PHOTOS, PAGE 1

       Editor and prime reporter is Doug Terry, a veteran television and radio reporter in   Washington, DC, (details below)

WHY JOURNALISTS ARE BEING ATTACKED IN CAIRO

There is an old philosophical question: if a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound? It is not intended as a scientific or purely rational question. It is intended to provoke discussion about the meaning of experience and the meaning of events not witnessed.

By attacking journalists throughout Cairo, there is no question where Murbarak comes down on the practical side of such a question. If there is a revolution in Egypt and no one knows about it, does it count? There is no doubt that US moves to encourage Mubarak to leave office have been greatly influenced by live news coverage. In the days before satellites, fiber optics and live feeds from the scene, the news would be getting here a day late (and a dollar short, too). The size, raw emotion and adamant demands of the people of Egypt would be muted. At best, we would have been seeing a reporter’s “package” story of a few minutes and then on to other news.

The three major over the air networks jump on a story because the cable channels do and all of them do it because they can, because it is possible to transmit live from the scene. Sure, it makes for compelling drama, but up until the last ten days, we haven’t cared what happened in Egypt since when? The time of the pharaohs?

Now, we see all of it, or most of it, live and in the raw. It is very clear that the Egyptian people want out from under this guy after 30 years, even though he retains major support. The American government, a bit embarrassed to have its 30 years of backing an autocratic ruler pulled into the sunlight, reversed course and is trying to ease him out. None, or very little, of this would likely be happening without live television from the scene. The Egyptians might have a revolution, but the world’s response would be different.

The attacks on journalists in Cairo are an attempt to put the genie back in the bottle. They could also be in preparation for shooting or otherwise using force to move the protests out of central Cairo. Make no mistake, if a revolution can be suppressed, it has little choice but to go away. If large numbers of people are too frightened  to gather, then the only option left for revolution is military force.

The middle east is a very difficult place for truth. It merges with rumor like a desert mirage and becomes one. Many Egyptian people are being told that there is an international conspiracy to destroy the Mubarak government. Understand this: in the middle east, there are few facts and those that manage to be found are usually buried in rumors and lies. If someone is fed lies all their life, and the current lie matches up with what they have been instructed to believe, they will generally accept the new lie as fact.

So, attacking journalists is an effort to, at minimum, suppress the facts and turn the narrative back into one suitable for Mubarak serving out his term. If successful, it would also allow for a crackdown in the dark of night on the protesters in Liberation Square, by whatever force chosen.

Reporters and producers might not be very popular as a group at any time, but without the eyes and cameras  present, we wouldn’t know what is happening in Cairo. The revolution would be like a tree in the forest that falls without notice. That’s the whole idea behind the attacks.

Doug Terry, 2.4.11

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