This week’s Jadaliyya "Media on Media" roundup is set against the backdrop of a variety of issues. In a targeted airstrike, ISIS propaganda mastermind was killed, resulting in a major blow to the organization, which has built its recruiting efforts around the media.
Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy whose image made global headlines, has been dead for a year now. This was an occasion for a number of media outlets to question what has changed during that period, drawing comparisons with the recently published image of Omran Daqneesh who sat bloodied and shell-shocked in an ambulance.
Ironically, the Syrian Ministry of Tourism recently published a promotional video on its official Facebook page, inviting tourists to the country, as if everything were normal.
This week, it was Microsoft’s turn to feel the heat from angered Internet users in Saudi Arabia, for a mistranslation made by the company’s automated translation service Bing where the word "Daesh" (Arabic for ISIS) was translated to "Saudi Arabia."
All of these stories, and more, are available below in further detail.
Media and Politics
In coverage of Syrian war, residents of government-held west Aleppo feel the world has forgotten them
Source: LA Times
The mainstream media comes under criticism for not reporting on injured children in government-held territories. The journalist anchors his argument in a number of tweets showing injured Syrian children, who did not make global headlines like Omran Daqneesh.
Going After the ISIS Propaganda Mastermind
Source: Foreign Policy
This article delves deeper into the implications of the death of ISIS’s main spokesman and head of external operations, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani. Even though a devastating blow to the organization, the US-led efforts to counter ISIS’s propaganda machine, are no match to the media empire that al-Adnani managed to build.
Is the Israeli Defense Ministry`s new Arabic website a waste?
Source: Al-Monitor
According to Al-Monitor, Israel’s new website, the brainchild of defense minister Avigdor Liberman, is the latest attempt to disseminate the official Israeli position directly to the Palestinians and the Arab world.
Provoking Nuclear War by Media
Source: johnpilger.com
Drawing multiple parallels from several international incidents, veteran journalist and blogger John Pilger, who is outspoken against US foreign policy, makes the argument that western media are allowing propaganda to become the news--favoring some events over the others.
Media Industries
TV and Radio Broadcasting Global Market Analytics Report 2016
Source: PR Newswire
This article provides a general abstract from a full-fledged report (prepared by TBRC Business Research) on the global media market, in terms of outlets, audiences, shares, and income values. It provides empirical data on the state of the industry for both the investor and the media researcher [the full report is behind a paywall].
Discovery to roll out lifestyle network for Persian women
Source: Real Screen
The Discovery Network is expanding broadcast reach in the region with the launching of a new free-to-air network called Home & Health Farsi.
Freedom of Journalists/Expression
Turkey arrests editor from top daily in post-coup crackdown
Source: Middle East Online
Dincer Gokce is one of many journalists who have been arrested on accusations of spreading pro-Gulen propaganda.
Stop the press: Turkey`s crackdown on its media goes into overdrive
Source: The Guardian
The Turkish government is abusing the post-coup "state of emergency" by violating basic freedom of expression rights, saying that these measures are justified for security reasons.
Court prolongs detention of Egyptian journalist Ismail Eskandarani
Source: MENA FN
The journalist, who is also a researcher and outspoken critic of the Egyptian regime, is facing charges of inciting violence and disrupting national security. This article gives background on Eskandarani, while highlighting the results of the crackdown on Egypt and its media.
Mission Journal: Gag orders make Jordan`s journalists skeptical of reform
Source: CPJ
This article makes it clear that Jordanian journalists are hesitant to believe the government’s constant reaffirmations of protecting values of freedom of expression, as journalists have been silenced on several occasions, and banned from speaking about the royal family or any religious figure. (An Arabic version of the article is available on 7iber)
US journalist arrested in Turkey after fleeing Syria
Source: Middle East Eye
Lindsey Snell, a Muslim US journalist covering the Syrian conflict, recently managed to escape captivity from Syria, only to be recaptured in Turkey.
Turkey after the purge: Journalists and judges pay the price
Source: Middle East Eye
While providing a general overview on the state of Turkish journalists after the failed coup attempt, this article argues that Erdogan’s attempt to control the judiciary system means that journalists wrongly arrested in Turkey have no chance of having a fair trial.
فرمانات "النواب" تشعل غضب الإعلاميين وتعيد "الصحافة" الى زمن الاستبداد
المصدر: الوفد
على خلفية منع الصحفيين من حضور جلسات مجلس النواب ونقلها عبر البث المباشر، تقوم هذه المقالة بسرد واقع العلاقة التي تجمع السلطة التشريعية بالصحافيين على مرّ الرؤساء الذين اتوأ الى الحكم في مصر.
Bahrain Center for Human Rights reports on Internet freedom: 842 months in prison to 40 users
Source: ABNA
This article provides a general introduction to "Digital Rights Derailed in Bahrain," a report which examines how Bahraini authorities have been limiting users’ freedoms online by prosecuting and arresting them.
Social Media
Microsoft slammed for translating `Daesh` to `Saudi Arabia`
Source:Middle East Eye
Microsoft’s automated translation service ‘Bing’ has made the error of translating the word ‘Daesh’ (Arabic for ISIS) to ‘Saudi Arabia’. The company has publicly apologized to the Saudi people, who are calling for a boycott amid waves of outrage on social media.
عودي الى البيت: رهاب البوركيني يشملنا ايضاً
المصدر: صحيفة الشرق الاوسط
تبدأ هذه المقالة بانتقاد المجتمع الفرنسي "العلماني"، على خلفية حادثة منع الشرطة مرأة عربية من ارتداء البوركيني على الشاطئ، ثم تنتقل الى الحديث عن المجتمع العربي حيث انقسمت الاراء بين مؤيد ومعارض للقرار.
How the Internet made a suburban kid a terrorist
Source: Vocativ
This article tells the story of Aaron Driver, a Canadian Muslim convert, who saw the appeal in joining the ranks of ISIS mainly because of the influence Youtube had on him
The intelligence war in Syria
Source: Modern Diplomacy
This article brings a number of anecdotes from the region to make the argument that whoever has the upper hand in spreading his/her version of the truth, shall be victorious eventually.
العالم يهزأ من فيديو دعائي لوزارة السياحة السورية
المصدر: موقع المصدر
نشرت وزارة السياحة السورية على صفحتها الرسمية على فيسبوك، مقطع فيديو مدته حوالي الدقيقتين يبرز سوريا كوجهة سياحية و يدعو لزيارتها والتمتّع بشواطئها الهادئة، الأمر الذي اثار ردات فعل متناقضة بين من يدعم هكذا حملات دعائية وبين من يرفضها
Media Practices
Covering conflicts: Lessons from the Saudi-Yemen border
Source: Al Arabiya
In this article we witness the journalist’s first-hand experience reporting on the Saudi war on Yemen conflict. The journalist makes the point that he has become emotionally immune to seeing images of war and carnage, allowing him to maintain journalistic objectivity, yet struggling to remain human.
‘Activism’ and its consequences: Syrian refugees are not subjects for a social media gallery
Source: Middle East Monitor (MEMO)
Journalists are accused of worrying more about filling their social media accounts with staged photographs that are empty gestures of solidarity, rather than spending more time reflecting on the dreadful situation that displaced populations are facing.
Al-Qaeda magazine ‘Inspire’ shows concern for issues unrelated to terrorism
Source: news.com.au
This article reflects on a recent academic study by Macquarie University to investigate the content of Al-Qaeda’s magazine “Inspire,” which covers issues like women’s rights, climate change and the global financial crisis.
A year on from the death of Alan Kurdi, what did this viral photo achieve?
Source: Brisbanetimes.com.au
The visual currency of Alan Kurdi’s image on the beach is compared to Omran Daqneesh’s, and how each has caused a seismic shift in the way the world perceives refugees.
Looking back at Alan Kurdi and other faces of Syrian crisis
Source: New York Times
A year after Alan Kurdi’s death, the NYT provides a roundup on the coverage of similar children who have died while attempting to escape the war in Syria.
VICE photospreads present `Girly, Teenage` side of Israeli occupation
Source: Alternet
Criticism of VICE’s decision to publish a photospread on teenage female Israeli soldiers as pure propaganda that aims to devalue the Palestinian struggle while humanizing the soldiers by changing the way they’re perceived.
Others
When did journalism become so humiliating?
Source: Newsweek ME
Multiple ‘prestigious’ media outlets are filling the void in content by letting journalists do "Jackass"-type stunts and report them for publishing. In the process, these "journalists" are devaluing the craftsmanship that goes into storytelling and reporting.
صحافي يمني يفوز بجائزة افضل مراسل في العالم العربي لعام 2016
المصدر: نبض حضرموت
تقدّم هذه المقالة نبذة موجزة عن الصحفى اليمنى " محمد طاهر " الذي فاز بالجائزة، نظراً لعطائاته وتفانيه بالعمل الاعلامي والصحافي الميداني.
From Jadaliyya Media Roundups
Fewer journalist deaths in Syria-–Because there aren’t many left
Source: Jadaliyya Syria Media Roundup
Special report on how Syria has become an increasingly hostile environment for the press.
CNN Journalist Clarissa Ward snuck behind the front lines in Syria then briefed the security council about what she saw
Source: Jadaliyya Syria Media Roundup
In this interview Clarissa Ward (an award winning journalist) discusses how and why she was drawn to journalism and how early experiences of covering conflict in Gaza and Lebanon shaped her later reporting covering the conflict in Syria.
Egyptian court orders release of journalist Amr Badr on bail
Source: Jadaliyya Egypt Media Roundup
A criminal court has ruled on Sunday for the release of journalist Amr Badr on bail pending investigation, lawyers Tarek Al-Awady and Khaled Ali said on their Facebook pages.
TV host Ahmed Moussa backpedals after Sisi poll gone bad on Twitter
Source: Jadaliyya Egypt Media Roundup
"The shit host backpedals" is the new hashtag going viral on social media in Egypt, referring to TV host Ahmed Moussa`s online blunder.
[The "Media On Media Roundup" is an initiative to survey published material in the news and broadcast media that deals with journalism, coverage, or mass communication practices about the region. These roundups are produced and curated in collaboration with the American University of Beirut`s Media Studies Program. The items collected here do not reflect the views of Jadaliyya or the editors of the Media Page.]