Greece: Is The Media The Problem? 2011 06 25 Listening Post Aljazeera

Greece: Is The Media The Problem? 2011 06 25 Listening Post Aljazeera

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We look at the Greek protests and how the media covered them, plus, the world's satirical puppet masters.

As Greece battles economic collapse, protests in the country have been getting louder, bigger and more heated. Greeks on the streets have been demonstrating against the squeeze on their wages and pensions, but the media covering those protests have found some hostility directed at them as well.

The protesters accuse the media of stereotyping them, of being voices of the economic and financial elite and not reflecting the reality of the Greek worker. In our News Divide this week, we look at the Greek protests and how the media covered them.

In the News Bytes this week: The president of Belarus accuses the media of over-hyping the country's economic crisis; a prominent Mexican journalist and members of his family become the latest victims of the country's battle against journalists; a Pakistani journalist is attacked after he reveals he was abducted and tortured by suspected intelligence agencies in 2008; and authorities in Bahrain implement a new strategy to counter their critics using social media.

Regular viewers to the show will know we have been following the work of South African satirist Jonathan Shapiro – better known as Zapiro – whose work has come to life in his new satirical puppet show ZANews. But the political satirist theme has been around for a lot longer and can be traced back to the 1980s British puppet show, Spitting Image.

Spitting Image proved that using puppets to satirise political commentary can be effective and the show inspired similar shows in more than 30 countries. In this week's feature, Adnan Ahmed looks at the power of puppets and how politicians have tried their hardest to keep them off air.

Our Internet Video of the Week pays homage to one of the most ardent protesters in the Greek demonstrations – a dog named Loukanikos. Loukanikos – or Louk as he is commonly known – has become the unofficial mascot of the protestors in Greece and his popularity has spawned a Facebook page, a Youtube channel and his own Twitter page. We hope you enjoy the show.

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/listeningpost/2011/06/20116258446620353.html