Egyptian Emergency Update

An image from the Tahrir Square protest last night

These are the developments from the ground in Egypt since last night;

An Egyptian Emergency

Due to my residing in the Middle East (Qatar), several people have questioned me for more recent updates to what's happening in Egypt right now. The following is some of the latest news, some on the ground, and mainly from Al Jazeera staff, currently doing a brilliant job of keeping the public informed in spite of their broadcast HQ in Cairo being shut down late last night. Please also find links to some interesting articles, surfacing as a result of the telecommunications holocaust the Egyptian government has enforced:

The Rock and The Hard Place

Basically, I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, I could learn to become at least somewhat satisfied with what I’ve been given thus far. This entails a good job with great work experience, living in a country with relatively good weather year-round and paying less than the equivalent of £8 for a week’s supply of petrol (probably the biggest perk living in Qatar, however, if civil infrastructure was remotely more efficient, there may not be the need for a 4 car average/family). This is the rock. 

Self-Delusion, Self-Loathing and Al Jazeera - Part 3

Yesterday I interrupted my Al Jazeera series to get stuck into the heated debate over the Pope's state visit to the UK. Although I know lots of you are still hemorrhaging indignant outcries surrounding said visit, I can only hope these protests give you the peace of mind you are searching for. Now back to business...

My qualms with the recruitment processes of renowned media networks, such as Al Jazeera, BBC, most definitely Sky, the CNN, etc, have recently aligned themselves with my disdain over the manner  of social interaction these broadcast giants exercise. The personable nature - or lack thereof - of said organisations has cast me into a deep funk of late. And not the groovy, James Brown, Chaka Khan, 'dance 'til you feel betta' kinda funk.  

Our emotions are based on our beliefs about the world. Categorisation, cliches, stereotypes and blatant branding of content has consumers conveniently packed into niches for which mass media is now produced (see: Weeds). Obviously, this is not rocket science, we are all bright individuals who are aware of the evils of biased television, la di da. I am sure we are also all aware of the spread of this 'uniform' packaging of information across the internet - enter Google Instant - or more specifically, within social media. 

Then why are we still buying into said uniformity?  

Recently, I came across a TED Talk with computer scientist and author extraordinaire, Jonathan Harris. In his talk, Harris discussed his fascination with human emotion through mediums that have now become more common than personal social interaction, i.e. blogging and microblogging.

As a storyteller, Harris’s infamous ‘We Feel Fine’ and ‘Universe’ projects have helped the Vermonter allow everyday internet users to tell their stories. His ultimate goal? To guide the evolution of the internet into a space we will still have the desire to inhabit in the future. For us to further harbour this desire, Harris claims that this ‘planetary meta-organism’ must honour both the individual and the human collective - just like real life should do. Cue the fountain of incorrigible, regurgitated media headlines. 

A search result from 'We Feel Fine'. I searched emotions in the USA, for the date Pastor Terry Jones made his statement about burning the Qur'an

It often feels like the media addresses its audience as cattle. Headlines are often spewed as if from the same, mind- numbing, socially uniform media machine, inadvertently insulting its audience, with the emotional intelligence to recognise the cookie-cutter formulas plastered on our television screens, day after day.

Not unlike recruiters, that have recently strewn my naively ideal sense of justice across a gravelly road and run over it repetitively with a ten- tonne tractor, the media has forgotten what its purpose is. They are not here only to inform. They are here to instigate, revitalise and educate. Their mission is not complete without an emotion- fueled reaction. 

None of this is possible without emotive communication. THIS is why Al Jazeera should hire me. You may know your news, but I know people. I am one of those people. 

‘Nope to the Pope?’ Oh, Come On

The Pope is coming to Britain and you are all very, very angry. Yes, we know. Now, before you skip this entire article to hurl abuse at me, take a moment to actually digest what it is I’m trying to say here.

To begin with, let’s get one thing straight: I am not a fan of the Pope. For the sake of journalistic objectivity, I wont pursue this statement further. I will, however, indulge you with a little background information as to why this current furor is grating on my nerves worse than a freshly manicured Jersey girl on a chalkboard.

I was raised a Christian. STOP. Wait. Continue reading. No, not Catholic – although my father was raised as such, was taught by nuns, the works, etc – but Christian. My mum’s family is of Christian Orthodox descent. As a doctor, my mother often questioned religion and its possible integration with the theory of evolution, affording my siblings and I the opportunity to make up our own minds about what we wanted to believe.

Needless to say, after being exposed to some of the arguments against the faith, I slowly lost the desire to belong. Not to Christianity, but to organised religion as a whole. I have my own set of beliefs now, based around what I am comfortable living with on a day- to- day basis. I do, however, respect other people’s choices – although I may not agree with them – and have friends of various religious backgrounds. I believe in interaction based on personal merit, rather than a set of beliefs.

The Catholic Church has long been recognised for its unforgiving nature. From the condemnation of one of the greatest physicists the world will ever know, (see: Galileo), the age- old opposition of gay rights, the now numerous cases of paedophilic activity and so forth. Over the last decade, the media has had a field day with the evident and arguably increasing corruptness of the church, with apologies being issued by the Vatican and the Pope, at large for such.

Clearly, I have my issues with the aforementioned facts. I believe science reinforces my personal ‘seeing is believing’ motto, have partied alongside the loveliest people in the world in Sydney Mardi Gras – who’s legal rights should not even be questioned as far as I’m concerned – and have had my own personal experiences with the deep scarring that comes from a broken trust.

My qualms simply lie in the empty factoids regurgitated by the media that fuel some of the most useless commentary I have heard from people I consider intelligent. My issue is not with the distaste and frustration, no. I’m not even English and I found myself throwing a Rocky-esque air pump whilst watching Stephen Fry’s statement via the BBC surrounding the classification of the said visit as ‘state’. Why should the average UK tax- payer help fund this event? I don’t believe they should.

This matter cant get any more personal for me, so I feel I am safe in saying I am not presenting myself in a hypocritical light when I say this, but enough with the Pope songs. Enough with the ‘I wonder if we can pope people on Facebook today instead of poke’ and the blatant cussing. I appreciate the outcry against this now inevitable occurrence; I too have been a victim of the trust based in a faith system that turned incredibly sour.

But instead of ordering a ‘Nope to the Pope’ t-shirt, how about looking up the names of the families within the UK that have been touched by such injustices (there are links to websites, help lines and much more online) and sending through words of support when they are bound to feel most vulnerable? Better yet, why not do something CRAZY and opt to speak with someone who looks upon the Pope’s visit in a favourable light. Ask them why. I for one would love to know. No, don’t call them insane whilst pointing a finger and laughing.

I am not the authority on anything, but I love to learn. I enjoy listening to people’s personal accounts because an emotive expression always trumps a mass machine-spewed headline. It also trumps foolish outbursts like ‘f*** the Pope’.


Ps. If you'd like a look at what some journos have been saying, check out these clips/articles that I found interesting: Catholic Herald columnist Milo Yiannopoulos, The Telegraph's Judith Woods, Al Jazeera, CAFOD's Pascale Palmer.

Disclaimer: This post is in no way meant to belittle people’s personal experiences. The author does not, by means of this article, intend to undermine any faith or belief. This piece is purely intended to encourage discussion as opposed to ridicule. 

Self-Delusion, Self-Loathing and Al Jazeera - Part 2

Al Jazeera has been around a lot longer than the younger media generation care to remember. Founded in 1996 via Emiri decree (a rule/decision handed down from the Head of State), the network has come to terms with more challenges than any other Arab-based news network in history. With legions of avid followers balanced out by equal doses of harsh critique, it is without doubt that Al Jazeera continues to build on its already formidable media empire, going from strength to strength within the industry.

Considering my previous post about the rejection from an exec producer at AJE London, my question is: What does it take to work at Al Jazeera? Clearly, from the producer's response, I do not have the right experience. Let's discuss this shall we? 

I hold a Masters degree in Social Change and Development, where social transformation is key. Social transformation is the shift of a particular cultural mindset within the context of a nation, a peoples, a government, etc, and as influenced by culture, politics, history, the economy and so on. 

As an equipped social impact assessment trainee, I have researched the effects of the Westernisation of Bollywood on the Indian film industry, and in effect it’s one billion plus fans. A reflection on ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and its counter effects, would make a brilliant episode for AJE's ‘48’, don’t you think? 

I have also delved into the Southeast/South Asian labour movement to the Middle East and the local/regional minorities that suffer at the loss of a potentially promising local workforce. There’s another idea for you Amanda Palmer. 

Barbara Serra is a presenter with AJE in London. She is of Milanese origin and has an educational background in Journalism and International Relations. I can relate, with my background in Media and Cultural Studies. Serra began her career with the BBC as a researcher. 

As a postgraduate student, and then as a staff writer and now a deputy editor, I've been trained and have researched material within the realms of education, culture, entertainment, the F&B industry, politics and many more. Articles I've consequently had published include items covering the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), the taboo posed by psychiatric aid, and the worldwide phenomenon that is Indian cuisine. For arguments sake, let’s say I could do that BBC research job.

Years on, she now presents several sociocultural programs on the AJE network, such as one of my personal favourites, ‘Street Food’, alongside news reading from the London offices. Serra is also the first non-native English speaker to have EVER presented the news on British television. 

But who are these people really? Do they care what we feel or what we say? Why do we write our blogs, update our Facebook’s and tweet relentlessly issues they publish? Is anyone listening? They should do. And yes, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out why.

Self-Delusion, Self-Loathing and Al Jazeera - Part 1

One of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do was when I was recently asked to complete a self-appraisal exercise. This was one of several parts of a personal and professional evaluation, aimed at helping to guide me towards the next step in life and more specifically, my career.

Now, although the appraisal was an essentially for-my-eyes-only guideline, at each section I found myself faltering and becoming increasingly exasperated with the task and most surprisingly, with myself.

“Am I really that passionate about writing?” “Do I have a promising career in television?” “Should I really jot down the London Triathlon?” All these questions and many more were playing on my conscience and although I did complete the task, I wasn’t close to satisfied with the end result.

Most of us, even the luckier ones, have at some stage been faced with the ugly truth of how difficult the job hunt has become. Asides from having plunged myself into the deep end of an unbelievably saturated industry, where I often feel like the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland, i.e. utterly in awe with my counterparts, I am also attempting to do so in markets that are still recovering from the bellowing hammer fall of the economic crisis.

Unfortunately, unlike Alice, I do not have a wise, hookah-smoking caterpillar called Absalom to ask for advice. I suppose I could be happy with the opportunity that I’ve got and continue to live my life knowing full well how many people would kill for the career choices I’ve been afforded thus far. However – and although I do love a good fairy tale – I refuse to allow these circumstances to anchor my ambition.

Today I received my daily dose of blogger genius via revolutionary entrepreneur, author, public speaker and THE authority on permission marketing, the inspirational Seth Godin. Having recently been introduced to Godin’s work, the no nonsense, make it or break it attitude that would usually have put me off – refer back to my liking fairy tales – continues to intrigue me with each new blog post delivered to my email inbox. Today’s topic, ‘Self-delusion and self-loathing’, needless to say inspired this piece of self-reckoning.

Now, you can all read the post for yourselves (as you should, as well as subscribing to his everyday feed) but this got me thinking. “Support yourself with the truth” says Godin. Yesterday, I contacted one of the executive producers at the Al Jazeera English offices in London. I told him who I was, what I was looking for, the reason I want to join AJE & the shows I could see myself becoming a part of. I also noted my work experience, the appropriate references and all that jazz.

Said producer came back to me with an incredibly polite, concise and to-the-point answer, “thank you for your interest, but with no experience in television, we can’t hire you in the news department.” Side note: I never stated any desire to work in the news department and had formerly been offered an internship at AJE headquarters in Doha, Qatar. I turned this down because as a fresh BA graduate, I felt I still had more to accomplish before joining the ranks of a network as prestigious as this media giant.

Three years, one postgraduate degree and a handful of intense work experience later, I'm not what they are looking for? Take a second guess. And tomorrow, I'll tell you why.