[...] Ever since Hezbollah succeeded in extending its influence over the suburbs, the south and some of the local districts in the heart of Beirut, it has practiced strict and meticulous control over interviews, photographs and any media material leaving these areas. The party justifies such measures by saying that it is confronting "potential risks posed by the Israeli enemy," as it claimed in its recent statements and as it always declares to justify its policies.
It is only natural that such strict security control has resulted in imposing images and positions that are carefully selected and ever changing so that many who live under this influence have come to practice self-censorship, and in many cases refrain from openly expressing what they want to say.
What led to the absence of effective journalistic coverage of a region that was plundered in 2006 required the establishment of a construction company to rebuild it ('Waad' company). And although the inhabitants of the southern district unanimously agree that reconstruction has yet to effectively begin; still, no questions have been asked about reconstruction.
The Lebanese media is incapable of obtaining information about the crisis in the suburbs because of the imposed media blockade, which has extended to include the inability to access or observe any movements in Hezbollah's general surroundings.
The area is strictly off-limits to the media. [...]
Update: Fortunately, Hezbollah and other topics having to do with the Middle East are not off-limits to Blog Carnivals. This week's Haveil Havalim gets the critically undermedicated treatment at Simply Jews. His "no names" approach in this edition is inspired by Carnival of Insanities, which is also worth checking out this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment