In a stunning reversal, the government-owned newspaper of Egypt, Al Ahram, has apologized to the Egyptian people for having lied to them to protect the now deposed Hosni Mubarak. That government-owned news outlets all over the world lie to their people is not new; what is new is the apology that is now taking place. Although news outlets that are owned by governments are, of course, owned by the people, this has not been the case in many countries, especially in countries that are sustained through dictatorial politics. Journalists who work for these news outlets have taken to lying to the people to protect the government in power, thus working against the interests of the people who they were supposed to be informing. The transformation that is coming to Africa will not only require that armies become the armies of the people, but also that journalists who work for government owned news outlets realize that they are working for the people rather than the government in power. During the revolts in Egypt and Tunisia, for example, government owned news outlets were criminalizing the protesters. The same is the case in countries like Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Cameroon, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, etc. Journalists in these countries have become professional liars. This professional lying, of course, is not limited to Africa. African journalists are learning their trade from their professional counterparts in China, Europe, and the United States, where journalism has largely become the art of lying for one's favorite politician. Journalists, especially those who work for government-owned news outlets both in Africa and elsewhere, have to learn from the current mea culpa emanating from their Egyptian counterparts.
2 comments:
Government owned news sources have long been known for their one sided reporting, often leaving out many facts that would put the government in a negative light. One might not be able to go as far as saying they create propaganda, but they do report the news with an extreme bias. However, following the wikileaks trend many journalists are pushing for more transparent governments. This trend is starting to make its way around the world.
I think that this is a valuable lesson that we as americans can draw upon. Far too often do we think that we are the ones that need to teach the rest of the world something without realizing that in many cases we are the ones with something to learn. Transparency in government and media is something that the US has struggled with for a long time, we often think of things as on a strictly need to know basis, with the american public often times "not needing to know." I think an apology from washington is a long deserved and withheld privilege that i personally would love to see soon.
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