Tag Archives: Libya

NYTimes.com: Video of four journalists held in Libya

The four New York Times journalists freed after being held for six days in Libya earlier this month, reflect on their time in captivity in a video on NYTimes.com.

Following their release they spoke of the ‘days of brutality’ they faced while being detained.

British born foreign correspondent Stephen Farrell; photographer Lynsey Addario, who has also been detained and held at gunpoint in Iraq, photographer Tyler Hicks and Beirut bureau chief Anthony Shadid describe how they were punched, kicked and groped, and driven for eight hours to “the heart of Colonel Gaddafi’s regime”, described by Farrell as “a very rare insight for western journalists”.

Journalisted Weekly: Battle for Libya, the Budget, and nuclear fear

Journalisted is an independent, not-for-profit website built to make it easier for you, the public, to find out more about journalists and what they write about.

It is run by the Media Standards Trust, a registered charity set up to foster high standards in news on behalf of the public, and funded by donations from charitable foundations.

Each week Journalisted produces a summary of the most covered news stories, most active journalists and those topics falling off the news agenda, using its database of UK journalists and news sources.

for the week ending Sunday 27 March

  • The battle for Libya overshadows the press
  • Much analysis of Osborne’s 2011 Budget
  • Tsunami aftermath, MPs’ pay freeze, and Saudi rallies received little attention

Covered lots

  • The battle for Libya, and control of the no-fly zone, 679 articles
  • Chancellor George Osborne, announcing the details of the 2011 Budget, 647 articles
  • Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, with engineers still working frantically to make it safe, 318 articles
  • The murder of 22-year-old Sian O’Callaghan, whose body was found in Oxfordshire on Thursday, 108 articles

Covered little

Political ups and downs (top ten by number of articles)

Celebrity vs serious

Who wrote a lot about…’the 2011 Budget’

Larry Elliott – 12 articles (The Guardian), Chris Giles – 9 articles (Financial Times), James Chapman – 7 articles (MailOnline), Venessa Houlder – 7 articles (Financial Times), Andrew Grice – 6 articles (The Independent)

Long form journalism

More from the Media Standards Trust

Visit the Media Standards Trust’s new site Churnalism.com – a public service for distinguishing journalism from churnalism

The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is available for browsing at www.complaints.pccwatch.co.uk

For the latest instalment of Tobias Grubbe, journalisted’s 18th century jobbing journalist, go to journalisted.com/tobias-grubbe

Video: Journalists listening to woman’s rape claim attacked in Libya

A gun was allegedly pulled on journalists in a Tripoli hotel as they tried to listen to a woman claiming she had been raped and tortured.

The distressed woman burst into the breakfast room of a hotel where journalists were staying on Saturday, Sky News reported. The broadcaster claimed its crew had a gun pulled on them, and government minders tried to seize footage and smash a camera belonging to another crew.

“Hers is not the voice they want heard in this country,” said Sky News correspondent Lisa Holland.

Journalisted Weekly: Fukushima, Libya no-fly zone, and Six Nations

Journalisted is an independent, not-for-profit website built to make it easier for you, the public, to find out more about journalists and what they write about.

It is run by the Media Standards Trust, a registered charity set up to foster high standards in news on behalf of the public, and funded by donations from charitable foundations.

Each week Journalisted produces a summary of the most covered news stories, most active journalists and those topics falling off the news agenda, using its database of UK journalists and news sources.

for the week ending Sunday 20 March

  • National news outlets gripped by fate of Fukushima nuclear plant
  • The UN resolution for a no-fly zone over Libya, covered lots
  • Other international, Middle East and and UK news struggles to get a look in

Covered lots

  • Fears of Japan’s quake-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant going into meltdown, with expats advised to leave Tokyo, 831 articles
  • Gaddafi, declaring a ceasefire and then sending his forces to attack rebels in the city of Benghazi, 662 articles
  • The UN passes a resolution for a no-fly zone over Libya, with western allies striking Gaddafi’s air bases over the weekend, 543 articles
  • In rugby union, England loses to Ireland but wins this year’s Six Nations championship, 422 articles

Covered little

Political ups and downs (top ten by number of articles)

  • David Cameron: 587 articles (+6 per cent on previous week)
  • George Osborne: 242 articles (+6 per cent on previous week)
  • William Hague: 176 articles (-35 per cent on previous week)
  • Ed Miliband: 165 articles (+114 per cent on previous week)
  • Nick Clegg: 153 articles (-18 per cent on previous week)
  • Tony Blair: 112 articles (+14 per cent on previous week)
  • Gordon Brown: 104 articles (+18 per cent on previous week)
  • Ed Balls: 83 articles (+63 per cent on previous week)
  • Andrew Lansley: 80 articles (0 per cent on previous week)
  • Vince Cable: 49 articles (-42 per cent on previous week)
  • Liam Fox: 48 articles (-2 per cent on previous week)

Celebrity vs serious

Who wrote a lot about…’Fukushima’

Leo Lewis – 19 articles (The Times), Justin McCurry – (The Guardian), Nick Allen – 11 articles (Telegraph), Michiyo Nakamoto – 10 articles (Financial Times), Tania Branigan – 10 articles (The Guardian), Gordon Rayner – 9 articles (Telegraph), Robert Cookson – 8 articles (Financial Times), David McNeil – 7 articles (The Independent), Martyn McLaughlin – 7 articles (The Scotsman)

Long form journalism

More from the Media Standards Trust

Visit the Media Standards Trust’s new site Churnalism.com – a public service for distinguishing journalism from churnalism

The Media Standards Trust’s unofficial database of PCC complaints is available for browsing at www.complaints.pccwatch.co.uk

For the latest instalment of Tobias Grubbe, journalisted’s 18th century jobbing journalist, go to journalisted.com/tobias-grubbe

Al Jazeera launches Twitter dashboard to track uprisings

Al Jazeera has launched a Twitter dashboard of the Arab uprisings to show what is being tweeted about and where.

One section shows the daily total of tweets mentioning hashtags for Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Egypt and the average number of tweets per minute. These are also shown in a graph.

Another graphic shows the hashtag distribution for each country getting the most attention in the Twittersphere. Hashtags for Libya include various spellings of Libya and Gaddafi, plus #feb17

A Twitter feed is also included.

 

When it is useful to publish old news

In its coverage and comment on the violent uprising in Libya, Open Democracy has published old articles to offer an insight into the regime.

The news website has been re-releasing previously published articles to great effect.

Open Democracy has published an article that was originally written the mark Gaddafi’s 40-year control of the country. The site has also republished a 2006 article on Libya’s decision to convict five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor of infecting child patients in Benghazi with the HIV virus.

 

Libya could relax ban on foreign journalists on Friday

Libya is reportedly planning to allow some Western journalists to report from the capital, Tripoli, tomorrow, but has warned those who have already entered without proper government accreditation that they face immediate arrest and will be considered al-Qaeda collaborators.

Foreign media have been trying to gain access for the past week to cover the violent protests that have gripped the country, as protestors call for the end of Colonel Gaddafi’s 42-year rule.

Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya have been relying on user-generated content sent in from around the country to keep on top of the story. The Independent’s Robert Fisk managed to file a report from Tripoli following a brief visit there.

Gaddafi’s son said in an interview with Libyan state television that some journalists would be allowed into the capital Tripoli on Friday. The Washington Post says Libya will do this “so [journalists] can corroborate the government’s claim that the country remains under Gaddafi’s control”.

According to the US state department, Libyan officials say they will grant access to CNN, BBC Arabic and Al-Arabiya.

It said, however, that any reporters who have entered without government permission to cover the violent unrest sweeping the country risked “immediate arrest on the full range of possible immigration charges” and considered al-Qaeda “collaborators”.

The warning to news organisations from the US state department says: “Be advised, entering Libya to report on the events unfolding there is additionally hazardous with the government labeling unauthorized media as terrorist collaborators and claiming they will be arrested if caught.”

The government appears to have lost control of parts of eastern Libya, including the second biggest city Benghazi. As a result, some reporters have managed to get into the country by crossing the border from Egypt.

The Daily Mail says crowds in Benghazi “cheered as international journalists drove through the city – and the only shooting that could be heard was celebratory gunfire”.

CNN’s Ben Wedeman tweeted from the city yesterday: “As first western TV crew to make it to Benghazi we were greeted like liberators, pelted with candy, cheers and thanks. Very humbling.”

The Guardian’s Martin Chulov is there and has been posting updates on Audioboo. ITV News also has a team in the east of the country.

WAN: Arab Press Forum protests against travel restrictions

“Delegates to the Arab Free Press Forum have condemned travel restrictions imposed by authorities in several Arab countries that prevented some speakers and participants from attending the event,” reports the World Association of Newspapers.

Several journalists who were due to participate were prevented from travelling from Egypt, Tunisia, Qatar, Libya and Syria.