Egypt 'declaring journalism a crime' by jailing Al-Jazeera correspondents

The Guardian ^ | June 23 2014 | Harriet Sherwood

[PoloSec]

Journalists and media organisations have warned that the jailing of three correspondents for Al-Jazeera English by the Cairo regime was intended to intimidate others from reporting freely on events in Egypt.

The jail terms of between seven and ten years for Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were met with outrage from veteran correspondents who have reported on the Egyptian uprising and its aftermath.

Jeremy Bowen, the BBC's Middle East editor, said the verdicts and sentencing were a blow to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. "This is also at least partly designed to intimidate other journalists, and to deny the oxygen of publicity to the Muslim Brotherhood."

Ben de Pear, the editor of Channel 4 News, said he was "appalled and deeply worried by the sentences and what they mean for media freedom in Egypt. I think what the Egyptians are trying to do is intimidate the media at home and abroad to stop proper journalistic coverage of events in Egypt. The freedoms that Egyptians fought so hard for in the Arab spring are rubbished by these sentences."

He called for a robust response from the US and the UK, who were "if not acquiescing, still talking to the Egyptian regime."

De Pear added: "As the editor of an organisation that has sent journalists to Egypt throughout the Arab spring, we now have to think hard about how we cover this story. We won't stop doing it, but this presents a new risk."

[vladimir998]

Coming from The Guardian that’s hilarious. They rarely stumble across journalism.

[Gene Eric]

True, but I recently noticed but one article that was leaning towards objectivity.

[DaveA37]

This should happen here in America, maybe we would be getting the true news stories instead of fabricated ones.
Might get rid of MANY of the culprits.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

we now have to think hard about how we cover this story. We won't stop doing it, but this presents a new risk."

Oh look at the brave reporters. They like to pat each other on the back about how brave and heroic they are, but when it comes to a remote chance that they may end up in jail, they tuck tail and run. Their "bravery" extends only to insulting Christians and conservatives.

[canuck_conservative]

and to deny the oxygen of publicity to the Muslim Brotherhood

Well, to give oxygen to the Muslim Nazis would be idiotic

If the Guardian is outraged, I'm guessing these jailed "journalists" were actually propagandists for the MB

Keep up the jailin'

[Bender2]

Re; Egypt 'declaring journalism a crime' by jailing Al-Jazeera correspondents

Can we get these Egyptians to take a look... at ABC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN, NYTimes and the WasPo?

[oldbrowser]

This should happen here in America, maybe we would be getting the true news stories instead of fabricated ones. Might get rid of MANY of the culprits.

They should be arrested for impersonating journalists.

How about propagandizing while a journalist?

[null and void]

Al-Jazeera just isn't radical enough.

Somewhere in Washington someone is frantically taking notes...

[SevenofNine]

Bender I think safe to say Egypt can’t handle the truth this crock crime here

Other networks should be investigated

[SandRat]

That’ why they are called Urinalists

[hal ogen]

They should be jailed for impersonating journalists. Real journalists have integrity.

[SunkenCiv]

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