![]() The Al-Jazeera website has also been under relentless cyberattack since the onset of the uprising. Two days later, the Egyptian military detained another correspondent, Ayman Mohyeldin he was released after nine hours in custody. Equipment was set on fire and the Cairo bureau chief and an Al-Jazeera correspondent were arrested. 4, Al-Jazeera's Cairo office was stormed and vandalized by pro-Mubarak supporters. ![]() 3, two unnamed Al-Jazeera English journalists were attacked by Mubarak supporters three more were detained. The next day, six Al-Jazeera English journalists were briefly detained and then released, their camera equipment confiscated by the Egyptian military. "They were not paid, and we thanked them for that." To the rescue came at least 10 other Arabic-language TV stations, which stepped in and offered to carry Al-Jazeera's content. At the height of the protests, Nilesat broke its contractual agreement with the network and stopped transmitting the signal of Al-Jazeera's Arabic channel - which meant viewers outside Egypt could only follow the channel on satellites not controlled by the Egyptian authorities. 30, outgoing Egyptian Information Minister Anas al-Fiqi ordered the offices of all Al-Jazeera bureaus in Egypt to be shut down and the accreditation of all network journalists to be revoked. 27 Al-Jazeera Mubasher, the network's live channel, was dropped by the government-run satellite transmission company, Nilesat. While Al-Jazeera was showing hundreds of thousands of people calling for the end of the regime, Egyptian TV showed humdrum scenes of traffic quietly passing by when Al-Jazeera reported hundreds of people queuing for bread and petrol, Egyptian TV showed happy shoppers with full fridges using footage filmed at an unknown time in the past.ĭuring the uprising in Cairo, the Egyptian government systematically targeted Al-Jazeera in an attempt to impede the network's gathering and broadcasting of news. At least one popular TV talk-show presenter, Mahmoud Saad, was later seen being carried on the shoulders of triumphant demonstrators in Tahrir Square. "We sent teams to join our Cairo bureau and made sure that we were covered on the ground in other countries in the region so when the story unfolded we were ready to cover all angles."Īl-Jazeera's powerful images of angry crowds and bloody morgues undercut the Egyptian regime's self-serving arguments and stood in sharp contrast to the state-run TV channels, which promoted such a dishonest version of events that some of their journalists resigned in disgust. "We did not foresee the drama of events, but we saw how events in Tunisia rippled out and we were mindful of the fact things were changing, and so we prepared very carefully," said Al Anstey, managing director of Al-Jazeera English. Suddenly change seemed possible everywhere across the Middle East. Al-Jazeera shared this revelation around the region live and in real time, breaking the spell that had stopped millions of ordinary people from rising up and claiming their legitimate rights. The Tunisian uprising revealed that the dogma perpetuated by the country's regime - that it was impregnable and its security services invincible - was merely propaganda aimed at keeping Tunisia's people subdued. And if you don't have a reporter, then you try to find alternative people who are willing to cooperate because they believe in what we are doing." ![]() "Our main objective was to provide the most accurate and comprehensive coverage that we could by sending cameras and reporters to any place there is an event. "We knew something was coming," Mustafa Souag, head of news at Al-Jazeera's Arabic-language station, told me Monday. There is little question that the network played a key role in the revolution that began as a ripple in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, and ended up a wave that threatens to wash away Egypt's long-standing regime. Now, after 15 years of broadcasting, it appears the prediction has come true. Many Arabs - not least the staff at Al-Jazeera - have said for years that the Arab satellite network would help bring about a popular revolution in the Middle East. "Long live Al-Jazeera!" chanted Egyptian protesters in Tahrir Square on Feb. Hugh Miles is a freelance journalist and author of Al Jazeera: How Arab TV News Challenged the World. Many contend that the network provides the best coverage of the Egyptian protests. Egyptians gathering to watch Al-Jazeera satellite television station in Cairo's Tahrir Square, following a day of protests calling for the removal of President Hosni Mubarak's regime.
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