Lara Logan Assulted in Egypt

Lara Logan, a journalist for CBS News, was recovering in an American hospital this week after being sexually assaulted and beaten in Egypt's Tahrir Square by a mob last Friday.

On the day Hosni Mubarak stepped down Logan was working on a "60 Minutes" story surveying the reaction of anti-Mubarak protesters when her crew was suddenly surrounded by a dangerous group of protesters.

Logan was pulled away from her co-workers and brutally attacked until a group of women and Egyptian solders pulled her from the furious mob.

Logan was accused of being an Israeli spy and told to leave Egypt earlier this month. After being detained she went back to the U.S.

Shortly after her return to the U.S. she went back to Cairo before Mubarak fled his office.

Logan has made her name as a war reporter for Britain's GMTV in 2001 at the beginning of the Afghanistan war. Later she reported on the war in Iraq. In 2002 Logan joined CBS News.

There are at leased 140 injured or killed reporters while covering the Egypt protests since Jan. 30 according to the committee to Protect Foreign Journalists.

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The Role of Media in Protests in Africa.

Since January, media do not speak nearly as protests in Africa. Tunisia was the first country hit by revolts. Since it affects many African countries.

Did media play an important role in the spread of the idea of freedom across a continent largely sidelined by dictatorship and persecution?

The primary role of media is to deliver the information and also to reveal the truth to the world about criminal actions of government, as was the case in Egypt with Hosni Mubarak.

Indeed, they were so effective that countries around Egypt and Tunisia, decided to start revolutions after seeing the results in Egypt. Now Algeria, Yemen and Bahrein are protesting against their government.

I believe the internet plays a major role spreading the information, especially through social media like Twitter and Facebook.

Nowadays, media are playing an important role giving the information quickly and accurately. The internet stays the main source of information for many people all around the world.

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Scared Of The Truth

Lately it seems journalists are having difficulties reporting stories in foreign countries. Currently the problem seems to be magnified in Egypt.

News network AlJazeera was kicked out of the country for reporting on the outcry over President Hosni Mubarak's policies of thirty years.

Other journalists are using pseudonyms on Twitter to still get news out.

A story on Find Law discusses Egypt's military not allowing foreign correspondents to enter Tahrir Square in Cairo on Tuesday.

United States journalists Anderson Cooper and Katie Couric left Egypt due to the arressts of and attacks on journalists there.

For me this begs the question:Is it merely not wanting information to get out before it should or is Egypt scared that people will know the truth about what is going on?

I believe that they are being a true dictatorship. A good dictator knows that the truth must be hidden.

Does Mubarak's government think they have anyone fooled?

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Tips Young Reporters Need to Know

In the chaos of recent events in Cairo, Egypt, journalists have had to think on their feet.

"In periods of intense breaking news, logistics can be as important as brains and courage," says native freelance journalist Dan Morrison. While observing young journalists Morrison was concerned at the number of young journalists who were caught off guard when things started to go wrong that effected their journalism.

In the article, "Reporting Lessons for the Next Revolution," Morrison offers three basic tips to young journalists.

The first tip Morrison talks about is "Don't count on local networks." This is particularly relevant now after what is happening in Egypt. Journalists who were relying on the local Internet or cell phone connects were out of luck when the government made the decision to shut down the Internet and cell phone service.

His tip to journalists is to invest in a BGAN terminal. This device is priced at around $1000 and works with prepaid cards as a satellite Internet connection. He also says that every journalist should at least have a pre-paid satphone in case cell phone service becomes unavailable.

The second piece of advice Morrison gives young journalists is to keep spares of everything. No journalist should rely on just one camera, memory card, contact list, voice recorder etc.

Third, Morrison says to "seed your sources," or keep solid connections with your sources. As a final piece of advice he says that it is a good idea to give a trusted source a copy of your client contacts.

Although many of these suggestions might not apply to journalists doing work close to home in a stable area, the general principles still apply.

Just like Morrison tells journalists not to rely on local networks, the same can be said about practicing journalism anywhere. This advice could also apply to the issue of journalists relying to heavily on technology to get the work done.

Also, no matter where you are it is always a good idea to keep spares. If the deadline to a story is coming up fast and the device is lost or not working, then you're out of luck.

Just like Morrison said, it comes down to journalists thinking as well as acting.

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Everyone is a journalist

TechCrunch recently had a post by Alexia Tsotsis about how the journalists of the future are "you."

Tsotsis talks about how people "are functioning as defacto news aggregators" using currently available tools like Twitter and Facebook. However, much of this information is useless due to the sheer number of tweets and the tiny piece of the picture they provide. That is, unless, it can be organized in some way.

When people (mostly independent of the larger news networks) put a lot of effort into curating and making sense of the hundreds of tweets coming in, they often provided a more concrete picture of what was happening in Egypt and even Tunisia than the large networks who didn't put a lot of stock in those sources. (She notes that Al Jazeera was one of the few mainstream sources covering it well).

This article struck me not only because we are doing many of the same things as these people with our weekly Twitter assignments but because this is the first time we are actually able to witness these tools being used in this way in great numbers and over a long period of time.

People are even using YouTube to get information and direct video of riots with a speed news networks would be hard pressed to replicate.

Accuracy is a real problem, but then others can call Twitter users out on inaccuracy almost as fast as they can post news. The "real" media shouldn't disappear by any means; someone still needs to check the facts with a high degree of accuracy. This does mean that we have the capability to get more news, and even better, real news, out there with nothing more than our eyeballs and the click of a mouse. We are reaching the point where it's nearly impossible to keep the truth from getting out, one way or another. That should be every journalist's goal.

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Speak and Tweet in Egypt

President Hosni Mubarak has had his hands full in Egypt since last Tuesday. Citizens have been outraged and want to kick Mubarak out of power. Many Egyptian protesters are upset about not receiving many things from the government, including their freedom and internet.

Last week, the Egyptian government put a blackout on all internet usage. Government officials felt like this would be a beneficial way to block the outside world from seeing what's going on and from protesters organizing groups via Internet. With the websites blocked, journalists were in a world of hurt, as they were unable to communicate, surf, or report through Google, Facebook, Twitter, or BlackBerry Services.

However, Google and SayNow have provided hope for many reporters to share news once again. They developed a way for people currently in the Egypt area to tweet via phone on Speak-To-Tweet. Users have been given the option of three numbers to leave a voice mail to, which will be turned into a tweet under the hashtag of #Egypt or #speak2tweet.

Imagine being an Egyptian writer unable to report some of the biggest protests in your country. Journalists want to recreate stories so viewers can connect to current events. Many reporters in Egypt currently feel relieved to be provided with a way to do their job.

As journalists, this is a good time for Egyptian reporters to practice reporting news by observation instead of relying on the internet for news. Egyptian queen Cleopatra once said, "I will not be triumphed over." Many reporters should take this advice and realize there is always a way to get the job done and report globally what is going on.

Photo Credit: Nima Maleki

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Throwback Technology in Times of Need

As most of you have heard that Egypt has practically been shut down from technology. Protestors are running amok in Cairo freeing themselves from the rules of President Hosni Mubarak. They're calling for the resignation of their president who has made their lives more complicated when it comes to providing and feeding their families. There are many images of the chaos in Cairo being broadcasted via Internet by the region's popular satellite channel Al Jazeera; Protestors are seen ignoring curfew, running through the streets, clashing with tear gas-wielding police, and even setting buildings on fire.

This event is not just a big deal in the country of Egypt; Mohamed Nanabhay, the head of Al Jazeera online, said via Twitter that nearly 45% of the traffic to the site's Egypt coverage has come from the United States. You may also view coverage of the live video on CNN's website.

While us Americans watch from the "sidelines", Egyptians are finding ways to communicate around the Internet blockage; they're currently using old-fashioned landlines (yeah those still exist!), faxes and even ham radio. People are also being offered dial-up from Telecomix News Agency and activists have been recieving morse code. For all you 21st century technology junkies, yes all those things still exist and no matter how painfully slow they seem to you and me, anything is better than nothing.

Photo Credit: Ramy Raoof via Creative Commons.

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Protests Escalate in Egypt, Journalists Arrested

Egypt proves to be a dangerous place for journalists once again with the latest round of protests against the government of President Hosni Mubarak. Eight Egyptian journalists were arrested last week after participating in an anti-government protest, bringing the grand total of arrests up to 860.

Egyptian security forces have been deployed to control the rioting crowds through the use of tear gas. So far, five people have been killed. The Egyptian government has also been restricting access to websites such as Facebook and Twitter in an attempt to cripple the protest movement.

The European Union has publicly called on Egypt to respect their citizens' rights to protest, but the response from the Egyptian government has been disappointing. "No provocative movements or protest gatherings or organization of marches or demonstrations will be allowed," MENA reports the ministry as saying. "Immediate legal procedures will be taken and participants will be handed over to investigating authorities."

Protesters are angry about soaring food prices, a lack of jobs and an oppressive government, among other complaints. Despite the strong negative response from Mubarak's ministry and the danger from Egyptian security forces, protesters continue to take to the streets in thousands.

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Bloggers' jailed for controversial content

Bloggers around the world have been imprisoned for controversial content of their blogs within the last few years.

Many of the bloggers have simply state their opinions in their blogs.

Believed to be the longest imprisoned bloggers, Egyptian Abdul Kareem Nabeel Suleiman withthe blogger name Kareem Amer, for ridiculing religion and the leadership of Egypt, was released recently.

Because of the political importance behind his case, international support was given to Amer regarding the freedom of the people.

Many

bloggers around the world have experienced similar situations. According to a report released by Reporters Sans Frontières the number of bloggers arrested went from 59 to 151 between 2008 and 2009.

On top of the the 151 percent increase of imprisoned bloggers, one blogger died and 61 were phy

sically assaulted.

Omid Riza Misayafi is understood to be the one blogger to lose his life while imprisoned. His death is still a mystery.

Below is a video about just one of the many corrupt areas that are struggling to incorporate the new social media with traditional values.

IRAN: A Nation Of Bloggers from ayrakus on Vimeo.

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