Somali government launches media crackdown

[maddezmom]

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's government, with new emergency powers in hand to tame the chaotic country, ordered four major media outlets to shut down on Monday as the president named a team to take charge of the capital.

The interim government, weeks after arriving in Mogadishu on the heels of an Ethiopian-led offensive, is struggling to impose order and has seen forces backing it attacked repeatedly, most recently in a firefight late on Sunday.

The government's national security agency sent the closure order by letter to HornAfrik Media, Shabelle Media Network, the Koranic radio station IQK and the local office of Al Jazeera television.

"You should shut down upon receipt of this letter and appear at 10 a.m. on Tuesday at the office of national security," said the letter, signed by Col. Ahmed Hassan Ali and seen by Reuters.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070115/wl_nm/somalia_conflict_dc

[Robbien]

1. In the middle of marshall law they are shutting down all radio stations?

Scary stuff.

[Eugene]

2. Reuters: Media crackdown in Somalia draws protests

Media crackdown in Somalia draws protests

By Sahal Abdulle
Reuters
Tuesday, January 16, 2007; 3:52 AM

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali government officials were to meet on Tuesday
with executives from four major news outlets shut down for "causing unrest"
in a move drawing swift criticism from press watchdogs at home and abroad.

The closure of the outlets, accused by the government of heightening tensions
by airing unconfirmed reports, came as martial law was declared across Somalia
weeks after an Ethiopian-led military offensive ousted Islamists in the south.

"Shutting down private media houses is the worst way to reconcile the Somali
people and to bring the country out of these long periods of chaos," Gabriel
Baglo, Africa office director of the International Federation of Journalists,
said.

-snip-

Analysts said the government deems the four outlets' coverage to have been
pro-Islamist, a charge they all deny.

The National Union of Somali Journalists said the move completely undermined
democratic values.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/16/AR2007011600138.html

[maddezmom]

3. this last paragraph from 1/9 Independent is chilling

So this was the very opposite of a surgical strike. Anyone in the path of the gunship, which departed from the US military base at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, would have been killed.

America can afford this indiscriminate approach because southern Somalia is so dangerous that journalists or aid workers are unlikely to be able to reach the target area and count the bodies.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x255639

[maddezmom]

4. Somali government lifts ban, media back on air

MOGADISHU, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The Somali government on Tuesday relaxed a ban on four major media outlets it had closed, accusing them of biased coverage during the Horn of Africa nation's recent war, media owners said.

Officials complained the outlets -- including two of Somalia's largest independent broadcasters and the local office of Al Jazeera TV -- aired unconfirmed reports and leaned towards Islamists ousted at the New Year by an Ethiopian-led offensive.

But Monday's closures brought the government a blaze of unwelcome publicity and protests from both local and foreign media watchdogs, who said it was an affront to democracy.

Media executives emerged from a lengthy meeting with government officials on Tuesday to announce they were going back on the air. "The government reversed the ban," Ali Iman Sharmarke, co-owner of HornAfrik broadcaster, told Reuters.

"The international media and international organisations, especially the ones who work to protect the media, played a major role in the lifting of this ban."

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16530000.htm

[Eugene]

5. That's good news. Common sense prevails.

Local news outlets like Shabelle have been indispensable for telling
what is happening amid the chaos, especially since Mogadishu has been
a dangerous place for the foreign press.