Sunday, May 31, 2020

Is Lebanese media failing?

Update 8 Aug 2020

Macron arrived in Lebanon three days after a deadly blast tore through the capital . Macron walked through Beirut's damaged streets as crowds jostled around him chanting for the government to "fall" and asking for international aid.
He promised locals a "new political pact", and would give the Lebanese government until September 1 to impose it.
During a press conference on Thursday evening, he said French aid to Lebanon will be channeled "directly towards NGOs" and promised to organise an aid conference with the EU in the coming days.
But he warned there would be "no blank cheque to a system that doesn't have the confidence of the people." He called for an independent investigation into the causes of the explosion.
“There is a political, moral, economic and financial crisis that has lasted several months, several years. This implies strong political responsibility,” Macron said, adding that he discussed addressing corruption and other urgent reforms with Lebanon's president and prime minister.
“I came here to show the support of the French nation for the Lebanese people,” Macron said.


Clearly Macron took off his diplomatic gloves during the press conference. Sadly if you hear the questions asked, you will be disappointed. Very clearly they prepared superficial questions, did not hear the answers, and did not follow up, they just asked!
Macron himself said that they were not hearing his answers and will not answer any question that was already asked. Sad, why is it that Lebanese media is failing so badly when we know there are very competent journalists. Sadly these competent journalists never attend press conferences. Opportunities are lost and press conferences are disarmed.

In comparison,

No comment!

Updated 25 July 2020

I repeat, yes it is!
Le Drian, on the first such visit of a top foreign politician in months, made no secret of his exasperation with a leadership he described as "passive".
"Concrete actions have been expected for too long," Le Drian said, in a statement to the press after meeting his counterpart Nassif Hitti.
What is not advertise is his saying that he never saw  such a 'forest' of microphone.
And then the shouting match started with journalists fighting to ask questions, none of which made real sense.
An image that is far removed from the 1970s when Lebanon offered a unique cultural openness and freedom of expression. Beirut was the region’s media hub.

It is clear that today
The media sector faces the risk of flattening over the polarising tendencies based on confessional and ideological lines, tending to prefer populist narratives to cope with the financial and legitimacy crisis. (Media Landscapes created by the European Journalism Centre, in partnership with the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science)

Posted 21 May 2020

Yes, it is! And honestly it saddens me and angers me.
Lebanese media is free we say. Meaning that they can publish and say what they want.
True. But what are they saying?
I would say uttering nonsense or nineties and here lies the problem.
They lack professionalism.

Written media who used to be well respected has been brought down by financial restrictions they say. I have subscriptions in more than a newspaper in an effort of support. Honestly I rarely am encouraged to read any of the articles. They do not give me anything.
Written media's strength in the age of social media and online publishing is analysis and sources.
Background research is lacking and there is real sources that provide something that is not being said everywhere by bloggers or just 'social media posters'.

Television and radio are not better. The News section starts with a 'prelude' that states the channel opinion in prose. Unbelievable! The political interviews section which is very powerful as to audience is a real mess. The strategy is to bring a guest and just bombard him with clichés that 'the other side' says. And then defend the cliché' vehemently interrupting the guest with populist statements with no effort to check these statement or rely on any reasonable or knowledgeable arguments. Even if the guest has interesting information to add, they circumvent him by forcing him to defend against stupidities.
They try to emulate Tim Sebastian in HardTalk forgetting that Sebastian relies on information when facing a guest and not 'clichés!

As to investigative journalism, forget it. I know that investigative journalism needs resources. But honestly it does need lots of resources to just compile information and generate an interesting document in the time of covid-19 crisis. There is no place on a newspaper or TV or  website where I can see a comprehensive analysis of the numbers in Lebanon or tracing or anything other.

I am disappointed, surely it is not a lack of resources. It is just walking the easy road. 
No effort or work ethics. 
No background research or investigative efforts. 
Freedom is not saying anything and everything. 
It is the role of the media to present their audience with balanced and informative material.



Sunday, May 17, 2020

Soul searching: Lebanon under lock-down and capital controls

Update 10 July 2020: a post I read today made me realize that more and more people are taken hostage in a situation that they feel powerless to change.

The country is out of business and waiting to figure out what sauce we are going to be in, I admit I can no longer read the opinions of specialists, politicians, Lebanese ordinary and other questionable patron.
I don't have an opinion anymore because I don't know the true of the fake anymore... I mustn't be the only one in this case 😔
All I'm sure is that it will take years before we get up from these quicksand, it will be terrible and painful for all of us
So I'm painting! I paint this ideal Lebanon in my world. Have I really experienced it one day or just imagined it? I don't even know anymore
I had painted this painting in the early days of the "Thawra" but decided, a few days ago to transform it.
Marry Lebanese joy at the safe haven of my delighted world reassures me and reminds me that in life everything remains possible
One country, a flag 


This email made me wonder about the psychological well being of the Lebanese society.

I do not know what is happening to me, or let us say that I do not want to know.
I think I am clinically depressed for the first time in my life.
And it frightens me.

At the surface I am fine, no anxiety or lack of sleep or bad thoughts, it is as if I am euphoric. I just want to read, take care of the house, watch movies, hear news.... I cannot really concentrate on work or anything other than mundane tasks.
I have managed until now to sail through my work without too much damage, but it will catch with me soon with a hit on the head, if I go on like that.

In addition it is as if I am happy with self isolation....
Usually when I used to face war or  political upheaval, it was a battle and I was in drive mode.
Now it is as if there is no battle to do, just slip into life...

Am sure it is the uncertainty of coronavirus crisis that turned my life upside down; from perpetual movement to sedentary life unable to plan anything.
Self isolation has removed humanity from my life. Meeting people online is not the same. You cannot bathe is their energy, you cannot feel the vibes emanating from their body language, you cannot smell them or touch them....

The Lebanon crisis and its financial implications have caught up with me.
Living under uncertainty of the future since October 2019 without any direction or the slightness iota of hope is not easy.
All I feel is the unfairness of loosing all my savings, loosing the hope for a decent future after having worked so hard all my life. After being 'successful' in my career.
I cannot even find solace in saying, ''I should have''. I could have done nothing.
Maybe I should have cut ties with Lebanon, I should have left the country and built my life somewhere else. I should have left a country that thrives on corruption and political procrastination.
I had options but could not cut the umbilical cord with a country I loved. 
A country today I hate and mourn over losing it.

Combined together, the corona crisis and capital controls wrestled me to the ground.
What can I do, how to face this?