MEDIA WATCH: AP, BBC and VOA should not be tricked into disseminating propaganda crafted and disguised as “sensational news” by the Ethiopian brutal regime of Meles Zenawi and Bereket Simon.
(Gadaa) –On Saturday April 25th, 2009, the world learned about breaking news coming from Ethiopia through the Associated Press’ Nairobi office. The wire news headlined, “Official: Ethiopia arrests 35 for coup plot”. Other reputable news organizations carried the news throughout that weekend; a total of more than 250 news sites carried the news under the same title between April 25th and April 27th. On the same day, BBC reported: “Ethiopia arrests ‘coup plotters’”. VOA, the other news organization with a reporter stationed in Ethiopia, reported: “Ethiopia Arrests 35 Suspects in Alleged Coup Plot”. The source for all these headlines was the Ethiopian government.
Fast forward to Friday May 1st, 2009, the Ethiopian government’s Communication Minister, Mr. Bereket Simon, denied the coup plots and tried to downgrade the alleged threat to a mere “assassination attempt” by Ginbot7 operatives in Ethiopia. First of all, how could he “deny” a story that was supplied to AP, BBC and VOA by himself? Ginbot7 never claimed to have staged the alleged coup for Bereket to “deny” it. It was the government that claimed Ginbot7’s coup was foiled. One can not “deny” a claim that was fabricated by oneself. Second, it was only VOA, out of the three reputable news organizations with presence in Ethiopia, that carried this “denial” story. What happened to AP and BBC?
The three reputable news organizations, namely AP, BBC and VOA, have the responsibility, as the only trusted eyes and ears of the international community in Ethiopia, to report only from credible sources. As the above event shows, the Ethiopian government fabricated the “coup” story, waited for a full-week for AP, BBC and VOA to spread that news all over the world, and then “denied” its own story. The Ethiopian government ‘denied’ the story put out first by the Ethiopian government — this does not make any sense at all. What this shows is the Ethiopian government is not a reliable source for any kind of news, and the Ethiopian government is using the reputable AP, BBC and VOA for its own dirty politics. It is, therefore, important for these news organizations to not be caught up by sensational news and to wait for at least a day or two, if not, a week, before reporting on stories attributing the Ethiopian government as a source.
To be balanced, these news organizations should also cover events organized to condemn the human rights violations taking place in Oromia, Ogaden, Gambella and other regions in Ethiopia. For example, human rights rallies were staged in London on April 2nd during the G20 London summit. The April 2nd rallies were organized by the Oromo, Ogaden and other Ethiopian communities against the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Mr. Meles Zenawi. While the coverage by BBC of the April 2nd rallies was much commendable, it was a rare occasion; more of such coverage is expected of AP, BBC and VOA in the future to remain balanced on their coverage of Ethiopia.
To conclude, to remain fair and balanced, AP, BBC and VOA need to scrutinize deeply stories coming from the Ethiopian government, especially Mr. Bereket Simon, who is nicknamed “Ethiopia’s Baghdad Bob” for his consistent fabrication of stories supplied to news organizations. In addition, AP, BBC and VOA should increase their coverage of events organized to expose human rights violations of the Ethiopian government. These reputable news organizations should not be tricked into disseminating propaganda crafted and disguised as “sensational news” by the Ethiopian brutal regime of Meles Zenawi and Bereket Simon.
