The revolution will not be Twittervized – we need real reporting now

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

We live in an age of the most advanced technology in human history, and yet despite these technological advances in communications we are less informed today by corporate media conglomerates than ever before. The integration of e-mail, Facebook and Twitter into media reporting to interact with viewers has led to a degradation of the quality of news reporting.

Media conglomerates have shut down foreign news bureaus and no longer maintain reporters with a network of credible sources on the ground who can inform the world what is happening when a crisis occurs. Those reporters who do work in foreign countries do so largely as independent reporters.

We saw this in 2009 with Iran's "Green Revolution," which the American media reported from the perspective of social media organization on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube — they even started calling it the "Twitter Revolution." The American media got caught up in the excitement of protest like college kids taking over their administration building on their college campus. Much of their reporting relied on unconfirmed reports, much of which turned out to be wrong. The revolution will not be Twittervised | guardian.co.uk.

I watched the early morning reporting on CNN this morning for news about Egypt's "Day of Rage" against the Mubarak government. Once again, CNN reported this story from the perspective of social media organization on Facebook and Twitter, caught up in the excitement of protest like college kids taking over their administration building on their college campus. It was "OMG! The government has shut down cell phone and Internet service." There was no substantive reporting about the underlying causes of the protests nor who the opposition political parties are that could replace Mubarak — if you want to topple the Mubarak government don't you think we should know about who might replace him? (Later reporting after the 7:00 a.m. break by reporters on the ground in Egypt is much better and has begun focusing on these issues).

At least we still have the BBC. BBC News – Egypt protests escalate in Cairo, Suez and other cities:

Overnight there was also an apparent crackdown on the banned Islamist opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, after it said it would back the Friday protests.

* * *

A lawyer for the Muslim Brotherhood meanwhile told the BBC that tens of its members had been arrested.

Despite an official ban, the Muslim Brotherhood remains Egypt's largest and most organised opposition movement.

Most American reporting is focused on former UN nuclear chief and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, who arrived back in Egypt Thursday night. But the BBC reports BBC News – Egypt protests: Can Mubarak be toppled?":

[ElBaradei] may provide some focus for the protests, but his support is more from the middle class than the masses.

There have been calls for more demonstrations after Friday prayers, but so far the banned Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, has stepped back from endorsing the protests.

They are the one movement that could bring out really large numbers. So far, though, these protests have been largely leaderless, rallied by messages posted on Facebook or Twitter, not by conventional politicians.

The protests in Egypt follow an uprising in Tunisia two weeks ago, in which President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was toppled. The new government there is still in doubt. These protests are encouraging protests in other countries across the region.

The Muslim world is very young and restless and is tired of living under repressive regimes. But there is no clear indication of what may replace these repressive regimes should these governments be toppled. It could be Islamist fundamentalism as occurred in Iran in 1979. This is a major geopolitical story that the American media is failing to report with substantive reporting and without knowledgeable analysis of what the potential consequences are.

This graphic from the BBC gives you an idea of the possible scope of the revolution in the Muslim world:

UPDATE: Since i have been bedridden with an illness this week, I watched the American news coverage all day Friday. CNN switched over to its international desk and the quality of its reporting dramatically improved during the day. NBC/MSNBC has Richard Engel who has lived in Cairo and reported on the region for years, who is also doing an excellent job of reporting. Real reporting is possible.