Al-Jazeera's silence on Lara Logan

[oberliner]

Writing about the horrifying sexual assault on Lara Logan, my colleague Alexandra Petri stated that "his sort of story has a pernicious staying power...." And that would be true if you're getting your news from American outlets, especially the New York tabloids.

But if you want to know how the Logan attack is playing in the Arab world you'll be sorely disappointed. I was alerted to this by my friend Paul Chamberlain in Las Vegas. "I have an interesting observation for you," he wrote in an instant message. "I am one the many who fell in love with Al Jazeera's coverage - Its app is a staple on my iPad - I watch their stream daily." Chamberlain is among those Americans who flocked to al-Jazeera for on-the-ground reporting on the Cairo protests from Arab reporters in the cultural capital of the Arab world.

"I was curious how they would handle the Lara Logan incident," Chamberlain continued. "Go here http://english.aljazeera.net/ and search 'Lara Logan.' " When you do it, your reaction might be the same as mine to Chamberlain, "um.....crickets." There was and continues to be nothing there. Or at al-Jazeera's Arabic-language site. Wow. He did note that BBC, Times of India and Le Monde all carried stories on Logan's assault.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2011/02/al_jazeeras_silence_on_lara_lo.html

[virgogal]

1. Strange that it wasn't covered. I heard they were the absolute best.

[apocalypsehow]

4. I heard the same thing - repeatedly, and with the implication I was a racist if I didn't accept that

claim uncritically. And yet here is a very curious omission from the BESTEST GREATEST MOST MAGNIFICENT news outlet in the whole, wide world.

It is curious, no? :shrug:

[azurnoir]

19. well of course your not a racist

Arab's aren't a race

[sibelian]

24. Is this a joke?

[sabrina 1]

81. No, it's not curious. Did Al Jazeera report on all the Egyptian

women who were sexually assaulted and beaten during the Revolution? Better yet, did the U.S. MSM report on those abuses against Egyptian women?

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Bull:

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/15/live-blog-egypt
11:48am Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher expresses his condolences for Lara Logan from CBS News in the US. She was beaten and sexually assaulted while covering the protests in Egypt.

[bbinacan]

5. That's just a fucking blog.

No real coverage, just an after thought.

[apocalypsehow]

7. Beat me to it.

:thumbsup:

[Dennis Donovan]

11. Read it there, Sparky...

It was put in by a staff member of AJE.

[bbinacan]

25. I'm impressed

they devoted a whole blog note to this. How generous.:eyes:

[sibelian]

38. Perhaps you should write a letter of complaint.

I'm sure they have plenty of time to consider your displeasure.

[bbinacan]

43. You're funny.

Will you be performing all week? Try the veal and remember to tip your waitress.:evilgrin:

[sibelian]

60. Well, I could come back with "you're not very funny at all" or something, I suppose...

Is that what you're after?

[bbinacan]

67. I guess you didn't get the joke.

Welcome to DU.:toast:

[sabrina 1]

84. I'm having a problem getting a response to this question, so I'll try

again. Was there any coverage in the U.S. MSM of the brutal beatings and sexual assaults on Egyptian women by Mubarack's thugs during the Revolution??

I don't recall a single mention of it, but I could have missed it.

Is the assault on an American woman more important than all those assaults that went on for years, on Egyptian women while the U.S. supported the man responsible??

[bbinacan]

91. LMAO

Do you realize that you could substitute Mubarack's name with a name like Hussein? I love the irony.

[sabrina 1]

105. That's your answer? To laugh at the plight of the Egyptian

women? Were you aware of how they were abused during the Revolution? I don't understand your answer. What does Hussein have to do with this?

[EFerrari]

13. That "fucking blog" as you so elegantly put it

has been the best source of updates for the last two weeks.

[bbinacan]

20. OK. n/t

[sibelian]

26. ... Are you SERIOUS?

Truly, are you serious?

[Dennis Donovan]

27. The OP posted an article that claimed that a search was done on AJE...

...about the Lara Logan assault, and it came up zilch. I did the same search and found it wasn't true.

I'm quite serious, sibelian. Feel free to confirm...

[bbinacan]

34. The result of my search on AJE.

http://english.aljazeera.net/Services/Search/?q=lara%20logan

[Dennis Donovan]

40. Thanks - there is indeed more than zilch articles. You proved my point...

:hi:

[bbinacan]

44. You do understand that

the article is from 2007.

[Dennis Donovan]

54. My link isn't...

[sibelian]

46. I wasn't asking if YOU were serious, Dennis.

but rather your respondent.

[Dennis Donovan]

55. I'm sorry!

:dunce:<-me

[bbinacan]

33. Uh....

that would be YES.

[sibelian]

42. Well...

I don't think Al Jazeera think the story's as important as you seem to, and I can't quite see why you think they should...

[bbinacan]

51. Sexual assault on a reporter

not important? Forget reporter, assault on anyone during the riots. All other news outlets reported this. Why not AJE? Because women in AJE's world have no rights.

[sibelian]

74. Ah, NOW I see what you're getting at.

But I don't think that's the issue. I think the attack on Lara was utterly horrible, but I think when you say "all other news outlets" you're talking mainly about western outlets, yes? If we're going to be disappointed that Al Jazeera doesn't report more extensively on Lara Logan (which, don't get me wrong, was a really ugly incident) then we're letting ourselves in for a lot of other disappointments on other subjects of interest to the West that are of less interest to them! She's a CBS reporter - they would be far more likely to report on a (hypothetical) local reporter's assault just as the western outlets would like as not ignore THEM. I think it's primarily a question of geography, I'm afraid, not a question of gender rights, although it's certainly true that Egypt is NOT as far forward than the West on that front I think what we're seeing in the Western outlets is bias in favour of reporting on Western interests.

You are aware, I'm sure, that the protests were NOT, as reported, non-violent, but in fact there were significant numbers of assaults and several deaths. It certainly may seem to us that a matter of great interest to Western Media (one of it's reporters was attacked) is under-reported but Al Jazeera is focussing on concerns of greater interest to the locality, which is kind of their responsibility - it's very difficult to see what else you might expect them to do - they're not a Western news outlet.

[EFerrari]

80. Al Jazeera English is most definitely a news outlet that serves

English language audiences. They did the best job, as a matter of fact, during the crisis in Egypt.

[sabrina 1]

86. Did all other news outlets report on the Egyptian women who

beaten and sexually assaulted during the Revolution??? Why did they only report on this one woman??

[sabrina 1]

82. Any coverage in the WAPO of the Egyptian women who

were sexually assaulted and beaten by Mubarak's thugs during the revolution?

Any coverage of the sustained attacks and sexual assaults on women during Mubarak's reign of terror while the U.S. called him a 'friend and ally'??

It WAS reported by Human Rights advocates as a systemic problem with our ally. But I don't recall any MSM outlet reporting on it at all, do you?

[CrownPrinceBandar]

8. Yup.....

They were having their journalists assaulted too, along with CNN, BBC and Arab news correspondents.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201123131258705359.html

edit: added link

[EFerrari]

12. Another not very subtle attack on Al Jazeera. n/t

[azurnoir]

15. Lol guess that Mooslim Brotha'hood takeover thing isn't panning out n/t

[elias49]

45. "Brotha'hood"? Shame on you. nt

[azurnoir]

59. Why shame it denotes the attitude of many who pushed that meme IMO

but is that an accusation of racism yes or no?

[malaise]

35. DIng ding we have a winner

Today I wished that AJE was in Wisconsin today with some live coverage.

[bbinacan]

37. How's this for not subtle?

Fuck Al Sharia. So beneficial to women's rights.

[EFerrari]

57. I missed your OP in support of the Al Jazeera woman photographer

that was detained with the Cairo bureau chief.

[bbinacan]

63. Was she sexually assaulted? n/t

[EFerrari]

65. Why do you have to ask?

[bbinacan]

69. Let's compare apples to apples. n/t

[EFerrari]

72. Why aren't you concerned enough about Shirene to know what happened to her?

[bbinacan]

90. What happened to her? n/t

[sabrina 1]

87. Sort of like the attacks on Wikileaks. I wonder who's behind it?

[bbinacan]

3. And you're surprised? n/t

[fishwax]

6. I haven't watched AJE in the last few days, so I can't speak to what they have been covering, but

it doesn't strike me as particularly surprising that they wouldn't have done a specific story on it.

I see it was acknowledged on the liveblog, which contains selected tweets from AJE's reporters.

[oberliner]

10. The reference on the liveblog links to "tampabay.com"

No actual story on Al Jazeera's site.

[fishwax]

17. Yes, I know.

The text below the link is a tweet from an AJE reporter. I don't dispute that they haven't done an actual story on it.

[azurnoir]

18. Try this one

Social networks were a-buzz and people were angered by reports that a female news correspondent for the American broadcaster CBS was sexually assaulted and beaten while reporting in Cairo at the time of Mubarak's fall.
Lara Logan was reporting from Tahrir Square when she, her team and their security "were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration,'' CBS said in a statement. Logan was recovering in a US hospital, the statement said.
The Associated Press had this report on YouTube:
Below are some reactions to Logan's assault, recorded from the micro-blogging site Twitter
@monaeltahawy
#Mubarak resignation was huge moment for all in Cairo. It sickens me anyone wld use that time to sexually assault a woman, reporter or not
@zenobia
I am so angry when I read the news :(
@andrews28

I'm sure egypt is like any other country and has it's bad elements..maybe the attack had no govrmt motives, just criminals
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/15/live-blog-egypt

[oberliner]

111. That's the blog post that links to tampabay.com

No actual story from Al-Jazeera.

[Liquorice]

9. If they didn't run the story, they are blatantly biased. I just went to

the aljazeera site and did several searches of things I thought would be controversial for them to do stories on and turned up zero results. Bias in news is common in many countries.

[sabrina 1]

88. Are you at all interested in the brutal beatings and sexual

assaults on Egyptian women by Mubarak's thugs, or is this one attack more important for some reason? Aren't ALL sexual assaults on women worthy of mention??

Did the U.S. MSM report on the Egyptian women's attacks by any chance? We wouldn't have a biased media in this country, would we??

[azurnoir]

14. Why it should have been front page news a Blond American woman was raped in Cairo

surely nothing could be more important than that, and according to some that means the rapist was very likely to a n anti-Mubarak protester

BTW how much coverage did Anderson Coopers assult get, other than the fact someone was near by with a video camera?

[Liquorice]

21. Why does it matter that she's blonde? I don't get that. And she's not

American; she is South African. And Al Jazeera did report that Anderson Cooper was assaulted, even though his assault was nothing like what happened to Lara Logan.

[azurnoir]

39. Natalie Holloway , and thanks I did not know she was from SA

the stories I have read simply say CBS news as to AC what I saw was the video which is why there was a story

[JI7]

47. there wasn't video of many attacks in Egypt but still being reported

not sure what natalie holloway has to do with this.

[Liquorice]

77. Natalee Holloway? WTF. If you have blond hair, you don't count? I still don't get it. It's

like you're implying that if you're a woman with blond hair, you are irrelevant fluff and shouldn't be considered. How else are Natalee Holloway and Lara Logan related?? If either of the women had black or brown hair would you then consider them worthy of reporting on?

[azurnoir]

79. kind of off the mark I was saying the opposite

so tell me did you read the entire comment or just the title line?

eta I said Blond rather than White and yes I am aware the author of the OP is Black

[Liquorice]

92. Your comment makes no sense. nt

[azurnoir]

99. well I guess it doesn't to you? n/t

[crikkett]

31. was she actually raped?

because I understand rape and sexual assault to be different.

And I am only now reading stories.

[azurnoir]

70. Sometimes, sometimes not n/t

[crikkett]

114. Wait, do you know if she was actually raped? n/t

[cali]

41. ugly and callous

I'm shocked. or not.

[azurnoir]

49. It was neither but your 'outrage' is noted

it was pointing out something else

[JI7]

52. i hate responses like this and it is ugly and cold , you probably think it makes you some good

liberal whose only concern is non american blonde women get attention also. n

like that asshole Nir Rosen .

[azurnoir]

61. Are you saying I am a racist it certainly sounds that way

personally I wonder how Ms Logan feels about all the hoopla and controversy and IMO lack of sensitivity on the part of the media, the first reports were adequate and some follow up on how she is doing

[Name removed]

68. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[azurnoir]

73. wrong again I am saying that it was hardly a front page item for al Jazeera at this point in time

it was mentioned on AJ's live blog which was where a good deal of the news has been coming from

[gratuitous]

16. A damning indictment of Aljazeera, no doubt

After all, we've seen the wall-to-wall coverage here in the United States of every foreign journalist who was killed in Egypt. Or roughed up. Or assaulted. Or issued a parking ticket. I mean, if the domestic(ated) media here can devote that kind of coverage to reporters who aren't even good Americans, Aljazeera has no excuse for . . . :crazy:

Sorry, my keyboard wouldn't allow me to finish that stupid thought.

[EFerrari]

23. Al Jazeera's Cairo bureau chief, Ayman Mohyeldin, was grabbed

along with a photographer (female) and held for a day blindfolded and shackled on a concrete floor. His offices were torched, AJ's sat access was cut off and all their licenses pulled.

And after they were released, they kept reporting.

Of all the journalists who went through this experience, after Lara Logan I'd be the least inclined to fault Ayman.

[Pathwalker]

22. Touchy subject in that region of the world, wouldn't you think?

They are not American media where assaults on pretty white women are the kind of thing that sends them into orgasmic outrage, and breathless non-stop coverage. No, they have tender sensibilities about this type of subject, and we should not be surprised by treating this as a private matter - as Lara herself requested, IMO.

I hope she recovers quickly, and completely. It will take time.

[NuclearDem]

28. Al Jazeera fails to cover the assault of ONE journalist...

In a country where hundreds, indeed, THOUSANDS have been brutalized by a dictator, many of them losing their lives.

Why is it that if a news agency fails to report a story, it must've selectively ignored it because of some bias?

[EFerrari]

64. During an event where over a hundred journalists were attacked, including

the Al Jazeera Cairo bureau chief, who didn't turn tail when he was released by the Mubarak regime but dusted himself off and kept reporting.

[Mass]

29. Balances the ridiculous coverage in this country, including the idiots

who think it is her fault. There has to be some balance.

Also, does Al-jazeera report the rape of Egyptian women and if not, does the reporter care?

[crikkett]

30. I hate to ask because I didn't read any articles until now

but in this case what exactly does 'sexually assaulted' mean?

[EFerrari]

62. No details have been reported. nt

[targetpractice]

32. I remember when it was common practice not to disclose the identities of rape/assault victims...

Now, not so much.

[Liquorice]

36. They still don't disclose the identity unless the victim says they can. nt

[JI7]

50. i think LL gave permission to disclose this , at first it was just reported she was attacked

but only now that it was sexual and a few other details have come out.

[originalpckelly]

48. Um, have you thought that no one in the ME, the target audience of Al J...

has no fucking clue who Lara Logan is?

[Cleita]

53. On Al Jazeera's blog.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/15/live-blog-egypt

11:48am Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher expresses his condolences for Lara Logan from CBS News in the US. She was beaten and sexually assaulted while covering the protests in Egypt.

Thoughts with my friend and former colleague @CBSNews Lara Logan who suffered brutal attack in #Egypt - hope she gets well and recovers soon.

[riverwalker]

56. It's not Nancy Grace

and Logan is not Natalie Holloway. They are a NEWS organization, and although the attack on Logan is a horrid, tragic story, there are thousands right now being imprisoned, tortured, and beaten. Hundreds have been killed in the last two weeks. In perspective, the coverage of the attack on one person has been what it should be.

[jannyk]

58. Aren't they sort of busy, covering things like

...oh, I don't know....The ongoing uncertainty in Egypt. The protests in Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and Iran etc. and other world shattering events.

I feel for Lara Logan, I really do and wish her well, but her story is not 'global news'. Many journalists were beaten - some badly - it happens very regularly somewhere in the world - how many can you name? How many are reported on by ANY US media - ever?

How many US news sources are reporting on those 'disappeared' during the Egyptian protests - those scores picked up by the Police who have yet to be found??

[Cleita]

66. And some were killed but no one is talking about

them, I guess because they weren't Americans or working for American news outlets.

[naaman fletcher]

71. How many other rapes happened in Egypt that day?

Why is this one the end of the world?

[Beacool]

76. Then they should have reported on them too.

:shrug:

[naaman fletcher]

108. Really?

Every rape should be front page news? How would USA today report on any news besides rape in such a world?

[Beacool]

75. I checked their site too and........crickets.

I couldn't find even a one sentence reference to the incident. Very disappointing, they missed an opportunity to condemn this type of behavior. I guess some things never change.........

;(

[EFerrari]

78. Wrong.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=441668&mesg_id=441787

And how do you feel about all the reporting on the woman Al Jazeera photographer that was picked up and detained by the Mubarak regime? What was her name again?

[Beacool]

83. First of all, that's a blog.

Second, I would speak up against violence on any woman. Far too many women are used and abused worldwide. This would have been a perfect opportunity for Al Jazeera to condemn this type of behavior and they missed it. The revolution shouldn't be only for the benefit of men.

[EFerrari]

85. First of all, that blog is where AJ correspondents have updated

Egypt for the last two weeks. It is *the* place to go, bar none, for the latest news as anyone who has been following this story knows.

Second, AJ didn't miss anything. Regrets were posted. And in spite of having their office torched, their internet and sat shut down, their licenses pulled, their bureau chief and photographer kidnapped by regime thugs, these people kept reporting.

They didn't fly home in a huff. And they're still there today, reporting, men and women.

[Liquorice]

94. OMG, fly home in a huff? Disgusting. She was in the hospital for a week. nt

[EFerrari]

96. I wasn't referring to Logan but to a host of other network journalists

who couldn't get out of Cairo fast enough.

[sabrina 1]

106. That blog is where most of the reporting, along with Twitter

was done during the Revolution. I guess you weren't following the story as it unfolded.

'for the benefit of men'. No offense, but it is clear you do not know what you are talking about.

Having followed this story ON Al Jazeera from the beginning, and on that blog, I can say that there is simply no other news organization to equal their reporting on this event.

Do you know the names of the Egyptian women who were also abused during that time btw? Did the U.S. MSM report on any of them? And if not, if they are so interested in women being abused, why did they not do so? Or is it that they are prejudiced towards American women maybe?

[bareed]

89. silence

Silence on Bahrain

[EFerrari]

98. Multiple threads in LBN this morning

covering the brutal attack on sleeping protesters.

[sufrommich]

93. Why do we treat news organizations like lovers? Al Jazeera

has some sucky biases, all news gathering organizations do. Reading some of the replies here reminds me of pre teens arguing over who the cutest poster boy is.

[EFerrari]

100. What "sucky biases" are you referring to?

[sufrommich]

102. I don't know.I don't watch Al Jazeera with any regularity.

Although I do imagine they're just like every other news organization out there comprised of humans and prone to biases,as opposed to believing they're angels sent down to bestow the truth upon us.You think there is news presented without any cultural or political bias?

[EFerrari]

103. Between those extremes, Al Jazeera is head and shoulders above

any other outlet we have access to here in this country.

So when they are defamed sloppily, they are worth defending considering the swill that is available to us in their absence.

[sabrina 1]

107. Well, I do and I can tell you that you are wrong.

They are the most unbiased news organization I know of. So much so they get everyone angry at them, the Arab world as well as the Western world.

[robdogbucky]

95. NOR DID AJE DO ANY REPORTS THAT I SAW OF ANDERSON COOPER OR

christiane amanpour or the Fux news correspondent, all were assaulted in various ways, detained, beaten, etc., other than some quick metnion like the one found on Logan.

Maybe it is a policy of not emphasizing the reporter rather the report?

Imagine a news agency focused on the news.

I repeat they have not emphasized attacks on any agency's individual reporters, like Amanpour, Cooper or the Fux reporters, so why would they do it now? They had all their people harrassed and just carried on.




I'm happy to be corrected if anyone can prove me wrong.




Carry on, regardless

rdb

[jannyk]

97. 51 Journalists were killed in 2010 - Name ONE reported in the US!!!

http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-barometer-journalists-killed.html?annee=2010

:puke:

[LanternWaste]

101. American media silence on Egyptian rape victim...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-10882670

[sufrommich]

104. A quick google would have told you that the story was

reported by Huffington post,MSNBC,Forbes,Seattle Times,ABC News,and numerous online American news sources.

[sabrina 1]

112. Of course, those are all biased U.S. MSM sources.

Did those same organizations report on the Egyptian women who were abused during that time?

[oberliner]

113. I think that is what the poster is referencing

That they all reported on the plight of that Egyptian woman who was raped as noted in the other article posted.

[Balbus]

109. Al Jazeera is shit.

Why anyone would rely upon them for news is beyond me.

[virgogal]

110. + 1