Framing and Censorship

Recently I came across a video that was posted on my friends Facebook with the title, "A story you won't see in Arab media". This raised the question of what would the video contain that wouldn't be shown in the Arab media. The video's caption reads "the story of a Palestinian who was brutally attacked by Hamas and was saved by Israeli Soldiers" and was posted on Youtube by the user JewishMessiah. 

With all of this information with out even clicking on the link one can draw conclusions on the message that the video is trying to convey. It would be reasonable to conclude that the user is Pro-Israel, based on their user name and that they are attempting for the video to contribute to the ongoing debate on the Arab-Israeli conflict. 

The issue of framing and censorship come into play when considering the claim made by the user that the video would not be something viewable in the Arab media. The assumption of censorship is another thing entirely, but before watching the video the viewer is able to prejudge the content.

K'naan

In our class we talk a lot about different forms of media and how it portrays a message. One form that is personally one of my favorite is music. One of the more recent artist's that I started listening to is K'naan, many of you should recognize his song "Waving Flag", which was the song of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. However the original song, I think is much better and tells a bit of the struggle that he has gone through in his life. K'naan was born in Mogadishu, Somalia and later moved to New York and then Canada, learning English only by listening to rap music and mimicking the language.
A lot of his music is telling of the struggle of life in Somalia and truly gives a lyrical perspective what life is like in Somalia.

The video below is from the NPR Tiny Desk Concert Series and it features three of his songs along with some good commentary by K'naan and the members of NPR.

Blogging on Twitter

Twitter has been something for me that has fluctuated between being a useful academic resource and another waste of time/tool for procrastination.

What category it falls under definitely depends on what you make of it. For example last night I was using Twitter to follow a Red Wings hockey game while in the Library and I used it as an escape from doing my reading for class the next day. I had become hooked on the updates from the Red Wings Twitter feed as my team mounted a comeback, which led to overtime loss.

Than there are times like this afternoon where I opened up my twitter and looked at what Marc Lynch and Andrew Carvin were saying about what is going on in Libya. This led to me reading an article by Lynch posted by Carvin on Twitter about the war that is on going in Libya, and this page included in an extended interview that Lynch gave to NPR on the issue that provided greater detail on the issue.

These are two polarized ways in which Twitter can be used.

Arab Media then and Now

Over the course of this semester we have discussed the dynamic shifts and role that media has played in the Middle East and North Africa. It is interesting to consider how this shift has occurred from a strong State controlled media to a day an age where anyone with a cellphone and/or the internet can participate in the international discussion on current events. The innovations that have occurred regarding Twitter and other various websites have allowed people like me and our class to follow events as they are unfolding in real time on the other side of world.

Where as in contrast to even 20 years ago it would have been very difficult for a class like ours to follow current events. Let alone participate in the international discussion with people half way across the world.

Situation in Egypt

What is amazing to me is how the media attention has such a limited attention span. The extent of which I didn't really notice until I began looking back in my Twitter feed at links that were being posted showing all of the unrest still going on in Egypt. Naively I guess I thought that everything was beginning to work itself out. They had appointed a Prime Minister, I had watched videos of him being ushered in on a wave of applause, with him promising that things will change. But for the past days I have noticed that there are still videos of protesters clashing with the army and the army having a very difficult time maintaining the necessary amount of control of the state.

I also saw this video that was posted by Arabzy who I follow on Twitter, click CC for English subtitles. But It is a boy retelling his story of capture and torture by "security" forces. Now he was held for 22 days and I don't know when the video was shot but it was uploaded today. And I think it adds perspective on the events that are still unfolding in Egypt. I think it is important to take into account that just because the media is no longer focused on the issue, doesn't mean it's no longer worth paying attention to.