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| Africa North |
| Egypt media stand united to back Brotherhood crackdown |
| 2013-08-22 |
| [OMANTRIBUNE] Cairo Egypt's media, both public and private, have lined up behind the government in portraying its fight against the Moslem Brüderbund as a "war on terror" and vilifying foreign journalists. As police and troops chase down members of the Islamist group, from which ousted president Mohamed Mursi hails, the media have fanned the flames against the organization. And the foreign media have been accused of taking sides for covering the Islamists as well as the government, earning harsh criticism from the state and local press. Egyptian media have taken part in a "campaign against the Moslem Brüderbund and other Islamist currents", political commentator Hisham Kassem said. "In one year of Mursi's presidency, more journalists were prosecuted than in the 185 years of the Egyptian press before," he said. "Now, the media are exploiting the situation the Brotherhood is in to pay them back." For days, Egypt's three state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe? channels have broadcast under a banner in English reading 'Egypt fighting terrorism'. They report around the clock on the latest festivities between Mursi supporters and security forces that have claimed nearly 900 lives since Wednesday. But while they show footage of maimed and killed security forces, they offer no pictures of the hundreds of protesters killed in the violence. Between broadcasts, patriotic songs play over footage of the armed forces carrying out military exercises and showing kindness to civilians. A piece entitled 'The Black History of the Brotherhood Organisation' purports to show the group's violent history. It includes archive footage of Brotherhood members, as well as the attempted murder of president Gamal Abdul Nasser and the liquidation of president Anwar Sadat by Islamists. It ends with clips from recent festivities, showing gunnies purportedly belonging to the group, and buildings set ablaze. The country's newspapers have been equally uniform in their criticism of the group and in rallying behind the government and the army chief who installed it, Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. Government daily Al Ahram on Monday devoted its entire front page -- and nine separate headlines -- to a speech by Sisi a day earlier. Abdel Halim Qandil, editor-in-chief of the independent Sawt Al Ummah daily, sees the media's united front as a normal response to the country's "national battle". A fierce critic of Islamists, he accuses the western media of swinging between two extremes: hatred for Islam and love of the Brotherhood. "This is what has created serious anger and suspicion on the part of Egyptians" towards foreign media, he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |