Eye on the Press

January 30, 2002 

In brief
Wednesday in Sinai
Egypt, Israel to meet as violence and discord grow.



Shrinking globe
This just in...
Don't know how long it will be there for, but for now Matt Drudge has a story online that makes Attorney General John Ashcroft look more like the Saudis than he may care to realize.
Plus, comments about it on plastic.com.



Music
A call from the wild...
Check out this description of Arabic singers Hakim and Khalid in toronto.com. The two singers will be performing in the Canadian city on February 16. First I hear that Hakim was called "The Lion of Egypt".

Egyptians abroad
Egyptian American announces he's running
From New Jersey Politics: "Akram Yosri,  an Egyptian-born Professor of Information Systems at New York University, announced today that he would seek the Republican nomination for Congress in the 5th district. Yosri wants to become the first Arab American Muslim to win election to the House of Representatives."
Yosri is seeking to win a seat to be vacated by in incumbent who has held it for 11 terms. 
Yosri's web-site.

Commentary
Long way to go...
if you thought liberal US media was biased against Arabs, look what a conservative defector from that clan has to say. He thinks they're not biased enough!



Ad watch
Yahoo sells medicine for the eyes
This ad web site by Yahoo is a find in and of itself. The ad proudly proclaims how research has revealed how tiring for the eyes using a computer can be. Fully aware that much of that time is spent browsing or using Yahoo, the ad asks consumers to protect their eyes from the damage by buying these special computer glasses. It's like a Vodka company getting into the aspirin business.




Media watch
Under who's spotlight, mate?
This is a link to a story called Mosque in the Spotlight. A story of a mosque, yes, but one whose sole intention seems to be to cast a net of suspicion on that very mosque, and perhaps all mosques, and all who go into mosques, and all who speak of mosques as anything but breeding grounds for terrorism and fanaticism.
The story of the mosque was characterized by three major strains.
1)That it was very close -- only "a corner-kick away" -- from the home of the Arsenal football cub.
2)That it may have been a dangerous breeding ground for extremist Islamists who in some way are linked to al-Qa'idi, Afghanistan and terror against the US and the world.
3)That one of the preachers at the mosque is an Egyptian with only one eye and a hook for a hand. A photo of him with the hook around his one eye further emphasizes the grotesque image that is being promoted.
The story ends with a conundrum of sorts: "None of it reflects the vast majority of those who attend prayers there - law-abiding, peaceful Muslims; but it means their place of worship will remain under the spotlight for some time to come."
Under who's spotlight, mate?

A later story in The Chicago Tribune deals with the same subject, and again includes a telling quote near the end: "We are always hearing about the Finsbury Park mosque. That is not what Islam in the United Kingdom is about." Understandably frustrated by the overwhelming focus on a form of Islam the West considers offensive, moderate Muslims are right to question why then do we keep hearing about the Finsbury Park mosque, and only the Finsbury Park mosque?



Shrinking globe
Cross-cultural Hobeika links
The assassination of Elie Hobeika may provide a good litmus test for a comparison of Eastern and Western medias. It is especially interesting in light of the current availability of so much of Western media in Arabic. The news of Hobeika's assassination quickly made the front pages of web sites MSNBC.com and GN4MSNBC.com, its Arabic edition, but the coverage of the event on each affiliate was at the outset vastly different. MSNBC provided only glimpses of the circumstances surrounding Hobeika's entanglement in the Sabra and Shatilla massacre in 1982, while GN4MSNBC included Palestinian accusations that Mossad was behind the murder -- since Hobeika may have been set to provide damaging evidence against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a war crimes trial against him for Sabra and Shatilla in Belgium. It will be interesting to see how the corporate media cover the Israeli implications -- if there are any -- in the Hobeika case. The event will certainly give pure Western outlets the comfort of saying the Arabic press supports conspiracy theories. But at the same time, their affiliates report those same theories. In the end, it does prove one thing -- that it's all corporate. The medium is the message, as McLuhan said, and the only thing that matters is getting the product out.
Links to the first Hobeika stories on:
Al-Jazeera
CNNarabic
GN4MSNBC
MSNBC
AP

A few hours later, as the coverage in all four places expanded, the US sites did include the charges against Israel, but only after getting an Israeli response. "The allegation was described as “a complete lie” by a Sharon aide.", reported MSNBC.
GN4MSNBC's front page by then was linking hard to the entire "Hobeika file". Al-Jazeera's coverage, meanwhile, got spicier, adding a Belgian senator who said Hobeika knew his life was in danger because he had vital information to proffer. Astoundingly, Hobeika was off CNNarabic's front page radar screen entirely, while
on regular CNN it was top of the world section, a fairly comprehensive article about the historical implications of the case

Osama's debut...Rapping pharaohs, smelly daddies, and Rumsfeld's Sinai wavering...Don't miss today's news links (January 23, 2002)
When common sense seems radical: Tales of media bias and radical cartoonists; plus, learn how the multiplexes took over (January 20, 2002)
The problems with big media, and an examination of bin Laden as an architecture critic... (January 3, 2002)

Browse our complete coverage of the attacks on the US and the war on Afghanistan

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