Organizations under their command and finding a meditative way through the news some. Nice and peaceful its important to push my bullet yet im in Square Hong Kong yoga coming to a mat near you the protests started small but escalated quickly social media can have that effect then came the security crackdown across iraq including the use of live ammunition more than 100 protesters have been killed as many as 6000 wounded and a number of news outlets have been attacked since the u. S. Led invasion in 2003 journalists have usually attributed under arrest on the streets of iraq to sectarianism the divide between primarily shia and sunni muslims they cant do that this time iraqi protesters are demanding an overhaul of the political system a system known as. Which has played on sectarian divides to carve up the spoils of war torn but Oil Rich Iraq so that most of the wealth gets circulated amongst the political elite and not nearly enough trickles down to ordinary iraqis thats what these demonstrations have been about and given the scale of the protests its no wonder the politicians the Security Forces they control and the Media Outlets they own are closing ranks to protect the status quo our starting point this week is back that. Why would iraqi protesters how to change a political system that works for the few and not the many protesters determined to have their movement covered term to a Comedy Program rather than a news broadcast to tell their story. Why would they send the videos they captured of the demonstrations and the deadly Security Response to the al bashir show a Comedy Program airing on german broadcaster deutsche of ellas Arabic Service and not for instance to keep their own publicly funded national broadcast. They were not looking for comedy relief they were looking for fair coverage of a story that is no laughing matter. At all bashir show is a platform for the iraqi people he is always addressing their concerns and he specially at a time when iraqi channels have been prohibited from showing the reality of iraq from showing the protests his coverage has been crucial he was dedicating. That episode. To footage from the protest is that this time instead of people listening to him it was going to be a sure show listening to the people on the street but the shabab john saw to i level sort of. Level sort of job then i would have thought wow im going. To live for by and his biggest criticism is where is our media why are they showing cartoons why theyre showing cooking shows i mean this is probably one of the biggest moments in post 2003 iraq and the Mainstream Media isnt really covering it this point was we dont have a free and fair media Mainstream Media in our country. That was made evident by the coverage of the demonstrations more than 100. 00 have been killed thousands more wounded but from the outset most mainstream Media Outlets in iraq tried to ignore the story not just out it ikea privately owned channels as well by day 2 of the protests police were firing live ammunition into the crowds Iraqi Television reporters started covering the story but in many cases they downplayed. It on day 3 came the internet shut down affecting 75 percent of the country some news outlets based outside baghdad that were covering the story would pay the price on day 5. 00 masked men converged on the saudi owned. And the kurdistan based arabic among others ransacking their buildings sending the channels a clear message. Of shutting down the internet was effective in reducing the ability of the protests this could to coordinate but shutting down the t. V. Stations was part of a media blackout. The Iraqi Government was probably up to know that violence was going to erupt heavy the heavy handed approach was going to become worse and having life Media Coverage was not going to go down well. With me and so what the militias and government were trying to do was completely isolated iraq from the world these channels were covering events daily and from every province and thats why they were targeted because they were trying to give people a voice to speak out but im not. Unlike most of the popular unrest in iraqs postwar era the issues at the core of these protests are not primarily sectarian they are systemic with. Terry and undertow. Iraq is not a poor country it just feels like one despite more than 100000000000. 00 a year worth of oil exports roughly 20 percent of iraqis still lack a safe water supply many blame a system known as. The field which translates to sectarian apportion and amounts to a form of ethno sectarian balance under move hasa Iraqi Coalition governments hand out ministerial and government positions according to the percentage of the population that is shia sunni and kurdish they apportion budgetary spending on that basis as well and while that approach sounds demographically defensible in practice it has resulted in endemic corruption and the failure of the countrys oil wealth benefiting ordinary iraqis. The Political Parties but they have managed to do is make sure that they have the wherewithal the tools and the resources to keep winning elections those tools are the following. A winning Government Office and the wealth that the Government Offices have and using that to reward their supporters. You also need Public Opinion these Political Parties have their own t. V. Or newspaper or radio outlets than broadcast that message because that loyal base requires constant messaging in order to keep them activated keep them voting for the next round of elections the masses the system allow politicians to mask corruption in government basically there is no political will in iraq for any independent media because what an independent media will do is expose corruption on a grand scale but also give voice to marginalized groups in iraq who havent necessarily been given a platform that might call to question the current political system throughout the country iraqis feel the political process doesnt represent their voice they feel that the Mainstream Media doesnt really represent their voice the conventional news channels are linked to Political Parties now those Political Parties are facing an existential threat these protests are saying down with this system and down with all of the parties not one party all of them so of course they wont want to cover the extent of which the citizens of iraq have grievances. Until 2003 and the fall of Saddam Hussein the iraqi media landscape was barren consisting of just one t. V. Channel 4 radio stations and 5 newspapers all state controlled satellite dishes were illegal as the country transitioned out of the hussein era dozens of new broadcast outlets went on the air that the u. S. Led Coalition Authority said would safeguard the countrys new democracy all it took to acquire a license to broadcast was the money to buy one but very few iraqis could afford one those who could tended to come with political connections a decade and a half later what has really. Bolted is a new landscape politically partisan proprietors and channels more devoted to their owners interests than those of their viewers. Because its partisan. If there is a problem that doesnt have a partisan nature then the system fails kind of doesnt know how to handle it unlike previous protests against the secretary and Political Parties which you know this Media Outlets are made in designed to cover because you can just pick sides this is the protest of a majority shia hues against a majority shia led government. So they didnt know what to do so they decided just not to cover it. So in a way the system failed like you know like systematic. Which explains why when iraqis took to the streets they barred past their own domestic Media Outlets and look for help elsewhere. Is there any wonder that young iraqis when they chose to send their videos out for the world to see that they chose a comedian working for a german broadcaster broadcasting in arabic as opposed to sending those videos to iraqi journalists in iraq. Its not surprising that. The iraqi iraqis see have seen how politically affiliated the media are. And as they dont want to be associated with any particular side of the name of these protesters are very keen to get across the fact they have no political affiliations. I didnt share a rocking and each a valid. Who are the independent international station other best option. For discussing other media stories that are on our radar this week with one of our producers mean. Sticking with the iraq war for a moment but the american side of that story of the president who started that war george w. Bush made some news this past week alongside a Television Comedian walk us through that story so the story began richard last sunday at of all places a game of american football in dallas texas the talk show host in question Ellen Degeneres again a liberal comedian and she was photographed sitting alongside george w. Bush at the game the reaction was immediate a lot of her fans were really disapproving of the company she was keeping remember george w. Bush started the war in iraq in 2003 over nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and it caused the deaths of at least half a 1000000 iraqis and many legal experts say he should be tried as a war criminal so degeneracy then goes on camera filming her response to her critics were they buying the explanations she was offering there were some who were willing to accept what she said but by and large it did not go down well heres a clip of what she said i think im friends with george bush in fact im friends with a lot of people who dont share the same beliefs that i have were all different and i think that weve forgotten that thats ok that were all different that segment went viral hitting 20000000 views and going on for half a 1000000 likes on twitter however it also amplified the criticisms and one of the most cutting pieces of critique was actually unspoken it came from an activist in new york city called shimon of and he decided to edit degeneracy is video adding some images in disturbing ones showing the actual consequences of george w. Bushs war for instance i wish people wouldnt wear fur i dont like it but im friends with people who wear fur and im friends with people who are furry as a matter of fact i have. Tweets more that video has now also gone viral despite the best efforts of Ellen Degeneres as producers who try to have it taken offline claiming Copyright Infringement we spoke with Rafael Schumann of the producer of that video so i objected to alans video response because she really. Didnt respond she made it look like people are just upset that a liberal person is sitting with a conservative in my research to find the images to lay in the background i had to actually censor myself and that was because the images i found were too horrific what she did there was erase iraqis and what i did with the video at it was reintroduced iraqi he definitely did bring the iraqis back into focus the victims of that want to check this was the image from that video it was shared all across social media ok thanks man. Were turning now to poland as the country heads into its parliamentary elections the populist law and Justice Party known as peace is hoping for reelection and amongst the tools at its disposal to secure victory is the public Broadcaster Television or t. V. The head of t. V. Pay is named yet sikorsky he is beyond loyal to the ruling party before getting that job almost 4 years ago was a deputy minister in the peace government he has made sweeping changes at p. V. P. Turning it into a Propaganda Machine that his political masters now rely on but hes not the only course in the Media Business in poland his older brother yet a suave affectively runs the countrys biggest opposition newspaper because at the border think family feud only one with a few political and media angles to it the listening posts for philips now on how the story of 2 brothers and the Media Outlets they run reflects a deeply divided country. 9 months ago happen to damage the longtime air of the polish port city of the dance was stabbed to death at a Charity Concert american politicians sit down spit out on the couch of his attacker a mentally unstable man had just been released from prison a prison where some say he was exposed to hour after hour of television that for months on an Ongoing Investigation into the mans personal finances. And of these young. Thats the mayors widow the regime t. V. Shes talking about is the tax paying fund. Public broadcaster. Sky t. V. She says its output influence the killer. In 2008. Talked about. Almost 1800. 00 times thats about 5 pieces a day on average. Should all be your very tough you say all right i dont recall any level headed accounts of the investigations into his finances but if you regularly watch t. V. You could easily have come to the conclusion that he represented a great danger to poland. But as a. Part of the coverage of pavel a damn of it is just one of many critics say reflect badly on t. V. Especially its main news program. Watched by more than 2000000 people every day even more in election season which is exactly why poland is now between european elections 5 months ago and parliamentary elections this weekend. The stories on t. V. Changed the tone and its reflection the florin Justice Party policy. They have a pattern in the beginning we usually have information about the governments biggest achievement of the day. Not on the. Effect is something that we hear about the opposition that is absolutely helpless and cannot match the governments Great Success programme of. The one issue how those stories are supported by images from of their time in office hammering home how terrible life was bag. Of tricks accompanied her. During. A european parliamentary Election Campaign in may t. V. Concentrated on the government most of the time always a very positive light on the other hand any time the opposition has shown it was always in a negative way either they were shown a some sort of a comical helpless group as a whole minute to a premiere or they recalled all the scandals from their time in government scandal or further as news on the. Playground its a propaganda tool that works on a very simple basis lie lie continue to repeat the lie and you will make it stick. I regret to tell you all this and im torn about how much i should 3rd and you know the reason why this is so difficult for me because the head of this television is my brother from think the live easiest way but. You heard that right yes wife kirstine the defacto editor in chief of visitor boucher polands biggest liberal newspaper has a brother yet sick who just happens to run t. V. 2 brothers who used to play on the same team now on opposite sides. It all started here and get out whether kirsty brothers were born and raised this is also the home to this now iconic shipyard the birthplace of solidarity a movement that helped to topple communism and change the face of poland both brothers were heavily involved in solidarity gatos of course ski founded a kinder style anti communist Student Newspaper sic went on to edit it back then they were both on the same side of the political and media divide but in a new poland a post communist one they soon went their separate ways. To have joined it doesnt have a border china which represents strong liberal democratic views with slight leftists characteristics yet sick however from the start was clearly a right wing conservative. For a long time the brothers remained on good terms it all started to go wrong about 2005 when the law and Justice Party gained power for the 1st time the conflict was radicalize and it spiraled out of control dog owners such as. Fast forward to 2016 just months after the law and Justice Party returned to power and yet sick then a deputy culture minister was appointed as the new head of t. V. P u c environment they go beyond that in the. New sellers Nashville National television of the closing the shutter politics. Were trying to talk to cascade directly we 1st request an interview with him months ago and initially it looked as they might agree but just before we arrived we were told hes too busy to run away to t. V. Now to get that one shot. Our producer was put through to because hes Postal Assistant there but she poli he reiterated have asked didnt have time to meet supposed. Cuz he purged hundreds of journalists from t. V. Replacing them with reporters more loyal to the government a public broadcaster closely aligned with one party the law and Justice Party and its News Coverage reflects that a Propaganda Machine operating at taxpayers expense the changes you made have raised concerns in brussels where the e. U. Has accused poland of turning toward authoritarian politics we did manage to put these concerns to someone from t. V. Chris dr brown skin president of the polish Journalists Association and the host of a show on the network he explained that moving t. V. People to the right was the only fan way to balance out the media market in poland. Read your posts before 2016 the media in poland including t. V. Were dominated by the left after the law and Justice Party victory t. V. Piece started to speak the language of the victors they reported the world from their point of view from a conservative perspective yes t. V. Has moved too far towards government propaganda and yes public t. V. Should be in the center but then there would be nothing on the right and wed have a symmetry against the new money to go public over easter on the perkins novels it was a new study shows the madness of. The left wing space is firmly occupied by you guys at a borgia the newspaper. Was founded 30 years ago in close alignment with the Solidarity Movement nowadays its regarded as being in opposition to the current government scandals and alleged malpractise or misconduct by the law and Justice Party dominate its pages and in the run up to this election week after week the porch a has published a damning indictment of the partys 4 years in office supplements theyve called the black book of peace just. Its completely critical towards the government regardless of what the government does whats more they dont just support the opposition but for many years theyve embodied there. Is an active politician who speaks at political rallies. Across the line as a journalist. We have a porch or do not see ourselves i live journalists we are also conscious citizens please remember these are not normal times let me give you an example. After the victory of the norn Justice Party a huge group of their supporters led by a Catholic Priest came to the headquarters of the that of abortion and performed an exorcism on. Their promoting. Of bringing muslim terrorists to poland of lacking morality of being evil the government wants to destroy us but its very like intelligently it is not a face to face attack on attempts at censorship they hope to kill us financially. They put a plastic bag over i hadnt say try to bring. In many ways the tale of the kirsty brothers and their respective Media Outlets provides a snapshot a telling one of polish politics today. And wherever the story goes its going to be told in more ways than one. And finally earlier this year we run a video that was produced to help get britain through its period of political turmoil it was called brecks it yoga a form of all online therapy that as its australian inventor the a. B. C. Networks sammy jay put it tackles the big issues of the day then submit them to a variety of sporting analogies and yoga poses the idea is to get everyone to just relax and breeze while mr j. Has since turned his attention to hong kong and the political demonstrations that are now into their 7th month not that the british get a pass on this hes thrown in a little colonial history as well just for context well see you next time here at the listening post but im going to warm up with that 1st position were the union jack so few of those colonial powers inside you really impose a culture and after holding this position for over a century well head into l. 997 handover. Said lowering the union jack now feel that global empire miserably shuttering to an end and from he will transition awkwardly into. One country. 2 systems were ok might be feeling a bit uncomfortable so its time to stand up for your rights with a mass protest sometimes. Nice and peaceful its important not to push too far you by bullets yet i mean square. And when you feeling confident moving to. Shutting down the airport. And from he into. Flaming barricades. 3 years 3 prime ministers im still not great she would be up to 31st departure deadline looming until the end you very prepared to square off in brussels what will Boris Johnson to do next fall of the wretched summit on aljazeera. Hello im mr. With the headlines on aljazeera donald trump is sending a high level delegation to turkey on wednesday to seek a ceasefire in northeastern syria thats despite the turkish president saying he isnt willing to negotiate with Congress Forces meanwhile russia says its troops are now patrolling the area between turkish and cut us forces in the region hong kong need a carrier has faced disruption in the chamber as she tried to give her annual policy speech paid to nothing because you are being soaked or your. Heart would be the high voice grew up you can hear their lawmakers shouted had down twice forcing the meeting to be suspended and as she left the chamber some even threw objects assa some politicians say its time for to step down in a pos hole monks home home people have had a very difficult time very very tell time how ravel our chief executive mrs kerry reid feels to respond all to resolve the problem. Our 5 months of very clear not one less and i really urge if she cant call them on call and she has no determination to tell them all and she has no ability and even incapable in a ministration hong kong please that down. Has the latest from hong kong the big security presence here outside the Legislative Council was to prevent any protesters from interrupting this policy address by carrie lamb but what they didnt expect is there to be interruptions in side the Chamber Twice she tried to deliver the speech twice she was shouted out chants from prodemocracy members of the Legislative Council and after that after the 2nd attempt the session was called off and everyone exited the chambers outside some prodemocracy Legislative Council members spoke to the media they said that some said that she need to step down because she doesnt have the legitimacy to rule hong kong anymore so about an hour later she was able to deliver this address by video link now this is something that has never been done by a chief executive here in hong kong before they normally are delivering their policy addresses inside the Legislative Council during a session so this is the 1st time that has happened it lasted about an hour and touched on subjects that was expected but what was interesting obviously touched on what was happening on on the streets here in hong kong but she also talked about the future Public Housing needs to be expanded shes going to work on that