The Listening Post

After years of fruitless negotiations, world leaders finally reached an agreement to combat climate change, agreeing to cap greenhouse gases in an effort to slow down global warming. The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, or COP21, set a target of limiting carbon emissions and keep average temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius. The deal, which brought the climate change issue back to top the news agenda, was hailed as a success by the mainstream media and self-congratulatory political leaders - who made it sound like a major milestone. However, climate scientists and activists have since said the agreement has little cause for cheer, falling well short of what is needed to forestall a climate change catastrophe. They say the deal lacks any legally binding mechanism to hold governments or corporations to emission quotas, while other key issues in the accord are not binding at all. So why is the deal being framed as a success? Talking us through the story are: Asad Rehman, a senior campaigner at Friends of the Earth; Catherine Happer, Lecturer at the University of Glasgow; Atayi Babs, Editor-in-Chief at Climate Reporters; and James Painter, the Director of the Reuters Journalism Fellowship Programme. Other stories on our radar this week: The sale of the South China Morning Post raises concerns about Beijing's influence over the media in Hong Kong; more journalists have been jailed in Egypt bringing the total number to double last year's count; and Spain's 'gag law' - which journalists say amounts to state censorship - is being put to the legal test at the European Court of Human Rights. The US media keeps failing murdered black teens When Laquan McDonald, a black teenager, was shot dead by a police officer in October 2014, the police said the officer was acting in self-defense - and for the most part, news outlets covering the story went along with that account. But a video of the killing filmed on a police dashboard camera has told a different story - that McDonald was shot sixteen times as he was walking away. That video would never have seen the light had a group of journalists, lawyers and activists not filed a lawsuit to get it released. The Listening Post's Marcela Pizarro tells the story of those who succeeded where Chicago's mainstream media had failed. - Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check out our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/

As televised news events go, it had a touch of the surreal about it. Two days after the San Bernardino mass shooting, scores of reporters stormed into the home of Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, two of the crime's main suspects, broadcasting live while rummaging through their personal effects. Airing images of family members and releasing sensitive material that only a few hours earlier had been part of an FBI investigation, the coverage brought the journalistic ethics of a number of news organisations into question. Hashtags like #Thisisntjournalism were trending while reporters were still in the house, live on air. The ensuing media coverage, which combines two big issues in the US right now - the so-called 'war on terror' and gun control - prompted Republican presidential contender, Donald Trump, to call for a blanket ban on Muslims entering the US, while several media outlets went into a frenzy focusing on the suspects religious beliefs as a primary motive for the killings. Talking us through the story are: Erik Wemple, The Washington Post's media critic; Kelly McBride, the vice president of the Poynter Institute; Ali Harb, a reporter with Arab American News and NPR's media correspondent David Folkenflik. Other stories on Our Radar this week: In Somalia, a journalist has died after a bomb was planted in her car and analysts are blaming the armed group al-Shabab. In China, four journalists have been suspended for a typo that claimed President Xi had resigned and Britain’s The Sun newspaper has apologised for an article that purportedly showed how easy it is for potential terrorists to travel across Europe, which turned out to be fake. Social media videos: the end of Journalism? Native social media videos are the next evolution in news consumption. Producers who were once battling with channel flicking are now trying to catch your eye online before you click past. And some news outlets Al Jazeera's AJ+, Buzzfeed and NowThis have so far enjoyed success with their online models. YouTube has just turned ten this year but thanks to Facebook's new video strategy and the rising popularity of platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, the audience for videos on social media has grown exponentially and the competition for audience share has grown very fierce. Short form text on screen and rapid fire visuals feature prominently in the native world, but how much does the quest for instant gratification affect the quality of the journalism? The Listening Post's Paolo Ganino reports on native social news videos and what this new genre says about how we consume news. Dutch filmmakers Sacha Harland and Alexander Spoor from the YouTube channel, Dit Is Normaal (This Is Normal) recently conducted an experiment on the streets of The Netherlands. They selected a few choice passages from the Bible, disguised it as a Quran, and then asked passers-by what they thought about the writings. The results say a lot about the unconscious bias that is present in many of us. The Holy Quran Experiment has racked up millions of views online. - Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check out our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/

On November 24, a Russian fighter jet was shot down by Turkish forces. This much we know. But beyond that - the facts are slippery, the coverage compromised and the narratives politically loaded. Ankara says the jet violated Turkish airspace, whereas Moscow insists that Turkey shot down its plane over Syrian territory. The messages, which present very different versions of the facts, have since been amplified in the media of both countries. For both Vladimir Putin, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Syrian conflict is a geopolitical minefield which is why both nations are determined to control what is being said over the airwaves. Strong on propaganda, less so on independent journalism, this is a story in which challenging the official line is risky business. Talking us through the story are: Behlul Ozkan, a columnist at Birgun newspaper, Olga Khvostunova, a political analyst at the Institute of Modern Russia; Nina Ognianova from the Committee to Protect Journalists; and Ekaterina Chulkovskaya, a reporter at Russia Beyond The Headlines. Other media stories on our radar this week: Another freelance journalist critical of the government is detained in Egypt, charged with spreading false news. Britain's The Sun newspaper is refusing to apologise for a story that its sister paper The Times has backed down on; and for the second time in three months the front page of The International New York Times printed in Thailand has been left blank for political reasons. Hunting 'tigers and flies' Three years ago, China's President Xi Jinping launched an aggressive anti-graft campaign, vowing to crackdown on what his government called 'tigers and flies'. Targeting both high and low-level officials, thousands of people have been arrested and convicted on corruption charges. While some have welcomed the campaign, there have been growing concerns over how it is being carried out. Journalists have also been subject to arrest - with reporters ranging from the state-run CCTV channels to well-known business news websites being detained under the orders of the Communist Party. The Listening Post's Meenakshi Ravi reports on the anti-corruption drive that critics say lacks its own transparency. To close the show this week - in China, internet users with a political bent can find themselves in a constant game of cat and mouse with the authorities. To get around the censors, they have adopted all kinds of code words, pictures and homonyms - words that sound the same but are spelled differently - so they don't show up in searches. When discussing a taboo topic like the anniversary of Tiananmen Square - June 4th 1989 - they'll use coded references to try to stay one step ahead of the censors. We work with an animator who has put together a collection of some of the more imaginative examples of the way Chinese web users mask their political work online. - Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check out our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/

When George Orwell wrote in 1945 that sport is "war minus the shooting", it was recognition of the power of sports to arouse nationalistic sentiments. Orwell would have seen an echo of his words in the spectacle of thousands of football supporters across Europe singing the French national anthem as a show of solidarity for those who had died in the Paris attacks earlier this month. In times of conflict, when the mainstream news media already tend to pound the drums of war - having sports audiences repeatedly exposed to pro-military messaging - tilts the playing field further still. The short distance from the pitch to the battlefield is evidenced by the extensive use of sporting events by the Pentagon to rally support for US troops and military action abroad. Back in Europe, how many of those singing the Marseillaise were aware of its bloodthirsty battle cry? "Hear the roar of those ferocious soldiers. They're coming to cut the throats of your sons, your women. To arms, citizens." Substitute 'soldiers' for 'jet engines', and we have a modern-day rallying cry for a fresh round of air strikes on Syria. Talking us through the story are: Cenk Uygur, Host of The Young Turks; Murtaza Hussain, a journalist at The Intercept; Sandy Tolan, an associate professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism; and James Montague, a journalist and author. Other media stories on our radar this week: Two prominent journalists in Turkey are behind bars after the government accused them of revealing "state secrets"; A Bangladeshi reporter is shot and wounded while covering funerals of convicted opposition figures; Iran has sentenced Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian to a jail term, but the specifics of the case are still not known; and a political cartoonist seeking refuge in Thailand has been sent back to China following an extradition request by Beijing. Rustavi 2 and Georgia's political tug of war Georgia's most watched TV channel, Rustavi 2, is locked in a bitter power struggle with the government over its ownership. One of the government's staunchest critics, the independent channel has gone to court and says it is facing a politically motivated, attempted takeover by allies of the government. But Rustavi 2 also has some political muscle behind it: people who back its pro-European, pro-NATO agenda. Al Jazeera's Robin Forestier-Walker picks apart the ownership battle currently raging over Rustavi 2. Finally, in the wake of the Paris attacks, Britain's The Sun newspaper, owned by Rupert Murdoch, loudly proclaimed that one in five British Muslims "sympathised with jihadis". However, the headline was misleading and prompted around 1,200 official complaints, as well as thousands of sardonic responses on Twitter under the hashtag #1in5Muslims. Our closing video gives you a taste of a Twitter backlash against a newspaper's front page. - Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check out our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/

As news of the attacks in Paris was breaking, Facebook launched a feature allowing its users to "check-in" and let their family members and friends know they were safe. It also introduced a feature that allowed users to overlay the colours of the French flag on their profile pictures to express solidarity with the victims of the attacks. These features prompted many to question a potential double standard: Where were they when dozens were killed in bomb blasts in Beirut a day earlier, or when 149 people lost their lives in Garissa, Kenya back in April? Critics accused the site of valuing the lives of Western victims more than those in the Middle East and other regions. Meanwhile, journalists covering the story were accused of making unfair accusations, using divisive terminology and xenophobic reactions. Given ISIL's objectives to sow discord and provoke repression, did the media play into ISIL's hands? Talking us through the story are: Habib Battah, an investigative journalist at Beirut Report; Professor Brian J Phillips from the Center for Research in Mexico; journalist Justin Salhani; Alain Gresh, an editor at Le Monde Diplomatique; and Washington Post journalist, Maura Judkis. Other news stories on our radar this week: A radio talk show host who reported local government corruption has been murdered in north-eastern Brazil; three weeks after parliamentary elections, critical media channels in Turkey are being removed from the Turksat satellite provider; and two Italian journalists are put under criminal investigation by the Vatican for publishing books about corruption and financial scandals. Fixers: The unsung heroes of Journalism Fixers are the talent on the ground whom foreign correspondents often rely on to secure that all-important interview or to make sense of a complex local situation. Unfortunately, they all too often find themselves in the line of fire and don't get the credit they deserve. The Listening Post's Will Young shines a light into the work of fixers, often the unsung heroes of journalism. Lastly, we thought we would never see a new angle on the GoPro video, but against all our expectations, an Irishman on holiday in Las Vegas has provided us one, albeit unwittingly. Evan Griffin gave his dad, Joseph, a GoPro to film his trip. According to his son, Joseph is a "culchie" - Irish slang for rural folk who are not savvy with the latest technology. The result turns the classic GoPro video on its head - or, at least, back to front. Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website: http://www.aljazeera.com/

When a Russian-operated airline went down in Sinai on October 31, killing all 224 on board, it drew together Russia, UK and Egypt in what has now become a battle over the airwaves to contain negative publicity around their own country's involvement. In Egypt, President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi - keen to avoid any more economic damage to the country's beleaguered tourism industry - downplayed the possibility of terrorism and any criticisms of security at Sharm el-Sheikh airport. Russia and its President, Vladimir Putin have worked to undermine the idea that it was a retaliation by ISIL provoked by Russia's bombing campaign in Syria. Meanwhile, Britain and its NATO allies have used the crash as an opportunity to criticise Russia's involvement in the Syrian conflict. All these competing narratives are obscuring the facts. Talking us through the story are: Hamid Dabashi, Professor at Columbia University; Marwa Maziad, a columnist at Egypt's Al Masry Al Youm; Mark Le Vine, Professor of History at the University of California; and Sputnik International journalist, Dmitry Babich. Also on this episode of The Listening Post: Could robots be the journalists of the future? You may not have realised it, but some of the data-driven journalism you have seen online - financial reporting, sports updates or earthquake alerts - may have been produced by algorithms without any human involvement. There are obvious upsides for news organisations - more stories, quick turnaround and fewer people to pay. But do we know the full implications of automated journalism? The Listening Post's Meenakshi Ravi takes a look. - Subscribe to our channel: http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check out our website:http://www.aljazeera.com/

Last week, fresh elections in Turkey saw the ruling AK party surge back into power. Turks cast their votes for the second time this year after elections in June saw AK party lose their parliamentary majority. Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country's media is the freest in the world. However a series of high-profile raids into Turkish media groups hostile to the government has seen some of the biggest media crackdowns in the country's history. The election results have put the AKP party back in power with 49 percent of the vote, so what does that mean for journalism and media freedom in Turkey? Talking us through the story are: Nazli Ilicak, a journalist at the Bugun newspaper, Cem Kucuk, a columnist at the Star newspaper; Ceren Sozeri, an associate professor at Galatasaray University; and Nuray Mert, a columnist for the leading Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News. Plus, Fake news: How rumours outrace the truth When a breaking news hits, some of the stories that surface are often reported first on social media platforms: eyes on the ground using digital media platforms giving their accounts. For journalists, using social media as a means for newsgathering can sometimes be a tricky business and discerning what is news from what is just speculation. The Listening Post's Nic Muirhead reports on the rumour mill that is the World Wide Web and the adverse effect it can have on our understanding of news stories.

When Donald Trump announced he was running for the US presidency, the liberal website Huffington Post took an editorial decision that all coverage of his campaign would be posted in their entertainment section, because that's what they said the story was. For other news organisations however, it's been a different story with many outlets including CNN, CBS News and MSNBC hanging on his every word. Having run a campaign full of controversial sound bites attacking minorities and the political elite, Trump has been getting the exposure he wants and the cable networks the ratings they crave. Some polls are suggesting that Trump is the Republican front-runner, which if true, is something he's managed to achieve without the help of Rupert Murdoch's Fox News – traditionally the Republican Party's biggest media cheerleader. Talking us through the media's coverage of the Trump story and what's being missed among the hyperbole are Robert Mcchesney, American Professor at the University of Illinois; Angelo Carusone, Executive President at Media Matters for America; Kate Kenski, Associate Professor at the University of Arizona; and David Sands, Politics and Policy Editor at The Washington Times. Other stories On Our Radar this week: In Turkey, the authorities raid an opposition media outlet just ahead of parliamentary elections; the crackdown on independent journalists in Egypt continues with the arrests of three reporters in the past week; and the government in Greece approves a new broadcasting law targeting corruption in the industry. Independent journalism and the future of the CBC Launched almost a century ago, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, or the CBC has always played a crucial role in promoting Canadian identity, culture and values. And that has not always been an easy task, made much harder of late, by a number of conflict of interest scandals hitting some of its biggest on-air names. Add to that, the repeated budget cuts and layoffs under the Conservative government of outgoing Prime Minister, Steven Harper and the CBC's future hangs in the balance. But the recent election victory for Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party could signal much needed change for the broadcaster. In his election campaign, Trudeau vowed to restore financial support, editorial independence and governance reform. Now Canadians, who overwhelmingly support their public network, need to hold him to his word if the CBC is to survive. The Listening Post's Flo Phillips reports from Toronto on the future for the CBC. This past week, it was the turn of CBS News to host a Republican debate. The televised debate is meant to be about the candidates talking directly to their electorate, but they also produce a wealth of material for the political satirists. The first debate, hosted by Fox News, provided much flapping of gums and some pretty bad lip reading. Bad Lip Reading is an anonymously run YouTube channel that dubs over what is really being said in TV clips with voice overs that match the lip movements of the speaker. The video has racked up more than 10 million views online. Enjoy and see you next week!

Over the past few weeks, violent clashes have erupted in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, with youths taking to the streets to protest against an occupation that has lasted almost half a century. Israel has been swift and brutal in its response - to date, more than 50 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces. Videos of these attacks, as well as the reprisals, have been broadcast by mainstream media causing some to conclude that the news is fuelling the sense of grievance and then the violence. Whenever violence flares in this region, there are complaints from both sides over how this story is reported, and the same concerns - the lack of context, the issues around terminology and the way the stories are framed - have come to the fore once again. Talking us through the media side of this ongoing story is Luke Baker, the bureau chief for the Reuters news agency in Jerusalem; Ben Hartman, a reporter with the Jerusalem Post; Jim Naureckas, an editor at the US-based media watchdog FAIR.org; and Mouin Rabbani, a senior fellow at the Institute for Palestine Studies. Also: The Listening Post's Marcela Pizarro looks at the issues surrounding binary narratives in the news media.

Often, news stories go beyond what meets the eye. There are certain news events that, when you examine the media coverage of them, reveal much about the larger story. The disaster that struck the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca is an example of that - reflected through the lenses of Saudi and Iranian media, in particular. On September 24, two throngs of pilgrims met at an intersection in an area called Mina near Mecca. What happened next is unclear, as is the death toll, but we do know that hundreds of people lost their lives. Journalists say that they were denied access to the scene for seven hours - which does not help with newsgathering. And although Saudi Arabia offered an official death toll of 769, some speculate that that was an exercise of damage control in this public relations disaster - and that the figure is much higher. The larger story is the geopolitics of the region. The news reports coming out of Saudi Arabia and Iran on the Hajj crush moved swiftly from sympathy to recrimination and started to look like a proxy war of words. Other media stories on our radar this week: Despite continuous media crackdown, President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi lauds Egypt's "unprecedented freedom of expression"; Israeli soldiers assault two AFP journalists in the West Bank; and Estonia launches Russian TV channel to curb the Kremlin's influence. Mexico: No country for journalists Journalism in Mexico is under attack. Ruben Espinosa, shot dead on August 1, is the latest in a long line of journalists killed, assaulted or threatened while working in the country. But it is not just the coverage of violence or drug cartels that seems to get journalists into trouble. The Listening Post's Will Young explores the no go areas in Mexico and finds out why there are so many red lines for those trying to report on those stories.

On October 10, two bombs went off at a peace rally in the Turkish capital Ankara, killing nearly 100 people. Authorities were quick to issue orders on how to cover the attacks, forbidding publication of pictures of the bombs. Internet providers were reportedly told to slow down social media sites. The call for a media blackout after the attacks is symptomatic of a wider approach by the Erdogan government towards any critical media. The political situation in Turkey is particularly tense right now – the military is fighting Kurdish fighters in the southeast and authorities are having to deal with the ISIL threat across the border, and with a make-or-break election looming next month, critics say the fight to drown out opposition voices and to control the media message has intensified. Talking us through the story this week is media scholar Asli Tunc; Mehves Evin, a journalist with Diken Online; Yavuz Baydar, from the P24 independent news outlet; and Hilal Kaplan, a columnist with Sabah newspaper. Other stories on our radar this week - the Taliban in Afghanistan have threatened two privately-owned TV networks after accusing them of being American propagandists; after 450 days behind bars, Iranian authorities convict Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, but do not reveal any details of his sentence; and an Egyptian TV host airs footage of an apparent Russian airstrike against ISIL in Syria - the only problem was that the footage was from a video game. And in this week's feature, The Listening Post's Flo Phillips heads to Canada to look at the impact the oil and gas industry has on the media.

When Russia's military intervention began in Syria recently, the global media had plenty of questions to ask about the airstrikes. What were the targets? Where did the bombs fall? Were civilians among those killed? However, in Russia the media tended to be far more lenient and toed the Kremlin line. One reporter assessed the weather conditions in Syria for Russian fighter jets. Critical coverage of the Russian airstrikes has predominantly come from Western news outlets which had another big story to cover last week: The bombing of a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, by an American gunship which claimed more than 20 lives. However the tone and terminology used in much of that coverage - particularly in the US - displayed a far more cautious approach to the story. The reporting has said a lot about how US news outlets cover American military intervention compared to other countries. We talk to Jamal Dajani, journalist and founder of Arab Talk; Alexei Khlebnikov, Middle East and Russia analyst; Ben Norton, politics staff writer at Salon; and Chris Woods, project leader at airwars.org. Other media stories on our radar this week: A prominent Turkish journalist has been attacked outside his home in Istanbul; Somalian forces shut down a TV station and arrested two journalists there; and a reporter working for a Lebanese news channel has been seriously injured while reporting in East Jerusalem. And in our feature The Listening Post's Meenakshi Ravi looks at India and Pakistan's cross-border media clash

Jeremy Corbyn's resounding victory as the leader of the UK's opposition Labour party has divided the media, with large segments of the press launching hostile attacks on the veteran politician. Despite convincingly winning the leadership contest with 59.5 percent of votes, the 66-year-old and his allies have been depicted as terrorist sympathisers and threats to national security. Pledging to fight public-spending cuts and efforts to curb anti-trade-union powers, his win and the growing support for avowed socialists has raised the ire of the media. The popularity of Democratic nominee Bernie Sanders in the race for the US presidency has also been overlooked by the media, as has Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain. This week, The Listening Post looks at disruptive politics, and whether the the Fourth Estate, journalism, has become the fifth column of democracy. Discussing the story are: Joey Jones, a deputy political Editor at Sky News; Toby Young, a journalist and author; Richard Seymour, a contributing Editor at Salvage Magazine; Samira Ahmed, a journalist and media watcher and Adam Johnson, an associate Editor at Alternet.

Jeremy Corbyn's landslide victory as the Labour Party’s new leader on September 12 left the UK's media baffled. Considered an eccentric, leftist outsider by some just a few months ago, Corbyn's appointment and sudden success defied the mainstream media's hostile stand, which initially deemed him unelectable. The new leader's media strategy, which on the one hand appears free of spin, and on other, antagonist, forced news outlets, including even liberal news outlets, to re-evaluate the way they report on Westminster. And the story in the UK seems to reflect a larger trend. On the other side of the Atlantic, Bernie Sanders, a fringe presidential candidate on the left, has similarly burst onto the media scene. While his media strategy appears more sophisticated, he has more than just a hostile media to face - competing for airtime with the press-circus of his Republican rival, Donald Trump. Talking us through the political media divide are Sky News Deputy Political Editor Joey Jones; Journalist and Author Toby Young; Contributing Editor to Salvage Magazine Richard Seymour; Journalist and Media Watcher Samira Ahmed; and Alternet’s Associate Editor Adam Johnson. Other stories on our radar this week: Two Al Jazeera journalists released in Egypt, but the struggle is far from over; UK communications regulator Ofcom backs BBC in RT case; and an armed Bangladeshi group takes its fight against secular bloggers abroad. Syria's Television Industry Before the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, Syria was famous for its output of soap-style television shows. But the ongoing conflict has hit the industry hard. With many directors, actors and producers seeking refuge abroad, The Listening Post’s Gouri Sharma reports on what Syrian television looks like today, and what it still manages to produce under challenging circumstances. Subscribe to our channel http://bit.ly/AJSubscribe Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/AJEnglish Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera Check our website http://www.aljazeera.com/

Raids, arrests, threats and deportation - journalism is becoming increasingly dangerous in Turkey as the government clamps down on the media covering stories it wants ignored. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been accused of a heavy-handed approach with journalists after one of the country's largest media houses - Dogan Media Group - was investigated for alleged "terrorism propaganda." The probe came on the heels of the Nokta news magazine being raided and it's latest edition being banned; and three journalists from the New York-based Vice News being arrested in Diyarbakir for quote "working for a terrorist organisation". At a time when entire cities in the southeast - Diyarbakir and Cizre - have been placed under curfew, Erdogan's latest crackdown has made a military offensive against Kurdish separatists increasingly difficult to cover. Discussing Turkey’s deteriorating state of press freedom are: Idil Engindeniz, a media scholar at Galatasaray University; Bekir Hazar, the host at TV show Yaz Boz; Cevheri Guven, Editor at Nokta magazine; and Murat Bayram, a reporter for Kurdistan 24. Other media stories on our radar this week: journalists keep getting arrested and detained in Thailand; Charlie Hebdo's controversial cartoon poking fun at the death of Alan Kurdi; and the murder of a journalist in Colombia - that was caught on camera. Bosnia's divided media Twenty years ago this December, a three-year-long civil war ended in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a complex power sharing arrangement that split the country in two. The two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina administered by Bosnian Muslims; and the Republika Srpska, administered by Serbs; created a complicated political structure that also divided the media landscape. In an effort to transcend the ethnic divide, journalists are banding together to combat a range of political and economic pressures. The Listening Post's Flo Phillips reports from Sarajevo on their efforts and the problems Bosnian journalists face on a daily basis.