Media in Middle East & North Africa

“Factual verification is a hallmark of good journalism. It is what separates journalism from other modes of communication, such as propaganda, fiction, or entertainment.”

"During the early 20th century, the great majority of the population of Palestine were Palestinian Arabs. In 1948, Israel was founded in the shadow of the Holocaust. For the Palestinians, this meant the loss of 78% of their country. Today they are seeking only the remaining 22% of their homeland." (From an Anti-Israeli Propaganda Film) 

Neither the United States as a government nor civil society-based supporters of the activists have been able to do much to help them when they run afoul of the authorities.  And the more that they are encouraged to develop political strategies, the more likely they are to run into such problems.  We often have a habit of issuing bad checks to these people, egging them on and encouraging them to take risky actions but then failing to effectively protect them.  If the Facebook groups had actually managed to get people out into the streets earlier this month, what were their fans in the West prepared to do when the police started beating them up and getting them fired from their jobs or expelled from school?  Not much.  If citizen journalists expose corruption in a local government office, who is going to protect them when they are sued for libel or beaten up for their efforts… keeping in mind that they enjoy no legal protections whatsoever as ‘citizen journalists’.

the point should be to create the kind of legal and political environments in which internet activists – and all citizens – can operate without fearing the worst consequences, rather than encouraging them to take such risks without any protection.  But I throw this out for discussion.  What do we owe the activists who we encourage?  What is the best way of paying that debt?