Hour of news for you top of the hour see you then between now and then its the listening post season. On counting the cost how corrupt is your country Transparency International has the latest global rankings venezuela makes history by launching a crypto currency can south africa plug a hole in its finances as cape town faces a water shortage counting the cost at this time. Elections are coming on president sisi just to. Hold. On with the return of security. And that it. Must. Have. A lower richard gives birth in europe the listening post here are some of the media stories weve been tracking this week elections are coming up in egypt and hungary given what president and Prime Minister or about have done to the media in their countries they dont have to worry about the way theyre being covered subliminal messages and life sentences six journalists convicted in turkey for allegedly plotting against the government the aftermath of the School Shootings in florida is reverberating throughout the u. S. News media. And amidst the fun in games to celebrate Chinese New Year one particular sketch on television about africans that the producers probably want to take back. If youre a journalist covering the upcoming election in egypt your contacts in the Security Services may prove more useful than those you have in parliament there have been more arrests than manifestos and the candidates are dropping like flies take abdul more name for example he decided not to run against president. But was arrested this past week anyway upon his return to cairo after doing an interview in london its not just what he said the now saying egypts crackdown on dissent but where he said it on one of our sister channels al jazeera which is network non grata in egypt is stamboul is also one cairos radar these days because of the opposition channels that beam out of there and into egypt and ill show theyre probably the reason the travel restrictions have been placed on egyptian journalists trying to go there the c. C. Government has its bases covered voices of opposition news outlets that provide them with platforms and journalists with plane tickets our starting point this week is al jazeera Broadcast Center in london. There are things you just dont say on the gyptian television these days but to shut off. The one. Or even on a channel based outside the country and broadcasting in bottom like Al Jazeera Mubasher and ill do a lot more name. Must have known that as he looks at. What is considered their headline in egypt because he questioned the relation between the Egyptian Army and president of the fact that he insinuated in the interview of that relationship that the iranian president s. Back. Shot off i couldnt see. Speak for him but i can speak in terms of any voice of opposition to the nation featuring on the edges of the channel and project to include that is contrary to the two of. Us often six feet fashion right this minute. Theres not even going to allow any semblance how as a close method of accusation to it its a sign that he feels threatened every team in itself and marginalized and widely opposed contrary to the image and towards to project of itself of being popular and representative got off. The. Value. Of. That time which is exactly what happened to abdul name put two or three days after that interview having returned to cairo from london he was jailed along with six members of his Political Party for two was a leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood before splitting from the movement to run as an independent candidate in the two thousand and twelve election that Mohamed Morsi and the brotherhood would go on to win of the tens of thousands of egyptians jailed since president elsisi took power from morsi in two thousand and thirteen foot two is among the most prominent when he agreed to talk to Aljazeera Mubasher the network knew it had a story on its hands it devoted one hour and fourteen minutes to that interview aljazeera has been banned from egypt since two thousand and thirteen the authorities have jailed its journalists and accused the network of pro Muslim Brotherhood coverage on stories like this one the government and its allies refuse any and all interview requests aljazeera is not the only outside broadcaster in the egyptian mix the last time. Its the government shows for dissent on the domestic airwaves it seems the more news comes from beyond the countrys poor. Appearing and is provocative in the current the gyptian climate however i think the issue goes beyond just europe because now there are gyptian media that are opening up in turkey that can only be understood through the geopolitical angle it is not about thats a turkey or qatar believing and the values of freedom of expression it is more about using media in geo political struggles with other countries that is of these channels came as some kind of countering the or fishel state negative by giving a different version of reality altogether a different story and they have positioned themselves from day one as quote unquote oppositional media family that i can show you feel very badly they say its going to fail me but i will deal with the stumble in based Media Channels are a vital lifeline for egyptians who want to new whats happening there in a very important channel in pushing forward an alternative and in many ways much mood balanced view of the reality Political Economic and security reality in egypt i just have you know a covey at they should not slide sometimes for the same level of propagandistic type of coverage invent it. Maybe. Some of the was the u. S. Or some of the insults of the u. S. By the backfire and it might affect their credibility negatively rather than positively in the eyes of a white sect of egyptians. Among the channels beaming out of istanbul and into egypt the two biggest are shot of and mecca mylene of the two mecca mylene is considered more pro muslim brother. Shot is owned by a former m. P. And party leader iman noor who fled egypt in two thousand and thirteen. Ownership structure is more opaque but its donors have clear links to the brotherhood which makes the network an ultra sensitive issue in egypt when an International MarketResearch Firm published a survey last year showing that mecca mylene was the countrys most watched Television Channel the authorities closed down the firms cairo offices the official reason given concerns over health and safety in the workplace travel restrictions on egyptian journalists have recently been widened to include turkey again the c. C. Government cited safety concerns calling turkey a war zone which will come as breaking news to turks and the egyptian journalists working their demand that one a little why are they coming to the opposition whether its politicians or journalists all need to breathe to have some fresh air surely politicians journalists citizens were all suffocating in egypt the media have only one thing on a paper and a pen or a camera and theyre considered enemies of the regime but the regimes media even with all its strength its dozens of channels and millions of dollars cannot stop freedom of speech at the start of. The egyptian media is controlled by the general Intelligence Services what were seeing is increasing control by the ministry through its holdings of supposedly privately. Old and independent Television Channels and news outlets and. The fact that the military and military intelligence are going to control the narrative fully and totally this is complete authoritarianism and i think its represented very clearly now in developments in the media sector. Having long since gained control of news outlets within egypt ban channels they dont like and arrested journalists and politicians who refuse to fall silent what is left for the authorities to do. Get some other voices celebrex to echo the dominant narrative film stars and football are among those who have been added to the nonstop chorus of pro c. C. Voices you will hear and see on the egyptian air one hundred eleven one of these are going to. Lead nowhere without us noticing the sun that is this very of a deep state of fragmentation and polarization and Division Like egypt has never witnessed before and that it is of you either with us or against us so those who are already conditioned their minds already condition prostate protegee him across the sea theyre going to definitely be affected by these types of indorsements at least to put a hand picked and used to legitimize the dictatorship of general sisi there would always be a minority of supporters for whatever reasons dictatorial regimes book the boss number of people opposed to this regime do not have a voice and they certainly do not have a voice any kind of representative voice through the media in egypt now. Were discussing other media stories that are on our radar this week with one of our producers joe had a whose job last week took a long look at the state of journalism in turkey in the wake of the field who of july two thousand and sixteen now six journalists and media workers have been sentenced to life in prison for their alleged involvement in that plot who are they and one of those been convicted of well the six include ahmed al tun his brother matt. And theyre all found guilty of links to the u. S. Based turkish cleric fertility who is accused of being behind failed coup the reporters were convicted of allegedly sending subliminal messages via newspaper columns and experiences on a good t. V. Channel urging the overthrow of the government now its been more than a year and a home since the coup attempt so its pretty hard to believe that for all the journalists arrested since then these are the first actual convictions just how many legal cases how many arrests are we talking about well according to the new york based committee to protect journalists at least seventy three media professionals remain behind bars mostly without charges or trials making turkey the worlds number one jailer of journalists and although another Turkish Court has just freed a german turkish reporter they misused cell was jailed last year for allegedly spreading terrorist propaganda and inciting violence a larger pattern is very clear now as Penn International pitted these convictions marken apacs in the disintegration in the rule of law in turkey its been a week and a half since the School Shootings in florida and President Trump is coming under pressure to do something anything about gun control in the u. S. But some of that pressure in the news media is coming from unexpected quarters whats going on well in the aftermath of the shooting survivors have taken to the media both mainstream and social to advocate for tougher gun control laws the right wing media upper which tends to. Poes rewriting those laws is contesting that approach fox news Tucker Carlson for instance said the surviving students are being entries loaded a list of a selection and the allegation has been that they are in some way in contact with organized antigun groups and people have suggested that have been denounced as immoral and heartless and how do they know its fox news right so this is kind of to be expected but the networks chief White House Correspondent john roberts got into it with press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders on whether the president has any concrete ideas on the issue and the broader problem of dreams individuals whether its killing people indiscriminately disease and they are. Or have you. And john roberts isnt the only voice on fox news talking that way these days which is new and another Rupert Murdoch own news that the New York Post has published this front page the president now what are we to make of that its probably a bit too early to tell but there seems to be cracks forming in the right wing media on the gun control issue and where the story goes from here where murdochs relationship with President Trump goes well what space ok joe thinks if the polls are to be believed hungary and Prime Minister viktor orban could win his third consecutive election this april and should that happen the media there will have played a large part ever since coming to power for the second time in two thousand and ten d. Or about the government has devoted considerable energy and resources to restructuring the domestic media landscape in its favor the closure of hungarys most influential opposition newspaper in october of two thousand and sixteen made headlines but it was just one example of many government linked buyouts most of hungarys private media is now in the hands of businessmen allied to the Prime Minister and his party dash those news outlets alongside numerous stayed on channel strongly support order bans anti immigration paul. Just intent to amplify his muslim message according to two whistleblowers working at state owned media at the m. T. V. A thats because the government is directing their output and those news outlets deviously following the law listening posts slow phillips now from budapest on victor all the bands ever tightening grip on the hungary and media. At his annual state of the Union Address this past week to oban who do this for you but the issues he says in danger the threat posed by migrants youve got. To give us that the dominance of the European Union. Really badly need. For. The spread of business. And his disdain for george because the show will be just any court should do so. And there will be mexicans do what megali to. That but its clear message from the field this from the government. And the state may be the progovernment media just get this message. By a trillion of the propaganda is growing. Ever so its a kind of. Public media has been totally conquered by the government since two thousand now they have four channels to community the rhetoric of the government thats full time government propaganda. Time propaganda isnt unique to state media the fidesz partys control extends across the media landscape encompassing both public and private corporations accord. The Investigative Journalism out but at last since two thousand and ten allies of the Prime Minister have been buying up numerous hunger in Media Outlets men like former hollywood producer and divina and Old School Friend laurence mesereau are among a group of fourteen or band allies this collective the board eleven radio stations twenty Television Channels and close to five hundred online and print organizations. State media however remains a powerful megaphone the Umbrella Organization created by the hunger in government in two thousand and eleven is called the m. T. V. And it oversees all public outrage across t. V. Radio and web m. T. V. A cost more than two hundred fifty Million Euros a year and is referred to by its critics as quote a taxpayer funded propaganda network. We spoke to two m. T. V. Employees who described a lack of editorial independence and a climate of fear the latter explains why they were wary of speaking out and did so on condition that we disguised their faces and their voices every single thing connected to the master of politics is restricted i mean you cant write anything bad about the government. That for example if something is politically sensitive i get instructions. In in some cases i have to be made article so i dont need to do anything though i did. See copy and paste the whole article really. Its unimaginable to be honest the editor in chief is generally like a dictator who comes into the office saying hey whats up guys but then when you get to me more from him. In the beginning we used to get emails like. Now he just shouts from one corner of the office we cant be dissing the news its against. Being pro requires the hunger in media to turn against those critical of his government and its agenda that means opposition figures critical voices of the European Union refugees and one well known hunger in emigrant george soros the us space billionaire businessman and philanthropist has through his open Society Foundations funded investigations into the old and government and campaigned in favor of multiculturalism and open borders ideals squarely at odds with the Prime Minister for all bands fit as part of the source has become a handy eight gauge and when you hear hungary media star for present. The country according to our insiders a m. T. B. F. Editorial directives from the government on the star story can be Crystal Clear so one of my books you sent me a word document by mistake we trust produced by this content making department the Prime Ministers office. And this document here makes the case that hes organizations are rallying support for a massive antigovernment protest ok so here is the statement. Plus the rule of law he then goes on to say this document that he wants to use illegal methods to overthrow the government. And the evil. And these happening before our eyes or already offered training session. Pronouncements and their brainwashing people whatever stories about mansions. They focus on anything that has any connection to. The shore beginning shore shore going to. Diversity and of course the war of migrants and then left liberal left liberal newspaper left liberal journalists or a tree war. Margarine and left liberal thats the governments hold we tried putting these claims of government interference directly into the Government Spokesperson zoltan case that he turned our interview requests down by text he said he did not believe that the government should in any way comment on media issues even going as far as to say that the government has nothing to do with media and he said we could quite long last. We made our way to parliament where every week hosts a press conference thats broadcast live on state t. V. Our producer managed to get in and try to ask each of the question please no you know you going cant theres an old theres an order in the room and they will respect you give back the microphone to the person ok thats not the sonoran its not your target audience here very some not only its not. What you like would you like me to guards to escort you out of the room hungarys combination of tightly controlled state media and private outlets and by government friendly tycoons means that most of the countries media are on the same page when it comes to some of the most important issues. Evidence of that can be found in the eerily similar progovernment talking points that keep appearing almost word for word multiple news outlets as we now know its often the cut and paste job under a government that says it has nothing to do with the media i think every progovernment media outlet has a guy who said. These kind of directives from a centralized content providing department. They never dictate the exact article they just include bullet points stating the governments opinion you know they. Put lots of articles with different by lines together look at the titles highlight keywords. And you realize the message is the same we figured out the content creation centralise we created this model where you can see that information. And in an hour all these media as it has been influenced by the car refer to this part of the world in the gears of country news. Day is packaged in the very same way sort of see this story. Of the. Addicted santa that. The very same story is very same page is in the newspaper. Even back to bands worst enemies will concede this about his media strategy its working he has a healthy lead in the polls and come the election in april is likely to secure a third term his remaining critics on the airwaves a few. Clothes a german and channel broadcasting in hungary and has been beyond his reach because its based outside the country even that may change its like although some of us make news addition to what i need to reset. If you arent. Number of tickets bankroll and the majority of hungarys news media is already owned by hunted down and picked through about once it all and when he says the media system must be a National Hand forty means its hands he can control. Finally when a gala gets it wrong Chinese New Year is a television spectacle the state on c. C. T. V. Networks lunar new year. Gala draws audiences in the hundreds of millions for hours of dance music comedy with a little dash of propaganda but those elements dont always mix one of the themes this year was a celebration of chinas ties to african nations but theres got to be a better way to do that than taking a chinese actress and painting her face black or putting a black actor in a monkey suit the reviews from twitter and chinas version of twitter sign away bo were not good well see you next time here at the listening post. That always however. Will gain trust so what. Was said will. Well you. Know youll say well. Ok yes yes yes yes. Yes. That sounds. Fine to. Me one. Day on that. One i dont like. To put your week you follow. Me. C. C. s this is a. Little closer. To. The scene for us where on line one says american sign in yemen that peace is almost possible but number happens not because the situation is complicated but because no one cares or if you join us on set there are people that are choosing between buying another creation and eating this is a dialogue i want to get in one more comment because this is someone whos an ounce of it is close to the story join the global conversation at this time on aljazeera. The Health Authorities in the student groups are all reporting lowering gas symptoms among council to use of Syrian Government to destroy us