AlJazeera and the Egyptian Revolution
AlJazeera is doing an amazing job covering the Egyptian revolution. I mostly follow their news through the Twitter accounts of their reporters (@NolanJazeera, @AymanM), and through their breaking news tweeted by viewers (@SultanAlQassemi, @NoorNet).
One thing is clear to me, from my observations of their reporting. AlJazeera is on the ground, they are involved, and they are siding with the people, a hard thing to do when you’re in the Arab world.
In fact, AlJazeera is romanticizing the Egyptian revolution. They are portraying it as lovingly as Delacroix painted the French Revolution. While the people of Egypt are out on the streets, blocked by the government from viewing the channel, AlJazeera is moving the hearts and thoughts of the rest of the desensitized Arab masses.
It is interesting because it is no secret that AlJazeera is sponsored by Qatar, a big US ally. Yet, with the Egyptian revolution, they are keeping their reporting independent of the views of the Qatari state. Compare it to Saudi-backed Al-Arabiya, who are being blatant about their pro-Mubarak propaganda.
Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People”:
A photograph of the Egyptian revolution from Reuters, that somehow reflects the romanticized reporting of AlJazeera
The romanticizing is awesome. I love AlJazeera for having the guts to report with their hearts.
You might be interested in reading the following articles about AlJazeera:
“Why Egypt has the masses falling in love with AlJazeera”:
Excerpt: “‘Let’s not forget that we’re all biased,’ said Alexander McNabb who resides in the UAE. “We all live here.” News of a potential revolution is important and deserves attention, but it isn’t as important to Europe as it would be if it were happening in Prague for example, he said. This is not to say that Al Jazeera has won the people’s admiration by taking sides. One can argue that the network has become a mouthpiece for Egyptian protesters, but McNabb suggests another take.
(Read all article)
The branding of conflict: the Egyptian revolution and media:
Excerpt: ““With social media there is an overwhelming amount of ‘unlabeling’ taking place,” Ahmad Humeid said. ‘Media consumers no longer need an established news company like CNN that takes an event and packages it in a certain light. As the audience, you can see a tweet from a person on the street, directly relaying what he or she is seeing, and you can label it however you want in your mind as a consumer. The problem with mass consumption, whether it is a label on a cereal box or through mass media, is that you are consuming a brand like a popular broadcaster such as CNN, as opposed to cold, hard facts.’”
(Read all article)
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