• by Mario Lubetkin
• Monday, May 09, 2011
• Inter Press Service

After fifteen years of activity, Al Jazeera now reaches an audience of 200 million viewers. Vast numbers of Arab families were glued to the network to follow the unfolding of events in the region. It was and is a factor in the proliferation of the messages and opinions of a largely muzzled public and of information about the events and accusations of repression and corruption that the regimes of the region covered up or distorted, writes Mario Lubetkin, Director-General of IPS news agency.

In this article the author writes that the full coverage of the protests would not have been possible if the protesters themselves hadn't sent out their images and footage in areas where reporters were not able to do so. This, combined with social media like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and others, constitutes a formidable news machine in conditions of extreme gravity.

The combination of these media with Al Jazeera, powerful and growing rapidly stronger, compounds their impact. It is clear from this that there is no incompatibility between traditional media and the new media, which can merge in what is called "integrated communication". This new form of communication quickly spread beyond the area of the protests, especially to neighbouring countries. Maybe Hillary Clinton was right when she said that we are in the middle of an information war in which the US is losing and players like Al Jazeera are winning.

(*) Mario Lubetkin is Director-General of IPS news agency.

// NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN CANADA, CZECH REPUBLIC, IRELAND, POLAND, AND THE UNITED STATES //

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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