Reuters

Lebanese use blogs to vent frustration at war

Yara Bayoumy 10 August 2006


“I felt besieged, my movement was completely hampered, I enjoyed breaking the siege and having the freedom to write and having space to reach out to people and not feel as isolated,” said Rasha Salti, an independent curator and freelance writer, told Reuters on Thursday. She said her postings appeal to people who want to know more about the everyday aspect of living in a country surrounded by war as opposed to media coverage which generally focuses on the breaking news developments. “The media look for the breaking news obviously. They look for the stories, but when they find a story, they don’t find an ordinary story, one that appeals,” Salti said, whose postings can be seen at electroniclebanon.net. 

Foreign media scramble to win over Arab viewers

Alistair Lyon 9 July 2006


A powerful tool [television] may be, but the challenge for any foreign news organization will be to gain credibility in an area where distrust for Western policies is deep-rooted and flourishing — and where the airwaves are already brimming with alternatives. “There’s a real cacophony of media in the region. Even poor neighborhoods in Damascus have satellite dishes,” said Ali Abunimah, who runs Electronic Intifada (electronicintifada.net) to promote Palestinian views on the Middle East conflict. “Even in a country as restricted as Syria, there is enormous access to media from elsewhere,” said the 34-year-old Jordanian based in Chicago. “That challenges the U.S. stereotype of a controlled media where people don’t know any better.” 

UK seeks probe into Israeli shooting of cameraman

Andrew Cawthorne 3 May 2003

Israeli forces demolishing a home suspected of concealing an arms-smuggling tunnel in the Gaza Strip shot Miller on Friday in the flashpoint Rafah refugee camp where he was making a documentary on the impact of violence on Palestinian children, witnesses said. Abdel-Rahman Abdullah, a freelance Palestinian journalist who saw the night-time incident, told Reuters the troops opened fire unprovoked despite clear press markings on the TV crew.