The Listening Post

We discuss media treatment of the whistleblower and the journalist who brought his revelations to light.

Before Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the NSA’s extensive surveillance programmes on American citizens, he travelled to Hong Kong to escape the reach of the United States' justice system. Perhaps he was mindful of the fate of Bradley Manning, who faces life in prison for releasing thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks. But while Snowden may have outrun the long arm of the law, he could not avoid trial by media. Snowden has been described as a "weasel", a "narcissist" and a "punk" - not by US politicians or officials but by the journalists and newscasters leading the debate over his actions. And the discussion in the mainstream media seems more focused on Snowden’s pole-dancing girlfriend and high school record than on one of the most comprehensive telephone and online surveillance programmes in human history. It raises the question: Why focus on the character of the leaker and not the content of the leak? Is the media once again, shooting the messenger? This week’s News Divide takes US journalism to task over its treatment of Edward Snowden and those who dare to leak government secrets to the press. We interviewed former whistleblower Thomas Drake, who revealed classified information on NSA surveillance in 2010; Jesselyn Radack, from the Government Accountability Project; and reporters Hamilton Nolan of Gawker; and Dana Priest from the Washington Post.

This week, a special edition of the Listening Post with a special report on Bradley Manning and an exclusive interview with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange from inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

The late American writer Susan Sontag said that to photograph is to frame - and to frame is to exclude. She was saying that, as a medium, photography is, and has always been, subjective. However in the digital era there is a new and growing subjectivity in photojournalism, one that you have most likely seen but not necessarily noticed.It is called post-processing. It is when photographers digitally enhance their work to make it more captivating to the eye. The practise has raised some ethical questions within the industry and underscoring the debate is the winner of the 2013 World Press Photo award.

Turks first took to the streets on May 28 to demonstrate against the redevelopment of a park in Istanbul. Over the course of a week the non-violent demonstration escalated into large-scale anti-government protests. The subsequent crackdown by the authorities turned violent but much of Turkey's domestic media ignored the story. Our News Divide this week assesses what the domestic coverage of the protests – or the lack of - says about media ownership in Turkey and the relations those companies have with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government. Plus: The Listening Post's Nicholas Muirhead looks at this year's World Press Photo Awards and the growing use of post-processing in photojournalism.

Turks first took to the streets on May 28 to demonstrate against the redevelopment of a park in Istanbul. Over the course of a week the non-violent demonstration escalated into large-scale anti-government protests. The subsequent crackdown by the authorities turned violent but much of Turkey's domestic media ignored the story. Our News Divide this week assesses what the domestic coverage of the protests – or the lack of - says about media ownership in Turkey and the relations those companies have with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government. Plus: The Listening Post's Nicholas Muirhead looks at this year's World Press Photo Awards and the growing use of post-processing in photojournalism.

In 2011, Egypt's year of revolutionary change, Egypt Independent, the country’s first independent, English-language weekly, published its inaugural print edition. The idea behind it was "to serve as an insightful digest of the country's dynamic times". It started life online - as a digital sister publication for the country’s flagship independent paper, Al-Masry Al-Youm. Known for challenging the country’s status quo with contentious editorials, the paper blossomed during the revolution. It weathered the storms of both the SCAF regime era and the initial stages of the Mohamed Morsi government. But Egypt Independent's days were numbered. This past month the editorial team was told the paper was being closed down. Its last edition never even made to the newsstand. Management cited financial reasons for the closure but the editorial staff - a questioning bunch by nature - almost all say they had suspicions the motive went beyond economics.

It was one of those images that, once you saw it, you knew it would be everywhere in news media around the world: A knife-wielding man, hands stained with blood, making a confession – that he had committed murder on a London street in an act of revenge for Muslims killed abroad. The victim, a British soldier, was hacked to death. The confession was filmed on a phone camera. In the coming days, no one with a television, smartphone or personal computer, or who walked past a newspaper stand, could have avoided the images. The message dictated by the killer himself was printed on the front page of the Guardian: “You people will never be safe.” In the age of YouTube and social media, perhaps it was inevitable that TV news channels would broadcast the killer’s warning, complete with his bloodstained hands and knife. But the description of the event as an act of "terror" sparked debate. The terrorist’s raison d’etre is to spread fear, foster hatred and inspire further violence. Thanks to the media, in this case it was mission accomplished. But did the word terrorism really apply in this case? And if not, in whose interest was it that the term be used? Did the media give the story the coverage it deserved, or was that coverage irresponsible? This week’s News Divide examines how journalists and broadcasters navigated the fallout from the Woolwich attack. We speak to Ian Burrell, Media Editor of the Independent; Charlie Beckett, director of the POLIS media think tank at the London School of Economics; Arun Kundnani, author of The End of Tolerance; and media lawyer, Korieh Duodu.

It was one of those images that, once you saw it, you knew it would be everywhere in news media around the world: A knife-wielding man, hands stained with blood, making a confession – that he had committed murder on a London street in an act of revenge for Muslims killed abroad. The victim, a British soldier, was hacked to death. The confession was filmed on a phone camera. In the coming days, no one with a television, smartphone or personal computer, or who walked past a newspaper stand, could have avoided the images. The message dictated by the killer himself was printed on the front page of the Guardian: “You people will never be safe.” In the age of YouTube and social media, perhaps it was inevitable that TV news channels would broadcast the killer’s warning, complete with his bloodstained hands and knife. But the description of the event as an act of "terror" sparked debate. The terrorist’s raison d’etre is to spread fear, foster hatred and inspire further violence. Thanks to the media, in this case it was mission accomplished. But did the word terrorism really apply in this case? And if not, in whose interest was it that the term be used? Did the media give the story the coverage it deserved, or was that coverage irresponsible? This week’s News Divide examines how journalists and broadcasters navigated the fallout from the Woolwich attack. We speak to Ian Burrell, Media Editor of the Independent; Charlie Beckett, director of the POLIS media think tank at the London School of Economics; Arun Kundnani, author of The End of Tolerance; and media lawyer, Korieh Duodu.

Journalists are supposed to pick their words carefully and most news organisations have books that spell out the do’s and don’t’s of terminology; what kind of language to use when dealing with contentious topics, and what terms to avoid. The news business is a minefield of controversial terminology and last month, the news agency the Associated Press called time on one phrase, illegal immigrant. The reason given was that the word 'illegal' should not be used to describe a person. 'Illegal', according to the AP, should only describe an action, such as living in a country illegally. AP’s style guide is among the most influential in the news business. The agency provides wire services to thousands of news organisations – 1,400 print outlets in the US alone and 5,000 broadcasters around the world. So when the AP makes a change, it matters: not just for the agency, but for all who subscribe to its services and adopt its language.

"Every picture tells a story" is a lesson the media learned a long time ago. Now, in the age of new media, amateur video footage comes with a string of narratives loaded with political intent. Nowhere has that been more true than in Syria where forces fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have wielded video cameras wherever their comrades have aimed their guns. But judging by footage filmed by the rebels themselves showing their own acts of torture, executions and now cannibalism, it seems that the power of the media may have gone to their heads. The News Divide this week takes a fresh look Syria through the increasingly complex war of images and representations. We speak to Jillian C York of the Electronic Frontier Foundation; Dina Matar, senior lecturer in Arab Media and Political Communication at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London; Syrian journalist Malek Al-Abdeh and the Syrian political consultant and commentator, George Ajjan.

"Every picture tells a story" is a lesson the media learned a long time ago. Now, in the age of new media, amateur video footage comes with a string of narratives loaded with political intent. Nowhere has that been more true than in Syria where forces fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have wielded video cameras wherever their comrades have aimed their guns. But judging by footage filmed by the rebels themselves showing their own acts of torture, executions and now cannibalism, it seems that the power of the media may have gone to their heads. The News Divide this week takes a fresh look Syria through the increasingly complex war of images and representations. We speak to Jillian C York of the Electronic Frontier Foundation; Dina Matar, senior lecturer in Arab Media and Political Communication at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London; Syrian journalist Malek Al-Abdeh and the Syrian political consultant and commentator, George Ajjan.

On May 10th, the Associated Press news agency received an email from the US Department of Justice saying that records of more than 20 phone lines assigned to its reporters had been secretly seized as part of an investigation into a government leak. The government claimed it was a matter of national security, while the AP called it an unprecedented intrusion into its newsgathering operations. But should the journalistic community be so surprised? With the Obama White House's track record on whistleblowers and WikiLeaks, the move to spy on AP seems consistent with an administration more committed to secrecy than ever before. Is the United States still the land of the free for journalists and their sources? In this week's News Divide we speak to Laura Malone, legal counsel for the Associated Press; Jeremy Scahill, author of Dirty Wars; The World is a Battlefield; the investigative reporter Dana Priest of the Washington Post; and Ben Wizner from the American Civil Liberties Union.

On May 10th, the Associated Press news agency received an email from the US Department of Justice saying that records of more than 20 phone lines assigned to its reporters had been secretly seized as part of an investigation into a government leak. The government claimed it was a matter of national security, while the AP called it an unprecedented intrusion into its newsgathering operations. But should the journalistic community be so surprised? With the Obama White House's track record on whistleblowers and WikiLeaks, the move to spy on AP seems consistent with an administration more committed to secrecy than ever before. Is the United States still the land of the free for journalists and their sources? In this week's News Divide we speak to Laura Malone, legal counsel for the Associated Press; Jeremy Scahill, author of Dirty Wars; The World is a Battlefield; the investigative reporter Dana Priest of the Washington Post; and Ben Wizner from the American Civil Liberties Union.

The US presidential election was one of the biggest stories of 2012, and when it came to predictions, there was only one winner. Statistician Nate Silver cut through the political ads, the barrage of polls and did what mainstream media struggled to do, predicting a simple win for President Barack Obama. Silver, who runs the numbers blog on the New York Times website, Five Thirty Eight, did not just predict the win – he accurately predicted the result in all 50 states.