Lebanon’s journalists suffer abuse, threats covering unrest

MTV television reporter Nawal Berry, right, is protected by riot policemen after she was attacked by supporters of Hezbollah and Amal Movement groups during an anti-government protest on Oct. 25, 2019. (AP)
Updated 07 December 2019
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Lebanon’s journalists suffer abuse, threats covering unrest

  • The deteriorating situation for journalists in Lebanon comes despite its decades-old reputation for being an island of free press in the Arab world

BEIRUT: Lebanese journalists are facing threats and wide-ranging harassment in their work — including verbal insults and physical attacks, even death threats — while reporting on nearly 50 days of anti-government protests, despite Lebanon’s reputation as a haven for free speech in a troubled region.
Nationwide demonstrations erupted on Oct. 17 over a plunging economy. They quickly grew into calls for sweeping aside Lebanon’s entire ruling elite. Local media outlets — some of which represent the sectarian interests protesters are looking to overthrow — are now largely seen as pro- or anti-protests, with some journalists feeling pressured to leave their workplaces over disagreements about media coverage.
The deteriorating situation for journalists in Lebanon comes despite its decades-old reputation for being an island of free press in the Arab world. Amid Lebanon’s divided politics, media staff have usually had wide range to freely express their opinions, unlike in other countries in the region where the state stifles the media.
The acts of harassment began early in the protests. MTV television reporter Nawal Berry was attacked in central Beirut in the first days of the demonstrations by supporters of the militant group Hezbollah and its allies. They smashed the camera, robbed the microphone she was holding, spat on her and kicked her in the leg.
“How is it possible that a journalist today goes to report and gets subjected to beating and humiliation? Where are we? Lebanon is the country of freedoms and democracy,” Berry said.
Outlets like MTV are widely seen as backing protesters’ demands that Lebanon’s sectarian political system be completely overturned to end decades of corruption and mismanagement.
Rival TV stations and newspapers portray the unrest — which led to the Cabinet’s resignation over a month ago — as playing into the hands of alleged plots to undermine Hezbollah and its allies. Many of those outlets are run by Hezbollah, President Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement and the Amal Movement of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. These media regularly blast protesters for closing roads and using other civil disobedience tactics, describing them as “bandits.”
For Berry, the media environment worsened as the unrest continued. On the night of Nov. 24, while she was covering clashes between protesters and Hezbollah and Amal supporters on a central road in Beirut, supporters of the Shiite groups chased her into a building. She hid there until police came and escorted her out.
“I was doing my job and will continue to do so. I have passed through worse periods and was able to overcome them,” said Berry, who added she is taking a short break from working because of what she passed through recently.
Hezbollah supporters also targeted Dima Sadek, who resigned last month as an anchorwoman at LBC TV. She blamed Hezbollah supporters for robbing her smartphone while she was filming protests, and said the harassment was followed by insulting and threatening phone calls to her mother, who suffered a stroke as a result of the stress.
“I have taken a decision (to be part of the protests) and I am following it. I have been waiting for this moment all my life and I have always been against the political, sectarian and corrupt system in Lebanon,” said Sadek, a harsh critic of Hezbollah, adding that she has been subjected to cyberbullying for the past four years.
“I know very well that this will have repercussions on my personal and professional life. I will go to the end no matter what the price is,” Sadek said shortly after taking part in a demonstration in central Beirut.
Protesters have also targeted journalists reporting with what are seen as pro-government outlets. OTV station workers briefly removed their logos from equipment while covering on the demonstrations to avoid verbal and physical abuse. The station is run by supporters of Aoun’s FPM.
“The protest movement has turned our lives upside down,” said OTV journalist Rima Hamdan, who during one of her reports slapped a man on his hand after he pointed his middle finger at her. She said the station’s logo “is our identity even though sometimes we had to remove it for our own safety.”
Television reporters with Hezbollah’s Al-Manar and Amal’s NBN channels were also attacked in a town near Beirut, when they were covering the closure of the highway linking the capital city with southern Lebanon by protesters. In a video, an NBN correspondent is seen being attacked, while troops and policemen stand nearby without intervening.
“This happens a lot in Lebanon because some media organizations are politicized. No one sees media organizations as they are but sees them as representing the political group that owns them,” said Ayman Mhanna, director of the Beirut-based media watchdog group SKeyes.
“The biggest problem regarding these violations is that there is no punishment,” Mhanna said. Authorities usually fail to act even when they identify those behind attacks on journalists, he added.
Coverage of the protests also led to several journalists resigning from one of Lebanon’s most prominent newspapers, Al-Akhbar, which is seen as close to Hezbollah, and the pan-Arab TV station Al-Mayadeen, which aligns closely with the policies of Iran, Syria and Venezuela.
Joy Slim, who quit as culture writer at Al-Akhbar after more than five years, said she did so after being “disappointed” with the daily’s coverage of the demonstrations. She released a video widely circulated on social media that ridiculed those who accuse the protesters of being American agents.
Sami Kleib, a prominent Lebanese journalist with a wide following around the Middle East, resigned from Al-Mayadeen last month. He said the reason behind his move was that he was “closer to the people than the authorities.”
“The Lebanese media is similar to politics in Lebanon where there is division between two axes: One that supports the idea of conspiracy theory, and another that fully backs the protest movement with its advantages and disadvantages,” Kleib said.


MIT Technology Review Arabia unveils 2024 ‘Innovators Under 35 MENA’ award winners

Updated 23 December 2024
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MIT Technology Review Arabia unveils 2024 ‘Innovators Under 35 MENA’ award winners

  • Saudi Arabia saw significant recognition this year, with five of its innovators earning awards
  • Innovators’ work range from groundbreaking genetic research to eco-friendly technologies and advanced health diagnostics

LONDON: MIT Technology Review Arabia has announced the 20 winners of its 2024 Innovators Under 35 MENA award, honoring young visionaries whose work spans fields such as biotechnology, artificial intelligence, energy and medicine.

This year’s honorees hail from across the region and beyond, including Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, Bangladesh and Russia, and whose ideas have introduced innovations addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Their achievements range from groundbreaking genetic research to eco-friendly technologies and advanced health diagnostics.

Among this year’s winners is Saudi Arabia’s Asrar Damdam, whose UV-based device extends the shelf life of fresh food in only 30 seconds without chemicals, tackling global food waste.

Egypt’s Bassem Al-Shaib was recognized for his work with CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) technology, offering new possibilities for genetic therapies and climate change mitigation.

Qatar’s Dhabia Al-Mohannadi has developed a process to convert oil wastewater into hydrogen, contributing to decarbonization efforts.

Saudi Arabia saw significant recognition this year, with five of its innovators earning awards.

These include Mohammed Alamer, whose sustainable graphene production methods are gaining attention, and Lamyaa Almemadi, whose research at MIT focuses on monitoring mRNA degradation in vaccines.

Taghreed Sindi was recognized for developing AI tools to improve children’s hospital care, while Maha AlJuhani introduced methods for designing catalysts that recycle nitrogen, supporting sustainability in industry.

The honorees were selected by a panel of 19 judges, including academics and entrepreneurs from leading institutions worldwide.

The award, which was launched in the MENA in 2018, is the regional version of a global awards scheme launched by MIT Technology Review in 1999.

Part of Arabic digital content provider Majarra, Innovators Under 35 awards have previously honored figures such as Google co-founder Larry Page, and Mark Zuckerberg, founder, chairman and CEO of Meta, formerly known as Facebook.


Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. to sell Foxtel to Britain’s DAZN for $2.1 billion

Updated 23 December 2024
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Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. to sell Foxtel to Britain’s DAZN for $2.1 billion

  • News Corp. will gain a board seat and hold a 6 percent stake in DAZN
  • DAZN is a broadcasting partner for Italy’s Serie A, Spain’s LaLiga, Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1

SYDNEY: News Corp. has agreed to sell its Australian cable TV unit Foxtel to British-owned sports network DAZN for $2 billion (A$3.4 billion) including debt, cutting the Murdoch-controlled media empire’s exposure to a business up-ended by streaming platforms.
News Corp. will gain a board seat and hold a 6 percent stake in DAZN, a London-headquartered global streaming platform available in North America, Europe, and Asia and backed by Ukranian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik.
DAZN is a broadcasting partner for Italy’s Serie A, Spain’s LaLiga, Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1. It competes against traditional TV and satellite channels and provides access to a range of sports content, including American football, boxing and baseball over its streaming platform.
“Australians watch more sport than any other country in the world, which makes this deal an incredibly exciting opportunity for DAZN to enter a key market, marking another step in our long-term strategy to become the global home of sport,” said DAZN co-founder and CEO Shay Segev.
Foxtel, launched by News Corp. in 1995, has weighed on the media giant’s profits for years as the number of people who pay monthly subscriptions for its broadcast content switched to cheaper streaming options like Netflix.
It has tried to diversify by adding its own streaming services like Kayo, which livestreams local sports Australian Football League (AFL) and the National Rugby League (NRL), to win back sports broadcasting market share. It also shows ESPN.
However, its earnings have suffered with the cost of sports broadcasting rights soaring just as subscriber revenue has shrunk. To help offset the costs, Foxtel often shares rights with free-to-air broadcasters.
“Foxtel’s traditional premium pricing model has long been a point of contention, particularly in an era dominated by more affordable streaming alternatives,” said Paul Budde, an independent telco analyst.
“DAZN’s entry into the Australian market, potentially offering competitive or lower rates, could dramatically shift consumer expectations and reshape the pricing landscape.”
The AFL’s current seven-year deal with Foxtel-Channel Seven, which runs until 2031, is worth A$4.5 billion, while Cricket Australia will get A$1.5 billion from the same partners over the same time period.
Tennis rights, including the Australian Open Grand Slam, have been locked up until 2029 by Nine Entertainment, which has its own streaming service, Stan.
Nine is also in exclusive talks with Rugby Australia for broadcast rights beyond next year as the country prepares to host the Rugby World Cup in 2027.
NEWS CORP FOCUSES ON PUBLISHING
The valuation on Foxtel represents seven times its 2024 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), News Corp. said in a statement.
As part of the deal, shareholder loans valued at A$578 million outstanding will be repaid in full and Foxtel’s current debt will be refinanced at closing.
News Corp. chief executive Robert Thomson said the deal would allow the company to focus on its core operations of Dow Jones, digital real estate and book publishing. News owns 61.4 percent of online real estate platform REA Group and is the parent company of publisher HarperCollins.
The deal is due to be finalized in the second half of 2025 and is subject to regulatory approval, News Corp. said. Given the overseas ownership of DAZN, the transaction will need to be cleared by the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).
Blavatnik is a dual US and British citizen and the founder of Access Industries which has an investment portfolio worth more than $35 billion, according to its website.
FIRB did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
Australian telecom Telstra has also sold its 35 percent stake in Foxtel to DAZN and will receive A$128 million in cash and a 3 percent stake in DAZN.


Journalists arrested in Turkiye over Syria drone deaths demo

Updated 23 December 2024
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Journalists arrested in Turkiye over Syria drone deaths demo

  • Turkiye has up to 18,000 troops in Syria, according to a Turkish official, and has said it could launch a military operation if the Kurdish forces in northern Syria do not lay down their arms

ISTANBUL: Turkish authorities arrested nine people, including seven journalists, for taking part in banned demonstration in support of two Turkish-Kurdish journalists killed by a Turkish drone in northern Syria, media and rights groups said Sunday.
Nazim Dastan, 32, and Cihan Bilgin, 29, who worked for Kurdish media, were killed Thursday near the Tishrin dam, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Aleppo, when their car exploded, the Dicle Firat Turkish journalists’ association said.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the journalists were killed by a Turkish drone, as did Kurdish media in Turkiye and Syria.
The MLSA Turkish media rights group said 59 people had been detained for taking part in a protest Saturday banned by police. It said 50 people subsequently released.
“Seven journalists detained yesterday as they tried to make a statement in favor of the dead journalists Nazim Dastan and Cihan Bilgin” have been formally arrested for “terrorist propaganda,” MLSA said on the X social media platform.
Since the fall of Bashar Assad on December 8, Turkiye has supported an offensive by armed groups against Kurdish forces that control a zone in northern Syria.
Turkiye has up to 18,000 troops in Syria, according to a Turkish official, and has said it could launch a military operation if the Kurdish forces in northern Syria do not lay down their arms.
 

 


Albania bans TikTok for a year after killing of teenager

Updated 22 December 2024
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Albania bans TikTok for a year after killing of teenager

  • Prime Minister Edi Rama government’s decision comes after a 14-year-old schoolboy was stabbed to death in November by a fellow pupil

TIRANA: Albania on Saturday announced a one-year ban on TikTok, the popular short video app, following the killing of a teenager last month that raised fears over the influence of social media on children.
The ban, part of a broader plan to make schools safer, will come into effect early next year, Prime Minister Edi Rama said after meeting with parents’ groups and teachers from across the country.
“For one year, we’ll be completely shutting it down for everyone. There will be no TikTok in Albania,” Rama said.
Several European countries including France, Germany and Belgium have enforced restrictions on social media use for children. In one of the world’s toughest regulations targeting Big Tech, Australia approved in November a complete social media ban for children under 16.
Rama has blamed social media, and TikTok in particular, for fueling violence among youth in and outside school.
His government’s decision comes after a 14-year-old schoolboy was stabbed to death in November by a fellow pupil. Local media had reported that the incident followed arguments between the two boys on social media. Videos had also emerged on TikTok of minors supporting the killing.
“The problem today is not our children, the problem today is us, the problem today is our society, the problem today is TikTok and all the others that are taking our children hostage,” Rama said.
TikTok said it was seeking “urgent clarity” from the Albanian government.
“We found no evidence that the perpetrator or victim had TikTok accounts, and multiple reports have in fact confirmed videos leading up to this incident were being posted on another platform, not TikTok,” a company spokesperson said.

 


Suspect in German Christmas market attack was ‘not quite what many rushed to assume’, veteran British journalist says

Updated 21 December 2024
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Suspect in German Christmas market attack was ‘not quite what many rushed to assume’, veteran British journalist says

  • ‘Evidence from his social media indicates he was an anti-Islam doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 from Saudi Arabia’

DUBAI: British journalist Andrew Neil said the attacker behind Friday night’s deadly car-ramming at a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany appeared to be ‘not quite what many on social media rushed to assume.’

“Evidence from his social media indicates he was an anti-Islam doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 from Saudi Arabia,” the veteran journalist posted on his social media account.

The suspect, who was identified by German authorities as 50-year-old Saudi psychologist Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, who had permanent residency and had lived in Germany for almost two decades. The motive for the car-ramming remained unknown, and a police operation was under way in the town of Bernburg, south of Magdeburg, where the suspect was believed to have lived.

 

 

Reports have noted that Saudi Arabia had warned German authorities about the attacker, who had posted extremist views on his personal X account. Germany’s Der Spiegel said the attacker sympathized with the far-right Alternative for Germany party. The magazine did not say where it got the information.

“Various media reports suggest he helped ex-Muslims, particularly women, to flee Saudi Arabia after turning their backs on Islam,” Neil commented. Neil also noted that the suspect posted tweets in support Elon Musk, jailed far right activist Tommy Robinson and malevolent conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

“His social media posts also indicate he thought Germany not doing enough to help Saudi female asylum seekers who had rejected Islam – and that the authorities were trying to undermine his work on their behalf,” the British journalist added.

“In his recent social-media posts published days before the attack he claimed the German government was promoting Islamisation and accused authorities of censoring and persecuting him because of his critical views of Islam. On his website, he warned prospective refugees to avoid Germany because of its government’s tolerance of radical Islam,” Neil said.

Christmas markets are a huge part of German culture as an annual holiday tradition, and the violence has prompted other German towns to cancel their weekend events as a precaution and out of solidarity with Magdeburg’s loss.

Berlin kept its markets open but has increased its police presence at them.