Red Lines and military strikes: Media coverage of the Syrian war - The Listening Post (Full)

Summary: On The Listening Post this week: We map the politics and the aesthetics of news coverage on Syria. Plus, the enduring sexism in Italian media. Red lines and military strikes: Media coverage of the Syrian war When footage of an alleged chemical weapons attack was beamed out of Douma, the narrative from many in the western mainstream media echoed their own governments' - a red line had been crossed - it was a transgression that could not go unpunished. A big part of the geo-political showdown that has ensued is being fought out over the airwaves – and when it comes to state propaganda, you've got to hand it to the Russians. If only their media could bring the same scrutiny to the Kremlin that they do with the White House. Contributors: Omar Al-Ghazzi, professor of media and communications, LSE Tara McCormack, academic, University of Leicester Adam Johnson, contributing analyst, FAIR.org Marianna Belenkaya, journalist, Kommersant newspaper On our radar Richard Gizbert speaks with producer Meenakshi Ravi about Russia's decision to block access to the messaging service Telegram and the backlash Facebook's fact-checking initiative is facing in the Philippines. Victim-blaming & objectification: Sexim in Italy's media It's been more than six months since Harvey Weinstein's sexual harassment story gave birth to the hashtag #MeToo. The Italian version of that hashtag - #QuellaVoltaChe - translates to 'That time when…' But that's where the similarities end. In the US, prominent figures in the news media were pushed from their televised pedestals. In Italy, there have been very few names named, and much of the scrutiny has been directed at the accusers rather than the accused. And by bringing out some of the worst tendencies in Italy's male-dominated media, the story and the way it's been covered have enabled activists and certain journalists to draw attention to the deeper, institutional issue: systemic sexism. Contributors: Elisa Giomi, professor of sociology, Universita Roma Tre Pietro Senaldi, director, Libero newspaper Gianmaria Tammaro, columnist, La Stampa newspaper Claudia Torrisi, columnist, Valigia Blu Solen De Luca, presenter, TV2000 More from The Listening Post on: YouTube - http://aje.io/listeningpostYT Facebook - http://facebook.com/AJListeningPost Twitter - http://twitter.com/AJListeningPost Website - http://aljazeera.com/listeningpost - Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe - Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish - Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera - Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/