<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt;color:#000000;"><DIV>5 Things the US Mass Media Got Wrong on Egypt<BR><BR>[1/31/11]<BR><BR>By Fayyad<BR>5Share<BR>It is impressive that the US mass media has managed to conduct round- <BR>the-clock coverage of the uprising in Egypt given how little resources <BR>and few reporters they have on the ground, the few who are there had <BR>been parachuted in late last week, lacking context, perspective, and <BR>often facts. But that never stopped US mass media. Aside from the oft- <BR>errant reporting, there are a few mistakes the US media seems to <BR>insist on making, not sure if the motive is sensationalism, ignorance, <BR>or just pure manipulation of public opinion by distracting from <BR>important stories, or manufacturing ones to fit the established <BR>narrative:<BR><BR>1- Social media did not
play a major role in the uprising. Sorry <BR>CNN, I know I’m dissing your only source for international news, but <BR>you keep trying to create a story where there is none. CNN anchors <BR>even made the assertion that the net is playing such a huge role in <BR>the uprising, especially when compared with the uprising in Iran last <BR>year. Really? If i remember correctly, the whole world was in touch <BR>with Iran via social media, and many activists in the west, some paid <BR>by governments, where setting up hack patches and relocating IP <BR>addresses to throw off the Iranian regime. I don’t see any of that in <BR>Egypt’s case. The internet was shut off on Thursday, a day before the <BR>large demonstration, it’s true the organizers used the internet to <BR>disseminate announcement, and bloggers have been fomenting the <BR>uprising towards regime change for some eight years. But for the <BR>context-less mass media who thinks this uprising was
delivered by a <BR>stork on Friday morning, Google analytics shows that internet activity <BR>in Egypt is virtually zero since then. So yes, this great western <BR>invention helped a little with the uprising, but to put it in <BR>perspective, this uprising movements is over 10 years old, that’s <BR>roughly twice the age of Facebook or Twitter.<BR><BR>2- Mohammed Elbaradei is not the leading opposition figure. He’s a <BR>great and honest individual, and perhaps makes a good president, but <BR>there are many others who actually led the opposition to the regime <BR>and the demands for freedom and democracy for many years and enjoy far <BR>more credibility and street credentials. Those include Mohammed Badii, <BR>leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and more prominently, Ayman Noor, <BR>founder and leader of the progressive Ghad Part and the Kifaya <BR>(Enough) movement. Noor challenged Mubarak, ran against him in <BR>elections. He was jailed by Mubarak
for five years on drummed up <BR>charges of forged signatures on the petition to register the party. So <BR>please media, stop appointing leaders for Egypt that suit you.<BR><BR>3- Mubarak regime is not moderate. Just because it’s somewhat <BR>“westernized”, allows alcohol and bikinis on beaches, and no Taliban- <BR>style street floggings, does not mean the regime is not a brutal, <BR>oppressive dictatorship. It allows virtually no freedom of speech, no <BR>equality under the law. It tortures in its prisons and on behalf of <BR>the CIA in black sites, it has rampant corruption and concentration of <BR>wealth and country resources in the hand of the elite few. The <BR>country’s economic independence has retarded greatly so that the land <BR>of the Nile is not hostage to wheat shortages due to insects in the US <BR>or floods in Australia.<BR><BR>4- Looting is not being carried out by protesters, so stop <BR>highlighting in an attempt to discredit
the uprising. Reports came out <BR>on Thursday that thug gangs loyal to Mubarak security forces have been <BR>unleashed onto the streets and began reeking havoc to spread fear and <BR>lawlessness. At the very least, the government intentionally pulled <BR>police from areas where they should have been kept to preserve order <BR>and prevent looting like the National Museum and some banks, hoping <BR>some thugs would take advantage of the situation, and ultimately <BR>reflect badly on the protesters.<BR><BR>5- Asking the 30 year old dog to learn the new reform trick is <BR>naïve at best, and insulting to the entire people’s intelligence at <BR>worst. I believe it is the view of those protesters that anything <BR>short of complete departure of the Mubarak and all his insiders is too <BR>little to late. Too much blood has been spilled to settle for status <BR>quo. The important thing here is that the protestors remain vigilant <BR>and do not allow
consolidation of power in the hands of army generals <BR>and regime insiders. Omar Suleiman, the new VP, is no better than <BR>Mubarak, if anything, he has served as his Rottweiler for many years, <BR>and he has worse bite. Elements of the current regime will renege on <BR>change promises if they are kept in for the transition period.<BR><BR>____<BR><A href="http://www.kabobfest.com/2011/01/5-things-the-us-mass-media-got-wrong-on-egypt.html" rel=nofollow target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>http://www.kabobfes t.com/2011/ 01/5-things- the-us-mass- media-got- wrong-on- egypt.html</FONT></A> </DIV></div><br>
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