Friday, February 4, 2011

Egypt: Al Jazeera's Offices Torched



Website hacked also.
PARIS (AP) – Al-Jazeera's offices in Cairo were stormed and torched and its Website hacked Friday, says the Pan-Arab broadcaster, while the top U.N. human rights official complained that media covering Egyptian pro-democracy protests are being arrested "in a blatant attempt to stifle news."[FU human rights official...ed]

Qatar-based Al-Jazeera — widely watched in the Middle East — portrayed the attack on its office as an attempt by Egypt's regime or its supporters to hinder its coverage of the uprising in Egypt. Al-Jazeera said the office was burned along with the equipment inside it[...]

"We've never seen anything like this. Not a single media outlet in Egypt today has escaped the violence," said Jean-Francois Juillard, the head of Paris-based media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders. "It's totally impossible to work as a journalist in Egypt today."

Al-Jazeera also said a banner advertisement on its Arabic-language site was taken down for more than two hours early Friday and replaced with a slogan reading "Together for the collapse of Egypt," which linked to a page criticizing the network.
As much as I dislike Al Jazeera, all press are involved. Now, media is getting a taste of what happens in Yemen, Somalia, etc when those in power don't want the truth to get out even if it is slanted/PC.

"Tally of cases of abuse against journalist" via Reporters Without Borders:
Additional cases keep on being reported and it is very difficult to compile a comprehensive inventory of the situation. It will be updated as information is received.

.........Almost every journalist in Cairo seems to have been the victim of an incident.

Some requested anonymity for fear of reprisals

Number of journalists physically attacked : 60
Number of journalists arrested/kidnapped : 57
Number of equipments destroyed: 17
Related:[Jawa Report]
ABC news crew threatened with beheading
Reporters in Egypt under broad assault
Four Israeli Journalists Arrested In Cairo (Update: Anderson Cooper/AP correspondents 'roughed up' Christine Amanpour feels the love also)(FOX also feeling the love)(Protesters to JP: "Camp David made us a slave")

Cross posted at Jawa Report

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