The post-Mubarak press is sensational, tabloid and segmented media, reflecting the deep polarization in the country, Shahira Amin reports.
Egypt’s post-revolution media vibrant but partisan
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CATEGORY: Middle East and North Africa
Egypt’s draft NGO law draws fierce criticism
Rights groups have decried the draft legislation, arguing that it is even more restrictive than the current Mubarak-era Law 84, Shahira Amin writes from Cairo.
Egyptian activists counter ‘state media propaganda lies’
Prompted by the Egyptian defence minister’s denials that troops had killed or tortured protesters, a group of activists have been screening videos showing official brutality, Shahira Amin reports from Cairo.
Tunisian court fails to review verdict in Muhammad cartoon case
Tunisia’s Court of Cassation yesterday failed to review the seven-and-a-half year sentence of Jabeur Mejri, who was convicted last year of publishing cartoons of the prophet Muhammad on Facebook. Mejri’s lawyer, Mohammed Mselmi, told AFP that the demand for an appeal “was mysteriously withdrawn”, even though a hearing had been scheduled on 25 April. The defence team will now seek a presidential pardon for their client. Last March, a primary court in Mahdia (eastern Tunisia) sentenced Mejri and his friend Ghazi Beji to seven and half years in prison. Beji, who published a satirical book entitled “the illusion of Islam” online, fled Tunisia. Mejir, however, has been in prison since he was arrested on 5 March 2012. Both men were fined […]
Bahrain’s grand prix problem
Bahrain’s top news during the past 48 hours say a lot about the troubled country: glitzy races are welcome; experts on torture are not. Bahraini officials yesterday claimed that UN special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, had cancelled his upcoming visit “indefinitely”. Funnily enough, the special rapporteur has denied this claim, saying that the government has actually blocked his visit, which was set to take place next month. The Special Rapporteur said in a release today that officials claimed that his trip could potentially endanger the success of the country’s National Dialogue, which began earlier this year. Mendez said that the decision “does not enhance transparency with regard to the situation in the country nor demonstrate a commitment to redress […]
Bahrain’s grand prix problem
Bahrain’s top news during the past 48 hours say a lot about the troubled country: glitzy races are welcome; experts on torture are not. Bahraini officials yesterday claimed that UN special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, had cancelled his...
Free speech in post-Gaddafi Libya
After the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has seen a flourishing of new media outlets and NGOs. But two years on, the country still faces challenges to free expression, says Ghazi Gheblawi
Egypt’s Information Minister accused of sexual harassment
Egyptian Information Minister Salah Abdel Maqsoud --- a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's ruling Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) --- faces mounting pressure to resign, amid allegations that he sexually harassed a young female journalist. Speaking...
An interview with one of Gaza’s banned journalists
On 25 December 2012, Gaza’s Hamas government announced a ban on Palestinian journalists working with Israeli media. This decision affected just three journalists in Gaza, one of whom is 25-year-old Abeer Ayyoub. Abeer went from working as a fixer for visiting foreign journalists to writing stories herself, and in the process landing a job with Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz. Starting at the beginning of the last attack on Gaza in November 2012, she quickly made a name for herself by breaking stories that most journalists operating in the Strip had never realised existed. I spoke to Abeer about what the ban means for her work, and for the state of press freedom in Gaza today Ruth Michaelson: When we spoke the […]
An interview with one of Gaza’s banned journalists
On 25 December 2012, Gaza’s Hamas government announced a ban on Palestinian journalists working with Israeli media. This decision affected just three journalists in Gaza, one of whom is 25-year-old Abeer Ayyoub. Abeer went from working as a fixer...