Journalism--and journalists--the target of violent attacks in Egypt

The latest turn in the political uprising in Egypt--and one that is particularly relevant for my media students to consider--is the clampdown on journalism by Egyptian authorities who are desperate to prevent the free flow of information from Egypt to the outside world.

Having already blacked out the internet a week ago, Egyptian authorities in the past few days have taken extreme measures to quell the spread of reports by journalists, both foreign and domestic. "Gangs of thugs" (presumably secret police under command of Mubarak's regime) are violently attacking foreign news agency headquarters, vehicles, and journalists themselves.

“It appears that journalists are being targeted by the Egyptian authorities in a deliberate campaign of intimidation aimed at quashing honest, independent reporting of a transformational event,” said The Washington Post’s foreign editor, Douglas Jehl.

In a richly-textured Op-Ed column entitled We Are All Egyptians, Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times said: "Mubarak has disgraced the twilight of his presidency. His government appears to have unleashed a brutal crackdown — hunting down human rights activists, journalists and, of course, demonstrators themselves, all while trying to block citizens from Tahrir Square. As I arrived near the square in the morning, I encountered a line of Mr. Mubarak’s goons carrying wooden clubs with nails embedded in them."

As reported by Jeremy Peters and David Goodman for The New York Times:

No news organization seemed exempt from the rage, which escalated as the week wore on. Whether from Western or Arab media, television networks or wire services, newspapers or photo syndicates, journalists were chased through the streets and had their equipment stolen or smashed. Some were beaten so badly that they required hospital treatment.

ABC News reported that one of its crews was carjacked on Thursday and threatened with beheading. A Reuters journalist said a “gang of thugs” had stormed the news service’s office and started smashing windows. And four journalists from The Washington Post were detained by forces that they suspected were from the Interior Ministry. All four were released by early Friday. But two of them, the paper’s Cairo bureau chief and a photographer, had been ordered not to leave a local hotel.

Michael Scherer reports in a blog for Time Magazine that

The Associated Press reports that military police raided the offices of human rights workers from Amnesty International and arrested at least 30, and that the Army was rounding up journalists. There are clear signs that the Mubarak regime is organizing these attacks and directing the violence.

Mark Cina of Reuters news wire has collected Twitter reports today from television and print journalists--many of them very prominent--who have experienced this violence first-hand today in Cairo:

Anderson Cooper (CNN): "Got roughed up by thugs in pro-mubarak crowd..punched and kicked repeatedly. Had to escape. Safe now ... Thanks for tweets of concern..I'm sore and head hurts but fine. Neil and mary anne are bruised but ok too. Thanks"

ABC News' Brian Hartman: "Just escaped after being carjacked at a checkpoint and driven to a compound where men surrounded the car and threatened to behead us ... One man who swore to kill us wore police uniform. Mubarak banner over the scene. But anger at perceived media bias was genuine."

Katie Couric (CBS): "Outside square Pro mubarak protestors very hostile...wouldn't let us shoot video, pushing etc another photog just got punched and maced ... It is pretty scary and unruly out there, but we're being very cautious."

Al-Jazeera's Dan Nolan: "2 sides faced off for 15mins, no violence just war of chants then kaboom! Don't know what exactly ignited it but boy did it turn ugly fast! ... Sorry for the radio silence guys but situation has become much worse in past 24hrs esp for media even more so for aljazeera!"

Independent Television News' Jonathan Rugman: "Morning from Cairo! Thugs we think are Mubarak secret police threatening journalists. Many turned back for safety ... One journalist punched in face, another stabbed in leg by pro-Mubarak thugs in Cairo this morning. On their way to hospital now ... Gunfire as anti Mubarak protestors push beyond their barricades ... Chant going up "the regime must cpme down" ... What I have not described is the constant chanting, shouting, beating of metal barricades - all night and all day."

Al-Jazeera's Anna-Lisa Fuglesang: "So I'm in what people are calling a war zone, journos with bandages on their heads. I on the other hand have got an eye infection ... Monday we were out filming freely talking to people on the streets. The atmosphere was good. Today we can't leave our hotel .. All the journos sitting in the hotel lobby have been moved away from the entrance. Rocks are being thrown close to the front door."

Christiane Amanpour (ABC): "Tried filming on bridge into sq. Mob surrounded us, chased us into car shouting that they hate America - kicked in doors & broke windshield ... In the pre-dawn hours, there was heavy shooting into the protesters & into that square, where women & children also had been all night."

The situation has become desperate, and the attacks on journalists, in violation of international agreements to honor freedom of the press, are being decried by many world leaders.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the assaults on American journalists by saying, "This is a violation of international norms that guarantee freedom of the press and it is unacceptable under any circumstances."

To end with a quote from Kristof's moving column:

The lion-hearted Egyptians I met on Tahrir Square are risking their lives to stand up for democracy and liberty, and they deserve our strongest support — and, frankly, they should inspire us as well. A quick lesson in colloquial Egyptian Arabic: Innaharda, ehna kullina Misryeen! Today, we are all Egyptians!