Summary: 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/
