CAIRO: Egypt's state television began telling its people early Sunday evening that Coptic Christians were attacking the military and using children as human shields at a protest in downtown Cairo. Then, they called on average citizens to go down and defend the army in the face of the Coptic attacks. In essence, what they were telling Egyptians was to attack and murder fellow citizens. They also reported that military personnel were killed in the violence that erupted on Sunday. This was the image they painted, and which international media outlets picked up quickly and ran with. It was shocking display of poor judgement. Did the international media not learn anything from the 18 days of protests that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak? State TV was not to be trusted, but despite common sense, a number of media outlets reported just that: Coptic protesters attacked the military and the result was the army firing back. No verification, no use of local media outlets or eye witness accounts. It was stunning, but shows the power of the military and the misled belief that Egypt's military is somehow not like Mubarak, despite the evidence to the contrary. The reality on the ground was starkly different than the image delivered to the world by so-called leading publications and networks. The military had been prepared to use violence, it was clear from the first moments bullets rained down upon protesters. Blood-stained men and women streamed out of what quickly turned into a war-zone. It was the military who killed its own people. Even worse, state TV's call for civilians to “defend the army” was a scary tactic used once before, in July in Abbassiya, when protesters marched on the ministry of defense against military trials and SCAF rule. This is the state of affairs facing Egypt right now. Information and critical thinking is few and far between. Sadly enough, a number of leading activists and observers told me the vast majority of Egyptians are likely to believe the military's official stance on the violence on Sunday that left at least 24 people dead and hundreds wounded. Egypt's national television cannot be trusted. Yes, they reported military dead, but did not provide images or names of those allegedly killed. No verification was made, yet somehow major newspapers and networks reported the “clashes” had left soldiers dead. Not only is that poor journalism, but it is buying in and supporting a propaganda machine that should be criticized and diminished. The result left more Egyptians at risk of violence and death, not to mention the erroneous stories being told to the world. News organizations are not perfect. Every newspaper, network or online outlet will get a story wrong. This is part of the job. However, when the world gets a story so wrong as it did on Sunday by citing State TV as an actual source, there is simply no excuse. As one leading activist and journalist said recently, “the role of media under any dictatorship is to be opposition and support the masses.” While this might oversimplify the ethical duties of a journalist, it delivers a point. Would we take Syrian state television reports as fact when delivering information to their audiences? No, not a chance, yet still it happened on Sunday in Egypt. There are numerous accounts of what occurred at Maspero by a handful of local reporters, both foreign and Egyptian, yet the major networks failed to source them it seems. By buying into the propaganda machine that has become the military, the foreign networks, in partnership with Egyptian national television, are increasing the tension, and delivering a blow to freedom and justice. Coptic Christians, Muslims and average Egyptians were killed on Sunday by their military. This should have sparked a discussion of sectarianism in the country, the role of the military and where Egypt stands 8 months on from the ousting of Mubarak. Instead what we saw was cliche reporting about a “riot,” or as the American Embassy told it citizens, that “demonstrations turned violent.” They turned violent when the military opened fire on its own citizens, killing dozens. We have a role in the media to report the truth as best we can. Yesterday, international media failed in their duties as journalists by relying on the machinations of what is becoming increasingly a power-hungry military in Egypt. When we sit and let the bodies and blood-soaked Egyptians move from our mind, we realize that the SCAF has now joined the Mubaraks, the Salehs, the Assads and the Gaddafis of this world in murdering their own citizens and then spinning a tale to its people that they were the victims. How long will this continue is anyone's guess. We need freedom and justice in the media. Sunday's reporting by Egypt's local newspapers shows why independent localized reporting is the future, not the international networks who failed to properly investigate the “claims” made by a state media apparatus known historically for blatant lies and injustice. BM
