers with the largest audiences were the following:1. Al Masry al Youm2. Al Youm al sab'aa3. al Ahram· The Revolution had a large impact on the media landscape as it entailed huge loss or gain of credibility to media sources according to their coverage of the movement (cf. section 2 below). The licensing process which had been highly painful and bureaucratic was also apparently significantly eased following the Revolution. This led to the creation of new media in Egypt. The most significant are the newspapers al-Tahrir and Tahrir TV created by Ibrahim Eissa.
2. Coverage of the RevolutionThe Egyptian Media had a crucial role to play in the revolutionary movement that broke out in Egypt in January 2011. Yet the veracity of the coverage varied widely.· Reliable Media:Al Masry al Youm was praised by all as the most reliable Egyptian newspaper during the Revolution. The editorial board of al Masry al Youm apparently took the decision very early on to tell the truth about the movement. It must be noted that al Masry al Youm has long been considered one of the most reliable newspapers in Egypt, even before the Revolution. Al Shoruk also provided an accurate source of information during the movement. Among the TV channels, ONTV offered the most reliable information on the Revolution.Finally it must be noted that the Qatari channel al Jazeera gained a wide audience in Egypt because of its highly insightful and critical coverage of the regime's behavior during the Revolution. It was considered more reliable than most of Egyptian sources. Yet, even if they praised al Jazeera's position during their Revolution, Egyptians were aware of the channel's own agenda and strong anti-Mubarak stance. They do not consider al Jazeera as entirely neutral and impartial in its coverage.· Unreliable MediaAs a result of their poor coverage of the Revolution, many national media sources lost credibility.Most notably al Ahram did not report on the Revolution until 8 February, when it finally published an editorial recognizing and supporting the Revolution on the front page. Prior to that al Ahram had been publishing inaccurate information on the movement and taking part in the regime propaganda campaign against foreigners and foreign media in Egypt. For example, al Ahram published numerous reports warning about the presence of spies and foreign infiltrators, suggesting that they aimed at dividing Egypt. Al Akhbar produced the same kind of regime propaganda during the Revolution and hardly changed its position after the fall of Mubarak. For example, as late as 13 June, when the US-Israeli student Ilan Grapel was arrested on the contested accusation of spying, al Akhbar's provoking headline was: 'a big blow for the Mossad'. The coverage of the national TV channels was even more problematic. State owned Channel 1 and Channel 2 (part of the ERTU network) as well as Nile TV broadcast false reports on the movement. These media were at the forefront of the propaganda campaign against foreigners and foreign media. For example, on 7 February, Nile News reported on an unnamed source in the security services accusing foreign diplomats of bringing weapons to Egypt in their luggage.

3. Media in transitionAs a consequence of their biased coverage of the Revolution, the national media lost a large part of their credibility and, more importantly, of their audience. As such the national media were forced to launch significant changes in editorial direction in order to survive economically and re-gain viewers. Al Ahram is a striking example of this dynamic. On 8 February it suddenly changed its position, adopting an anti-regime approach and reporting accurately on the Revolution. New people were brought in and the editorial content was changed significantly. For example the pro-Mubarak editor-in-chief Osama Saraya was replaced by Abdel-Azim Hamad. Along the same line, the national TV channels had to adapt quickly. The ERTU and Nile TV channels had been widely criticized for their coverage before and during the Revolution. Consequently they undertook a difficult process of transition. Nadia Halim was replaced by Nihal Kamal as head of the TV department, Abdel-Latif El-Manawi by Ibrahim Kamel El-Sayed as head of the news department and Entesar Shalabi by Ismail El-Sheshtawi as head of the radio department. Finally Tariq el-Mahdi replaced Sami al Sherif as the head of the ERTU. Yet the transition of Egyptian national media is a difficult process. Some have already highlighted the resilience of old practices despite the appointment of new people, with the change to a anti-Mubarack stance not representing a more objective culture of reporting but rather a mere switch of alliance to the new ruling group. The appointment of Tariq al-Mahdi as General Supervisor of ERTU soon after the ousting of Mubarack is cited as proof: al-Mahdi is a former member of SCAF and his appointment shows the prevailing influence of the military government over the media and their determination to maintain that control during their rule.  Further evidence for this persistant dominance of the media rather than reform comes from the continued questioning and arresting of journalists and the resignation of some state media figures such as Hafez El-Mirazi.

4. The figure of Ibrahim EissaIbrahim Eissa deserves special attention in this report as he appears as a major figure of the Egyptian media landscape. He has been a dissident voice since long before the Revolution. He was one of the rare journalists openly criticizing Mubarak before his fall. He was the embodiment of Egyptian independent media, particularly through the publication of al Dostour from 1995 onwards. Most of his writings and talk shows leveled direct criticisms at the former president and regime. In retaliation, in 2008 Eissa was sentenced to two months in prison on charges of publishing false rumors about Mubarak’s health. Later, Mubarak pardoned him in an attempt to tame Eissa. But the journalist maintained the same tone and continued to face harassment. In October 2010, Eissa was fired from his position as editor-in-chief of al Dostour after the paper was sold to Wafd Party chairman Al-Sayyed al-Badawi. Rumors circulated that Badawi kicked Eissa out in a good-will gesture to Mubarak. Eissa told the press he was dismissed a few hours after he was told not to run an article by the then leading opposition figure Mohamed el Baradei. Eissa made a stunning comeback on the media stage with a new publication - al Tahrir - launched at the beginning of July 2011. Al Tahrir newspaper is co-owned by the publisher of al Shoruk independent newspaper, Ibrahim al Moalem. The executive editor of al Tahrir Ibrahim Mansour also comes from the team of al Dostour as well.
5. A net improvement in the press freedomThe current state of the press in Egypt is quite messy given the context of political transition. There is real improvement in terms of press freedom and the availability of independent and free information sources. Yet the relationship between the media and the military council is complex and might deteriorate as the military remains extremely sensitive to criticisms. The following are a few examples of breaches of the press freedom that occurred after the Revolution:· On 30 May the activist Hossam el Hamalawy and the ON-TV presenter Reem Maged were summoned for questioning by the military council after an interview broadcast on ON-TV where they accused the military leadership of abuses against civilians. · On 19 June Adel Hammuda, the editor of the newspaper Al-Fajr, and Rasha Azab, one of his reporters, were questioned by a military prosecutor in connection with an article about torture that quoted an army officer. They are to be tried before a military court on a date that has not yet been set. Azab is facing a possible jail sentence on a charge of publishing “false information liable to disturb public security” in the article she wrote for Al-Fajr’s 12 June issue. Hammuda is facing a possible fine for alleged negligence in his role as editor.· Dream TV presenter, Dina Abdel Rahman, appears to have been sacked after an on-air sharp discussion about the military leadership on 24 July.
6. Problematic absence of regulatory framework for media in EgyptAn important issue in this transitional phase for Egyptian media is the absence of any reliable regulatory framework to both protect the press freedom and regulate its practices. It will be a crucial issue in the coming months as, at the moment, there is nothing ensuring a fair treatment of the electoral campaign.

13 December 2011: Yousef Al Khoei complains that Bahrain TV largely ignored the Bassiouni Commission report - and indeed that on the Shiite day of mourning (10th Muharam known as Ashura which fell on December 6th this year) - Bahrain TV devoted itself to cookery programs and programs praising the contentious Prime Minister - thus actually promoting sectarianism. In response Ambassador Alice Samaan, speakling for the government, said that the government was committed to reforming Bahrian TV.

The Ofcom has finally decided to fine the Iranian state-owned broadcaster Press Tv £100,000 for the “Mahari affair”. As you can remember, the Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari was imprisoned for four months during 2009, accused by the Iranian authorities to be a spy involved in the demonstrations that after the June elections had been spreading all over the Persian country. Before be freed from the prison of Evin in October, the journalist had to confessed his alleged activities in an interview aired by Press Tv, an interview conducted under duress, with Bahari obliged to read a prepared script, as he later told. When the British media regulator Ofcom told Press Tv that this represented a so serious breach of the broadcasting code that could be punished with the termination of the Iranian media group licence, Press tv accused “powerful pro Israeli politicians and US sympathisers” and “members of the Royal family and the (British) government” to had influenced the decision – WikiLeaks cables about an increasing American diplomatic pressure on English authorities to limit the Iranian media activities somehow supported the Persian claims. The Foreign Office has always denied any involvement in the issue, but nowadays, with the bilateral relations at the lowest level after the events of the last week, the decision of the Ofcom acquires a great value. The decision not to shut down the Press tv activities in the UK can be seen as a positive sign by the British authorities, a way to maintain an open channel towards Iran, also through a satellite connection.

In the last Guardian Weekend Magazine dated 26 November 2011, the Israeli Minister of the Tourism published a map of the State of Isreal, including the Gaza strip, East Jerusalem and the West Bank as if they were part of Israel proper - the advert was entitled "Welcome to the Northern Isreal". This issue has casued the reaction of the Palestinian authorities in London, which sustains that it is part of the broader campaign made by Israel to deny the rights of the Palestinian people on their territories. The underlying complaint is that the Guardian newspaper should not have accepted the advertisement as it was both provocative and misleading.

Reporting on the 9th of October, Egyptian journalist Rasha Magdy, told a story of extreme coptic violence toward Egyptian soldiers. The State TV coverage claimed that 3 soliders had been murdered during protests in Cairo while actually the true events of the evening were decidedly bypassed in which soldiers attacked protesters.

Upon the truth being discovered, it seems a blame game took place between reporter and editors however, this malpratice of reporting seems to have become a thing of habit for the station.

On Saturday, the 19th of November, reports flew in from a number sources that military had opened fire on protesters, some of which claimed one person dead and as many as 500 injured yet, State TV apparently portrayed the event, as done so in October, as an attack on the Egyptian nation and it's people. It also declared that according to the national health service, 81 people had been injured.

It seems that the station's heedless attempt at representing the views of the nation is again victim to the higher power's authority during this uncertain and tempremental period in which the masses antcipate the upcoming state election.

Since the programme 'Parazit' began broadcasting in 2010, it has seen increasing levels of support from its satirical subject of the Iranian people.

Presented by two native emigrants of Iran, the show is now in its third season with approximately 750,000 Facebook followers. The title refers to the static state of government affairs in the country. It has been widely discredited by Iranian officials who claim the show, produced by the US state owned Voice of America TV station, is another branch of CIA propaganda whose aim is to wage soft cultural war on the Iranian population. And, although the apparent consensus in Iranian civil society agrees with the idea that it is a tool of propaganda, it seems to be hugely irrelevant to its growing online viewer ratings.

In retaliation to the flourishing project, the Iranian government have launched their own attempt at comedic satire in the form of "Just For Your Information" which, to date, has only gained small viewing numbers.

Hassan Ghani, originally hailing from Glasgow and TV reporter for Iranian Press TV was held by Israeli soldiers who boarded a boat travelling to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

Upon disembarking the vessel, Ghani and 26 other international visitors were arrested by Israeli police. The group had been travelling on two vessels which were delivering medical supplies when the soldiers came aboard.

While other activists have been released, the whereabouts of Ghani are still unknown.

The Egyptian Radio and Television Unit (ERTU) has come under fire due to its reporting of a Cairo riot on 9th October. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has expressed concern about biased reporting of the clashes between Coptic Christians and Egypt’s security forces. The EBU highlight in a letter to ERTU that "membership of the EBU entails a commitment to independent and impartial reporting at the service of all sections of the population, including minorities". ERTU is accused of failing to meet these standards since its reporting of this particular story encouraged its viewers to side with the military.