Edited: Aha...they actually printed my letter and yet, as always, the better bits removed. *sigh* I see they took out the reference to journalist being held at the airports. Hmmm......
http://gulf-daily-news.com/ArchiveNewsDetails.aspx?date=03/03/2011&storyid=300950
Ok, the link isn't working but it's the gulf-daily-news.com March 3, 2011 letters section. Second letter down.
I've been reading a plethora of letters lamenting the one-sided views of recent events in Bahrain as depicted by the world media.
Apparently the writers believe that TV still remains the number one source of "fast breaking news". I would like to introduce these out-of-date writers to two fast breaking sources they may be unfamiliar with - Twitter and Facebook.
Anyone that has had an ounce of interest in what was happening, first in Tunisia, then Egypt, then Bahrain and now Libya, are aware of the power these sites have given the common man on the street - where all the action is taking place. Twitter has been full of people reporting being shot at by police while demonstrating peacefully - while it is happening! They report attacks, beatings, gunfire and so much bloodshed.
Twitter and Facebook are full of videos from the people right there, for the rest of the world to know what is happening.
Twitter followers and Facebook users have sat horrified at computers, watching events unfold as each new story, picture and video has brought to life the horrors the Middle East dictators have unleashed against their citizens.
We don't need BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, etc to inform us, rightly or wrongly, of anything we can't find out from people there.
No longer can these rulers keep the truth from the world by blacking out the media and telling false stories of how events are unfolding (as they are still trying to do).
We are bystanders to these bloody revolutions going on as I write, but we are also witnesses, who may not be putting our lives in danger by facing trigger-happy government puppets, but we do what we can by sending on these tweets to everyone we can think of by linking our Facebook pages with pictures and videos so that the world can see the truth even if BBC and CNN choose to show something different.
You, as a viewer, have the option of choosing what you watch. If you think these media sources are one-sided, then join Twitter or Facebook if you haven't already and start following the people following those in the middle of the violence.
If you don't believe their first-hand accounts, then watch the videos. It is rather hard to Photoshop them while you are dodging gunfire.
You are not forced to watch these media. I can guarantee that most people around the world who want the truth - not some biased agenda seeking soap box, pearl-clutching version - are not watching them either. Be pro-active about what is unfolding rather than whine and moan about the unfairness of it. These people are protesting and willing to risk their lives due to the fact that "unfairness" permeates their lives. If they can do something about it, so can you. Lee Ann Fleetwood
I still read letters to the local paper in Bahrain and this past two weeks have been nothing but praise for the King and govt. while complaining vehemently about the one-sided media bias they accuse major news channels of displaying. After viewing Reem Antoon's completely clueless ramble in the Comment section of today's GDN http://gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=300533 I couldn't maintain myself anymore and pounded out this letter in reply.
Now let's see if the GDN editor allows it. He is known for being a little one-sided himself.
Letter to the Editor
I've been reading the plethora of letters lamenting the one sided view of recent events in Bahrain as depicted by world wide media. Apparently these letter writers believe that T.V. still remains the number one news source for "fast breaking news". I would like to introduce these out of date letter writers to two fast breaking news sources that they may be unfamiliar with. Twitter and Facebook. Anyone that has had an ounce of interest in what was happening first in Tunisia, then in Egypt, and on to Bahrain and now Libya are fully aware of the power these two sites have given the common man or woman on the street. The street being where all the action is taking place. Twitter has been full of people reporting being shot at by police while demonstrating peacefully. While it is happening!!! They report attacks and beatings; gun fire and bloodshed...so much bloodshed. Twitter and Facebook are full of videos from those very same people who are RIGHT THERE and can video exactly what is going on and are demanding the rest of the world know it too. Twitter followers and Facebook users have sat horrified at computers watching events unfold as each new story, pic, and video has brought too life the horrors the dictators of the middle east have unleashed against their citizens. We do NOT need BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera etc to inform us, rightly or wrongly, of anything we can't find out for ourselves from those that are actually there. No longer can these corrupt rulers keep the truth from the world by blacking out news media (as they are still trying to do) and telling completely false stories of how events are unfolding (as they are still trying to do). We are bystanders to these bloody revolutions going on as I write this, but we are also witnesses, who may not be putting our own lives in danger by facing loaded guns and trigger happy government puppets, but we do what we can by sending on these tweets to everyone we can think of. By linking our Facebook pages with pics and videos so that the whole world can see the truth...even if BBC, CNN and, yes, even Bahrain TV, chooses to show something different. You, as a viewer, have the option of choosing what you watch. If you think those media sources are being one sided then take a moment to join Twitter, join Facebook if you haven't already and start following the people who are following those that are right there in the middle of the violence. If you don't believe their first hand accounts then watch the hundreds of videos. It is rather hard to photoshop those while your dodging gun fire.
You are not forced to watch those media sources and I can guarantee that most of the people around the world that really do want the truth and not some biased agenda seeking soap box pearl clutching version of it, are not watching them either. Be pro-active about what is unfolding rather than whine and moan about the unfairness of it all. The fact that these people are protesting and willing to risk their lives is due to the fact that "unfairness" permeates their lives. If they can do something about it so can you.
One more comment to make to Reem Antoon. She asked where all the foreign journalist were. Why we hadn't heard from them while the media was so busy being one-sided. I'm guessing they found it rather hard to report on what was really happening in Bahrain due to the fact they were not allowed to leave Bahrains Airport upon arrival. Yes, they were detained. No, that didn't stop them from telling the world that they were being prevented from entering Bahrain. Go figure. Wonder why that was?
Even one-sided stories have two sides.
Lee Ann Fleetwood
6 comments:
Twitter and facebook have been hijacked also by those so called foreign correspondents and by american and british secret services for their support to those kind of revolutions, which is why in the end we just had a couple of military coups, nothing to do with democracy
It is about time that these things are acknowledged
Useless to create monsters only on one side
Balqais...what? No Jews this time? They appear to be slacking big time.
I ve been living in the gulf same as you
In Oman I was probably more lucky because is the country with the best ruler
Things are not perfect of course but not like now media in the west want to show them
It is a matter of fact that since many years british secret services are trying to overthrow al gaddafi and the fact that this revolution was not quick as the others, proves that they got it wrong this time
Obama and the others have been supporting African totalitarian governments for decades and now time has come to get rid of it
very easy to see
those were military coups, nothing to do with democracy
I am not one of those Muslims who blames it on others, but faults must be shared
why are they calling lybian massacres genocide
one dead for me is worth 10000, dsnt change much, but if one checks all those videos and photos, cannot see it so big
they are telling lies to those people just because they want to keep them under control
What the heck is Balqis talking about? Who's keeping who under control? Americans and British want to keep libyans under control by overthrowing Gaddafi...is that what was just said? He's murdering people right and left, and whether they call it a massacre or a genocide, it's still a heck of a lot of people dying at the hands of one crazy asshole.
coolred, I hope your letter gets published. I know there are two sides, as I think Balqis just tried to show, but when people are dying due to peaceful protest, others need to get their head out of the sand and educate themselves and offer support where able.
I don't care if someone thinks the ruler is A++, now that they've shown their true colors and started killing their own people, wouldn't they think it's time to reevaluate their character?
Now that they are shown their true colors ?
Where were you when egyptians were kidnapped, tortured and killed without trial
what peaceful protest are you talking about
that is a civil war and there are mercenaries on both sides
dont they say these things on cnn and fox news ?
CoolRed, we need the link to your printed opinion.
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