Campaign chairman which train to get. Around the front line and there are no. Hello im richard yes when youre at the listening post here are some of the media stories were covering this week indictments in washington and the russia factor in the trump election story its a ball of confusion thats what the white house wants and what some news outlets deliver loading up with rubber bullets journalists at one newspaper in moscow will be issued guns to protect themselves the aftermath of the referendum in kurdistan sees one journalist killed others have been targeted freedom of the press in eritrea is virtually nonexistent and by trying to tell the story from a far radio has become part of it weve been producing the listening post for almost eleven years now and we have probably reported on fox news Rupert MurdochsAmerican News channel more than any other news outlet anywhere and even we were unprepared for what we saw this past week foxs socalled coverage of the indictments in washington the possible impact on Donald Trumps presidency as its competitors focused on the news fox downplayed it directing its attention to Hillary Clinton questioning the integrity of the investigator even making time for a feature story. On a mode and how we can people forget but this is a network thats made a habit out of creating and building up bogeyman overseas took one look at the russian angle in this story and basically concluded nothing to see here fox was quite flagrantly echoing the same line thats been coming out of the white house a blend of diversion distraction and denial blurring the line between truth and falsehood real news and fake the apparent end game being helping this president take back control of the political narrative our starting point this week is washington d. C. The first guy on National CouncilRobert Mullers investigation has just been revealed this is an important story dealing with the legitimacy of the trump presidency. Actually decades in prison for the crimes but what Campaign Chair paul metaphor and documents have been handed down and kill people he had been entering or nominate now that he lied about his contacts with people in russia one set of facts that were clear and not open to interpretation. Wrong. And the big question. On this even happen is any of this even happen after they happen during his months with president fox and friends happens to be the favorite morning show of donald trump just because youre indicted doesnt mean youre guilty of anything and you have a chance to find out what they are going to be about the defense its really remarkable to behold how they. Are widely circulated in the rest of the media and put up stories. That are really favorable and whatever happens today with the knowledge investigation really no that has anything to do with the campaign what happened today why is that hillary or her campaign in the d. N. C. Why arent they getting investigated for the you know from the president s twitter feed that he was watching fox and friends and its of a no they have a very important member of their audience and theyre. And into that to a certain extent not only did they spend a good amount of time downplaying the allegations of motherhood made but they also found time to discuss any number of other stories. Causing a frenzy online from hamburger m o g s two candy this is what fox news does this was a more embarrassing case but it is what the channel typically does it always has. Other murdoch owned Media Outlets that havent always been on the trump bandwagon are now climbing on board eight months ago the wall street journal published an editorial questioning the president s credibility calling trump his own worst political enemy and saying of his obsession with socalled fake news that if he doesnt show more respect for the truth most americans may conclude hes a fake president something has clearly changed just prior to the indictments being made public the journal published pro trump editorials including one targeting the credibility of chief investigator Robert Muller calling for his resignation. I find nothing to that story. Predictable and it is a bald. Patch. To do his bidding for him. And his allies realize that firing Robert Mueller would result in real drastic consequences for troops over the next best thing is to try to disqualify right now i dont think thats working either i thought it was a important signal because the wall street journal earlier on in the trunk presidency had been pretty critical called out his behavior misconducts and so then it tauriel seemed like a seminal turning point a very noticeable pivot toward trump and in an effort to protect him. And this is really the wall street journal which is owned by Rupert Murdoch taking the line that fox news another property and by Rupert Murdoch has taken. The message from the top is the party line trumps line murdoch speaks with trump they have a pretty close relationship and so this is kind of a message that were taking trumps line and not what i said the New York Times with. Much of what pro trump elements in the u. S. News media have produced on the indictments there strange obsession with Hillary Clinton included seems designed to so uncertainty in the minds of americans on a story that was already complicated and journalists from other outlets in there is ill to get to the bottom of the story may have unwittingly done the same thing by conflating one story with another the charges against trumps one Time Campaign manager paul manifold for Money Laundering and fraud all relate to overseas transactions that occurred before he was hired by trump in two thousand and sixty another Campaign Aide charged George Papadopoulos tried to set up a meeting between trump and lattimer putin but it never happened it is not clear whether either case has anything to do with the other russia angle out there the allegations as yet unproven that the kremlin somehow colluded with the Trump Campaign during last years election. When we talk about collusion with russia were talking about the way that russia undoubtedly acted to benefit Trumps Campaign in the way that trump openly called on russia to take action to help his Campaign Russia if youre listening i hope you are able to find thirty thousand emails that are missing i think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. About a series of communications between the Trump Campaign. And people working with russia. Against man a ford and gates dont really get to that level of rational collusion there is a real danger of conflating this with things that both trump personally has done and with things that relate directly to man a for its activities when he was on the campaign the fact that you do have trumps Campaign Chairman in a courthouse pleading not guilty to charges that involve russia to a certain degree means that its still a story but it doesnt mean that President Trump called up a lot of their putin and said how do we fix this election this goal of proving collusion is kind of being in such a overarching theme in the media in some ways it plays in the right wing medias own narrative there is zero evidence of trumped russia collusion and zero evidence of Campaign Collusion and in spite of all of that the media has been lying to you all day and all weekend long because well if they dont prove the trump and putin shook hands and you know pass messages or something then the whole thing has been a goose chase and i think thats thats a danger that the mainstream press. Has been playing into with some of its coverage. With each passing political story american journalism seems to grow more polarized fox news which has never really been fair or balanced out did itself caricature itself on this story brazen President Trump argue c. N. N. And the New York Times do the same thing on the other saw a false equivalence if ever there was one another fake take on the news and media consumers because its never been easier to hunker down in the comfort of their own echo chambers rarely venture out to a place a site a channel where their beliefs might actually be questioned. Theres a tremendous sort of speaking of a quiet issue in all the journalism thats being done right now you work really hard on the story and. And you wonder if you not just fully cemented the beliefs of people who already share the same sentiment conservatives have spent decades building a parallel news apparatus in order to ensure that conservatives have an entirely different set of facts than those that everybody else gets. And what that means is you have a large group of people that are being fundamentally and deliberately confused about what is going on the one hundred think thats pretty dangerous and it could be moving us in a fairly scary direction. Other media stories that are on our radar this week you know that press freedom is in a dire state when a newspaper feels the need to arm its reporters for their own safety which is exactly what happened in russia this past week the paper is no via gets yet one of the relatively few news outlets in russia still willing to openly criticize the kremlin and president Vladimir Putin editor dmitri murat off said he intends to arm his reporters with guns capable of firing rubber bullets to protect them the announcement comes days after Tatiana Felgenhauer a reporter at radio echo moscow was stabbed in the neck inside her own station and attacked she survived independent journalists not toeing the government line in russia work in a hostile environment and the via gets yet to has been disproportionately affected several of its journalists have been killed over the past few years or have died under mysterious circumstances the murder in two thousand and six of Anna Politkovskaya a noted critic of the kremlin remains one of the most the tory assassinations in modern day russia the kremlin is often accused of failing to adequately respond to attacks against journalists thereby creating a climate of impunity in iraq kurdish media workers have been targeted as political temperatures there rise following a bid for independence on october. Thirtieth at a concert a kurdish camera man working for kurdistan t. V. Was stabbed to death by a number of men south of kirkuk kurdistan t. V. Which is affiliated with one of the regions main Political Parties the k d p has been covering alleged human rights abuses by iraqi progovernment forces and has also been reporting on clashes between kurdish and iraqi fighters a day earlier a mob attacked Television Crews from two other kurdish broadcasters n. R. T. And can end in the kurdistan Region Capital airfield. In baghdad the Iraqi Commission of media and communications ordered to kurdish satellite channels route t. V. And kurdistan twenty four off the air accusing the networks of inciting violence and undermining peace and security the turkish authorities are similarly inclined on corrupt has ordered the countrys main satellite provider turks out to take the channels down over allegations that the stations promoted kurdish independence for me and martial signs of losing patience with journalists working for Foreign News Outlets on the row hinge a refugee story recently arresting two reporters working for turkeys state owned broadcaster t. R. T. Lao han mang from singapore and mocked choi lin from malaysia as well as their birthdays colleagues on nane so and locked in were arrested for breaching import laws by bringing a drone into the country without a license an offense punishable by three years in prison relations between me and maher and turkey have soured with turkeys president regift type error to want to kucing the me and mar government of carrying out a genocide against their own hinge a Muslim Minority over the past two months more than six hundred thousand have fled to neighboring bangladesh to escape what the un has described as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing me and maher had made significant progress on press freedom since the end of military rule in two thousand and eleven however with several journalists arrested this year and the government strictly controlling the coverage of the road there are tangible signs of those freedoms eroding. Every year the french Media Watchdog GroupReporters Without Borders ranks countries in its index on press freedom eritrea has consistently been at the very bottom of that list of the worst of the worst until this past year when it rose by one spot above north korea there was only state run media operating within the country so many eritreans have grown to rely on a news outlet operating in exile radio iran is based in france it beings its way home via satellite and shortwave the station has come to provide a lifeline for the five thousand refugees fleeing eritrea every month many of those refugees are kidnapped by human traffickers along the way held for ransom for them radio a run up place two rolls one part news source one part Hostage Negotiator before we show you this report know this we approached eritrean officials in the capital as well as london and new york to get their side of the story none of them chose to comment the listening posts nick mueller had now on the state of the media in eritrea and radio a rant of the news outlet on the outside trying to make a difference. And now. I just draw. With. Him. This is my honest. Shes a human rights and janice the radio. On her show forces of eritrea. Is the finest highlights the plight of those who flew. Country and. Become a big part of. My friend i. Understand why eritrean refugees call a journalist in sweden when their loved ones are held for ransom in north africa with the story of. After a thirty year war of independence with. The new president. For twenty six years chose not to hold elections keep the country on a war footing in two thousand and one privately and news outlets and began expelling from correspondents until none were left in the country. All that remained was state media. The government. Wanted to. Express. The countrys progress. So. The people are very in. Any meaningful journalism in eritrea tends to happen from outside of the country which is why weve. Had. It was set up in two thousand and nine by a group of exiled journalists who used to work for state media now from the safety of france they can cover issues like Immigration National service and the constitution. Radio ever know were set up with Financial Assistance from the Media Watchdog GroupReporters Without Borders according to Research Conducted by the media defendant group torture of academia is now the second most this into Radio Station in eritrea behind only the states will cost first started people are. Of course we booked us via satellite and shortwave insight the only channel you get is the government media of course of the. Other media as you dont find them on the. Sides of the channels but not in their own language not in doing we also. Want to line four hundred friends outside the tent which is our second target audience most of the news that they did in an upper crust. By day and local media. By doing interviews or by getting access from other sources thats how to become a class lampton and the desperate. Trade produces an estimated five thousand refugees a month for many radio is their primary source of information and can mean the difference between life and death. They face different challenges along the way surveyed here aaron are trying to produce coverage that will help them at every stage. Time no. Different. For those who are inside. We try to explain the hardship the danger they face if they try to. Reach there to see missions. Give them information. Life for those who are on the roads they do face the biggest challenge. As radio aaron i was Getting Started a disturbing trend was developing along one of the main escape routes out of eritrea in the sudanese and egyptian refugees are being kidnapped by human traffickers and held for ransom they would be given a mobile phone and told to call relatives and beg for money families that did not pay would have to listen to their loved ones being tortured repeatedly as the human traffickers tried to extort their ransom which is where the finest comes in as one of the only journalists covering the story the victims and those trying to set them free started calling her for help she became a go between as a journalist as the finest which shine a light on individual cases and as an activist she would help raise the money to pay their ransoms which raises the ongoing debate over whether or not to pay ransoms but in this case its hard to argue. The people that i was talking to on a daily basis kept dying one by one i felt helpless i did not have that kind of money and then i there were twenty nine twenty eight men one woman young woman. Time and have touched me and everybody understand that you cannot raise money for twenty nine people. See this clear. Because for them it was too much to see their sister that. Was being raped dungaree in front of everybody and help her not anybody she comes from a viewpoint family so that kind of motivated me to raise money is why i did not hear that idea or not but social media saying that you heard in my program isnt this kind of positions our listeners are. What sets the eritrean refugees story apart is that they are not feeling a war but the byproduct of a mandatory National Service was introduced to rebuild the country off the air trans war with. The terms are meant to be eighteen months but Amnesty International they can be indefinite often last decades in our form of forced labor which the government denies but most are trying to tell you its why they fled the country. Two years ago the. Foreign aid to eritrea to two hundred thirty seven Million Dollars to keep refugees. The money came with the vague proviso that eritrea would improve its track record on human rights. However when a france twenty four crew was going to dreher access to the country last year it managed to share through an unscheduled stop on its guided that the practice of indefinite National Service continues theres no limit that they were not paid and they dont give us anything its the military service theyre trained to listen to radio air and will know the horrors that await them if they flee the country but still they choose to leave which should tell you all you need to know about life inside eritrea but despite this journalist is asking them to stay migration is not the solution. Is not going to change anything i strongly believe that so i try to talk as much about this issue but the kidnapping so that people dont even attempt like whatever is making you have to try to change it in your country but if you feel this is what will happen to you so discouraging people from fleeing from your child this is one of the things that i fight for. People are afraid of talking when there is mistrust between. Neighbors friends what we created is people talk what they hear. From. Radio so if you are talking. To your Building Trust i think. Finally in our lead story we looked at fox news in particular its early show fox and friends and how its grown into Donald Trumps morning media bubble of choice never mind that one anchor at c. N. N. Has taken to calling fox state t. V. Trump frequently tweets his approval of the morning show which must mean the world to them will leave you now with a compilation of clips to give you an idea of what makes fox and friends breakfast t. V. Fit for a president well see you next time youre at the listening post. Thats up to the twenty one thousand by twenty with thousand pound bomb explodes in the afghanistan pakistan region it took me two or three blocks before i found a woman and found a white person thats kind of the dodgy areas of france just an aside to the Muslim Community if you dont want to be portrayed in a negative light maybe dont burn people alive and set off bombs and let me just ask any of you concerned that President Trump his campaign colluded with russia to get elected now i dont want that happen now that generally the man is the alpha and the woman is the beta so thats how all almost all relationships start right you as a man make the phone call you pick up you pay the bill you actually even ask the woman to marry you this is the least sexist least racist most free most equal most prosperous country in the history of human humankind leggins and a hooded sweatshirt all right now will you think thats what you think but not as he said earlier you would like to see something covering President Trump just finished the trio tweet you have treated me very fairly and ive been a friend of the show for a long time if he doesnt tweet it it doesnt get out there with the way it needs to remember those calling. Was to drive the news because the news is being driven against him its actually its actually genius maybe without those callers somebody else who study here. Vicious endeavors to create drought proof crops amazing to think that the plan. And International Efforts to combat the pests that threaten so they bring in their. Props just like a doctor write your prescription. Youre writing a prescription for the farmer explores inspiring. Farming for the future. Aljazeera. We understand the differences. And the similarities of cultures across the world so no matter how you take it aljazeera will bring you the news and Current Events that matter to. Aljazeera. Horrigan harveys destruction was indiscriminate with will there be an equal recovery i didnt want to be the mayor of two cities and have folk lines discovers how the disparity between rich and poor is brought to the surface in times of crisis someones life. Culture. Lives. Off to harvey at this time on aljazeera. With a quick reminder of the top stories on aljazeera u. S. President donald trump has warned north korea its nuclear and missile programs are putting it