Death of Rupert Hamer in Afghanistan11 Jan 2010Statement from Media Workers Against the War It is with deep sadness that media workers learned of the tragic death of Rupert Hamer, the Sunday Mirror’s defence correspondent, in Afghanistan on Sunday, and the serious injuries sustained by photographer Phil Coburn. We extend our deepest sympathies to Rupert’s wife and children, to his colleagues at the Sunday [...]
Groundhog day in Afghanistan9 Jul 2009What a difference two weeks makes. The media have swung from triumphalism to despair as British troops have died almost daily during Operation ?Panther?s Claw? in Helmand. ?Triumph for Brits in raid on Helmand? was the Mirror headline on June 23. ?Commanders hailed the assault as ?very successful?, with no British soldiers killed and none seriously [...]
Groundhog day in Afghanistan9 Jul 2009What a difference two weeks makes. The media have swung from triumphalism to despair as British troops have died almost daily after the launch of Operation ?Panther?s Claw? in Helmand. ?Triumph for Brits in raid on Helmand? was the Mirror headline on June 23. ?Commanders hailed the assault as ?very successful?, with no British soldiers killed [...]
The good war? Afghanistan in the media6 Jul 2009Public meeting With speakers: Stephen Grey, investigative journalist embedded with British troops in Helmand and author: “Operation Snakebite: The Explosive True Story of an Afghan Desert Siege“, and “Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program” Guy Smallman, photojournalist, recently returned from Afghanistan Seumas Milne, columnist, the Guardian And others Monday July 13, 7pm Friends Meeting House (small hall) 173 Euston [...]
The good war? Afghanistan in the media6 Jul 2009Public meeting With speakers: Stephen Grey, investigative journalist embedded with British troops in Helmand and author: “Operation Snakebite: The Explosive True Story of an Afghan Desert Siege“, and “Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program” Guy Smallman, photojournalist, recently returned from Afghanistan Seumas Milne, columnist, the Guardian And others Monday July 13, 7pm Friends Meeting House (small hall) 173 Euston [...]
Defend BBC?s Jeremy Bowen from Zionist lobby19 Apr 2009BBC senior management is on the offensive over Gaza. Stung by the widespread criticism of its refusal to broadcast the DEC Gaza aid appeal in January, it has singled out its key Middle East editor and is trying to bully him into silence. The BBC Trust’s preposterous attack on Jeremy Bowen last week is a crude [...]
Defend BBC?s Jeremy Bowen from Zionist lobby19 Apr 2009BBC senior management is on the offensive over Gaza. Stung by the widespread criticism of its refusal to broadcast the DEC Gaza aid appeal in January, it has singled out its key Middle East editor and is trying to bully him into silence. The BBC Trust’s preposterous attack on Jeremy Bowen last week is a crude [...]
BBC workers petition Thompson on Gaza appeal20 Feb 2009Following the decision by BBC Trust yesterday to back Thompson on his refusal to broadast the DEC GAza aid appeal, a petition signed by almost 400 staff was handed to the director general?s office in White City today (Friday Feb 20) at 13.00. A copy of the petition was also be simultaneously delivered to the [...]
Gaza convoy supporters freed by police20 Feb 2009By Yvonne Ridley As a journalist I love being first with the news so when I was handed a red hot exclusive story a few hours ago I could barely contain myself. I already had a captive audience having just finished a live broadcast for Press TV in front of scores of members of the Viva [...]
BBC workers petition Thompson on Gaza appeal20 Feb 2009Following the decision by BBC Trust yesterday to back Thompson on his refusal to broadast the DEC GAza aid appeal, a petition signed by almost 400 staff was handed to the director general?s office in White City today (Friday Feb 20) at 13.00. A copy of the petition was also be simultaneously delivered to the [...]
Gaza convoy supporters freed by police20 Feb 2009By Yvonne Ridley As a journalist I love being first with the news so when I was handed a red hot exclusive story a few hours ago I could barely contain myself. I already had a captive audience having just finished a live broadcast for Press TV in front of scores of members of the Viva [...]
BBC in revolt over Gaza2 Feb 2009The BBC is still seething in response to it’s director general Mark Thompson’s decision not to broadcast the Gaza aid appeal. At least three BBC NUJ workplace branches have passed motions calling on the BBC to transmit the Gaza aid appeal. A petition is circulating within the corporation which concludes: “The victims of Gaza deserve the [...]
GAZA: FAILED BY THE MEDIA2 Feb 2009CANCELLEDBECAUSE OF THE WEATHER PUBLIC MEETING – ALL WELCOME! With speakers: Ghada Karmi, Guardian columnist Richard Horton, The Lancet Jeremy Dear, general secretary, NUJ Lauren Booth, presenter, Press TV Jane Shallice, Stop the War Coalition BBC journalist Student from King’s College occupation Monday February 2 7pm Old Cinema lecture theatre Westminster University 309 Regent Street London W1B 2UW Nearest tube: Oxford Circus Map: http://tinyurl.com/dj6ywh ALL WELCOME! Hosted by Media Workers Against the [...]
BBC review found ?disparity? in Israel?s favour2 Feb 2009The debate over of the BBC’s refusal to air the DEC Gaza aid appeal has largely overlooked an important document. In 2006 a BBC investigation into the impartiality of its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict found that there was a “disparity” in favour of Israel because the Corporation failed to make clear that the Palestinians [...]
GAZA: FAILED BY THE MEDIA2 Feb 2009CANCELLEDBECAUSE OF THE WEATHER PUBLIC MEETING - ALL WELCOME! With speakers: Ghada Karmi, Guardian columnist Richard Horton, The Lancet Jeremy Dear, general secretary, NUJ Lauren Booth, presenter, Press TV Jane Shallice, Stop the War Coalition BBC journalist Student from King’s College occupation Monday February 2 7pm Old Cinema lecture theatre Westminster University 309 Regent Street London W1B 2UW Nearest tube: Oxford Circus Map: http://tinyurl.com/dj6ywh ALL WELCOME! Hosted by Media Workers Against the [...]
BBC review found ?disparity? in Israel?s favour2 Feb 2009The debate over of the BBC’s refusal to air the DEC Gaza aid appeal has largely overlooked an important document. In 2006 a BBC investigation into the impartiality of its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict found that there was a “disparity” in favour of Israel because the Corporation failed to make clear that the Palestinians [...]
BBC in revolt over Gaza2 Feb 2009The BBC is still seething in response to it’s director general Mark Thompson’s decision not to broadcast the Gaza aid appeal. At least three BBC NUJ workplace branches have passed motions calling on the BBC to transmit the Gaza aid appeal. A petition is circulating within the corporation which concludes: “The victims of Gaza deserve the [...]
Eight reasons why the BBC is wrong on Gaza25 Jan 2009This article assesses the BBC Board’s arguments not to broadcast the Disasters Emergency Committee. 1. BBC director general Mark Thomson says: “The danger for the BBC is that this could be interpreted as taking a political stance on an ongoing story. When we have turned down DEC appeals in the past on impartiality grounds it has [...]
Gaza Media watch: Israelis admit Hamas not in UN school9 Jan 2009The UN said on Wednesday night that the Israeli military had privately admitted that the shelling of a UN school in Jabaliya which killed more than 40 Palestinians on Tuesday was in response to militant fire from OUTSIDE, not inside, the UN compound. This fact was ignored by ALL the mainstream media apart from Rory McCarthy [...]
Fisk: ?We cannot report Gaza like a football match?8 Jan 2009Robert Fisk explains that “It is the job of journalists to be impartial on the side of those who suffer most” in an excellent discussion of media coverage of the Gaza conflict on the World Service (Jan 7). Below there follows a transcript of Fisk’s remarks on Israeli censorship, journalistic impartiality and Middle East history, which [...]
Defend journalist who threw shoes at Bush15 Dec 2008Muntadar al-Zeidi, the correspondent for Iraqi-owned Al-Baghdadiya television based who threw shoes at Bush in Baghdad yesterday, shouted “Killer of Iraqis, killer of children” as he threw his shoes at the US president ? showing the soles of your shoes is regarded as an extreme form of disrespect in Iraq. Middle East expert Juan Cole reports [...]
Dog-whistle journalism: The Times, Ramadan and the London Olympics29 Oct 2008Grumpy Muslims in 2012 Olympics terror shock! When Muslims are feeling tired and hungry during Ramadan they present a terrorist danger, alleges the Times. The story is so pathetic that it barely warrants serious discussion. But it’s there in the Times. On page 4. And the article is typical of so much media reporting of Islam. The [...]
Peace protestors compared to rapists and murderers29 Oct 2008Last month The London Paper printed very serious allegations about four protestors on the June 15 demonstration in London against George Bush (see below). One of our supporters wrote to the reporter whose byline accompanied the piece. He replied: “We publicised a police appeal in exactly the same way we would publish a police appeal for a [...]
For the media, slump + war = racism13 Oct 2008When the financial crisis reached new depths in mid-September, Britain was gripped by a wave of anger at the spivs and speculators who had made fortunes out of others’ misery. But it didn’t take long for the British press to find someone else to blame for the crisis ? an Afghan refugee single mother. On the [...]
Media Workers Against War