And there is huge crowds of protesters demonstrating against president bush. White. House. Is left. Of the structure was. Called. Hello i mean actually dobby sitting in for Richard Gaisford and youre watching the listening post working from home here are some of the media stories were covering this week in booze the media youre consuming says a lot about which side of the political divide your own are you watching state t. V. Or are you a telegram another book of bombshell revelations about donald trump puts the ethics of the president and the books author under the spotlight. In death as in life iranian general qassam solo money remains a powerful p. R. Symbol for to hand and back to bella who thank you. And the music thats become the soundtrack of the protests. Its been just over a month since i legs under the man whos been president of bellows for 26 years claimed victory in the countrys president ial election its been just over a month since the biggest demonstrations in the luces history swept from the capital in minsk all across the country and have persisted in spite of disproportionate state violence the engine driving balances protests can be found online on the messaging app called telegram the most popular account nektar has 2000000 subscribers in a country of 1400000 people but telegram hasnt been the only media arena in which belushi in politics is playing out once loyal state television employees have been resigning and joining the protests filling in for them are journalists from russia invited by look for himself. This is a story of a generation of making clear they want more from their government and their media and facing off against a president who has moscow to fall back on a starting point this week is minutes. Seems would not have been surprised when in his 1st interview after one of the most tumultuous months of his 26 year president Alexander Lukashenko declared that he wasnt going anywhere close to the. Crux of the interview was broadcast on state t. V. Not just to belittle see institute it was aired in full on the kremlin backed r. T. The interview is incredibly significant in the sense that its for the most senior journalists in russia flying out to minsk to interview the president you had Margarita Simonyan for me and with all chiefs and then you had a radio journalist and 2 of the t. V. Journalists that clearly is designed to send out a message of support and also to the remind. Reliant years no one russia russia and reeses relationship is often described as this marriage of convenience and they merely make sense that. This point is ready to meet you here with us and go and support and not see the western again come into play in dollars. Or you while he has me in the past highlighting sovereignty and trying to show that. Stand on its own 2 feet russia is very near. Enough what were seeing now with the russian the police. And the Russian Support has been crucial for a new show for the political strongman like him these are very Uncertain Times when he declared himself the victors of the president ial elections held on august 9th making it his 6th straight to be. Mass protests erupted across millions. In response to sent out Security Forces to literally beat the protesters down there were cameras everywhere filming the violence and so you could go turned off the biliteral scene internet there was a lot of police brutality. There where there were Water Cannons and tear gas and some want so whatever it is wanted to limit information from spreading and they did it they switched off the internet but after 3 days when the internet bust back and the majority of the population learned what happened during the 3 days the protest resumed news and there were even more people women protesting workers went on strike which was that way very scary for the purchase so that the power of information sort of just understanding. Its all in the i mean its really its online you cant talk about the media and. And if you look at the numbers subscribers to different channels the numbers are there in the millions and so you can really see that telegram has become the nation the news. And. The popularity of telegram and been a ruse started last summer when the young man. Started this popular telegram child next time which became the main source for information that the media usually cannot share there would immediately be find and close next was popular even before the election over the big jump in subscribers happened during the election and immediately after because when the internet was cut off telegrams technology allowed people to still access it and so everyone began subscribing to next in a matter of days this telegram time grew from 300000. Subscribers to having 2000000 subscribers with. The popularity of nectar and other telegram channels like to buy official. And an overwhelming look of shame cause most powerful messaging to the state broadcast. T. V. Network had been losing credibility and audience numbers before the contested election result and then the protests began and the imagery and its total light from the lucent state t. V. Was even more detached from reality than usual. Kind of walk much like. The idea that police were brutalized by protesters was so completely false. That many journalists working in state t. V. Walked out of the new street and straight onto the street to join the protests to. The key moment for state media and police with the images of shooting in the center of me when they started bringing people with gunshot wounds into hospitals when people had the extremities in fingers oh no this was the rubicon these horrible images that were in line everywhere to be receiving t. V. Kept quiet about the protest in the newsroom the government stuff requested to show the truth about the violence by the armed forces on august 10th and 11. There were hundreds of people who went on strike there was even a situation where was shown on t. V. You know there was just this empty screen and that kind of hear that purchase immensely because if the whole population even in parts of the country which have father ogrady religious you know what he knew that something went out of control that process might be irreversible so the surge has really very quickly had to come up with an idea of how to get this situation the thing in control there were threats at 1st the thirtys threatened. Working at a state invasion and then they invited russia and media workers. To work instead of those people who walks off the job were pretty much. Why is it so significant that. Expressed gratitude. For the journalistic support that provided its very important because it shows that he doesnt care anymore about the kind of arguments he was running before about the importance of but a recent National Sovereignty about a multipronged Foreign Policy approach hes basically appealing directly to moscow and saying look we may be the talk. Of these protests but youre going next and we are grateful for all the support you provided where that goes from here we dont know but definitely he is extending the french of us others to moscow and we have to see precisely what kind of a hand his reach out is extended back in return. For moscow this is a crucial moment in the game of geopolitical chess thats being played in the region. Has used his countrys strategic position between europe and russia to play each side off against the other. But now that he is on the back foot with his political survival in question put in has leverage to board delegates as russias against the west. And as moscow and minsk strategize the protesters in belize are approaching the point at which they need to articulate their mission a plan of action and how theyre going to put it into operation with prominent members of the opposition in exile and the continued crackdown on demonstrators this situation is going to demand much more both the activists and the media photos they gathered kind of seen these social media. Or seen the role of the arab spring you see in the room where iran during protests there and all of those it as time went by much more. Social media sites are supposed to just really enable democracy or it turns out that its much more complicated. And valeries were seeing this kind of message that were going to which we will be telegraphing to try to clear on whats happening online and its a real meaningful change happen in dollars can take more than posts and messages its going to take very clear leadership and there urbanization so im really interested to see the telegram beyond this really powerful world what would be prodemocracy movement. Living in the country. Were discussing other media stories on our radar this week with one of our producers Phil Phillips flow another month another book about the Trump Presidency why is this latest one causing so much controversy the President Trump may have lied is not the only news story here its not like we havent heard that before were also talking about the integrity of one of americas most prominent political Journalist Bob Woodward what has a new book coming out rage based on 1000 interviews that hes conducted with the president over the past few months the revelation that hit the headlines is that the president actually acknowledged the deadliness of coke at 19 back in early february but continued to downplay the virus and all of this has been recorded in woodward interview tape i want to always play it i still like playing it. Because i dont want to panic but beyond the obvious failings of the president theres also the issue here of journalistic practice and the reporters duty to share Important Information immediately especially if as in this case it has the bearing on millions of lives so how does woodward justify his decision how does he defend the fact that he sat on this information for so long. What it says that there was no agreement preventing him from publicizing the information at the time but as he told the Washington Post he made the decision because he could not establish where trump was getting his information on the deadliness of the virus from its not a very plausible argument look this is by no means the 1st time a reporter has saved a shocking scoop for publication but its hard not to make a comparison with the young woodward who watergate expose helped bring down president Richard Nixon in the seventys the woodward who might have cared more about sharing advanced information than a book advance youve also been looking at a story about 2 australians both of them journalists in china flow and they were pulled out of beijing recently by that employers after they were questioned by Chinese Police can you give us the detail on that. So these things are never clear cut mina but it does look as though this is yet another round of diplomatic cat and mouse the 2 journalists in question are bill burton was a correspondent for australias public broadcaster the a. B. C. And Michael Smith from the australia financial review 10 days ago Chinese Police appeared at both of their houses after midnight and told them that they were quote persons of interest in another case regarding the detention of another australian journalist chang lay whos been held by beijing or thirtys since august 14th now the offices also told bottles and smith that they were barred from leaving china at which point they obviously fled the Australian Embassy from where they were sent home this past monday the Chinese Foreign ministry has said that the journalists were being questioned as part of quote normal enforcement of law but the plot to 2nd since the Chinese State news agency shin wa reported that back in june australian agencies actually conducted and number of raids on chinese journalists homes in australia so this whole episode could well be a direct retaliation especially given birth was in smith with the only australian journalist still working in china ok thank you flo in western policy in media circles he was known as the shadow commander a general in irans elite revolutionary guard and the head of the clan this time Militia Network that left a trail of death right across the middle east in his country custom silly money was anything but shadowy he had become something of a celebrity a frequent presence in the media and in the official narrative a National Hero that is until he was killed by u. S. Forces back in january when he was cast into a new role that of the martyr. Martyrdom is a powerful concept one thats been at the heart of states rhetoric in it on and in the wake of cinnamon his assassination iranians have been inundated with imagery glorifying him in death the listening posts thought of on custom city money and the media manufacture of martyrdom in the Islamic Republic of iran. On a some. Time money assassin only want to. See before he was killed by a u. S. Drone strike in january awesome silliman is among the most feared and respected friends in the middle east for more than 2 decades to get the goods for this leads to the revolutionary guard responsible for operations on foreign soil securing on its interests across the region. So namely had a corner that kind of thing medical status before he was killed. Last and trying. To just see just how much death is legend has grown and his likeness has been harnessed by government intent on restoring its fading credibility secure the. Box. There was an initial shock soon after the assassination of some silly money because he was considered to be invincible. But he was not invincible he was located by a drone and he was attacked and he was killed so they are putting the best face to this scenario that they can everything in the arsenal of the propaganda machinery of Islamic Republic has been mobilized in order to turn him into a saintly figure into martyrs into an. Everlasting revolution. Was on the. Outside. So they might need the motto larger than life immortalized in the still. Pictures like these dominated irans physical and cyber space often staff the students in a money with a status typically reserved to commit the coherence and 2nd. From the bottom of karbala on the martyrdom of a man say in the year 68 a foundational event in the shiite face to the iran iraq war of the 19 eighties and which an estimated 1000000. 00 iranians lost their lives the veneration of the speaks the visual language around martyrdom that runs deep in iran martyrdom has become a key and essential part of state sponsored rhetoric because explanations have to be made for an overabundance of deaths so an explanation how to give greater meaning to the blood shed so a death is not the end it is just the beginning and so we have seen since his death in the last 6 months many images that equate him with the mom hussein and therefore as an ultimate martyr whose reward is paradise im on the same as is very important for shia muslims in general hes the hes the grandson of the prophet mohammad has it particularly important in the postrevolutionary sphere and the Islamic Republic because the way in which imam hussein was martyred is a story as told by shia muslims of oppressors rising up against those who are press them it is a image that that resonates almost immediately for for anyone who is viewing this and the reason they can communicate so much is because of historical left ology as well as almost 4 decades of image making and. Cents so the propaganda machinery of the Islamic Republic uses the reconfiguration of the picture of awesome silly money into that i cannot graffiti in order to re validate and re energize the she component of the islamic revolution. Marcher shecky in persian an arabic has a connotation of being a witness with this to watch witness to truth witness to the raw city of the iranian revolution. The new government knows that the revolution needs to be nourished reimagine with each generation and it has a convenient inflexible platform for the messages in the billboards back and murals found in cities across. The political propaganda irans goal is sometimes more subtle than that found on t. V. Billboards are by design more fluid more responsive they can be unfurled overnight and changed just as quickly to meet the needs of the day. The image of the military salute with a general store their money in the front and a variety of iranian citizens standing in salute behind them includes women with very loose his job and one very small boy hes engaging in a form of sign language that forms a t. In iran the team stands for the vertical bodies of thought yours that head into war only to be returned horizontally but has struck me about this billboard on body asquare is that you dont see a single ayatollah or cleric theres no over religious iconography and that stands out for me in comparison to the other images which in fact embrace a more religious rather than nationalistic stance. Before his death as a layman he had already become the compelling character in a story of the government wants to tell about itself was a movie the music video reproduced about the suffix the general who for the nations really means a book to. Some people say. So liberally. Unself cultivated thats the image whos in for Instagram Selfies with his network of proxy militia of the many. Runs influence in the middle east his strategy on instagram was to selectively put images of himself especially in syria to show that he is at the helm of various militias and divisions that he has been a successful tactician and leader so if you were a syrian looking at those images on instagram in essence those images are highly agitational its a way of asserting power so once he was killed in the way that he ys his own media team is into high gear producing from neural zzz to us social media campaigns oftentimes its very difficult actually to tell that its coming from from regime producers in iran because they know that if their audience is in iran or maybe even in iraq in lebanon know where these are coming from theyre going to be like oh thats propaganda not Pay Attention to it instead theyre doing it in a way where theyre removing as many of their fingerprints as possible but producing things that are entertaining 1st and foremost. In life and in death so name any hope build an image of a powerful iran ringback but the government is in many ways its only last p. R. Problem. Just 5 days after 3000000 suffering nation when official so to coalesce around it against outside enemies the accidental shooting down of ukrainian and i have some 176 passengers and crew and the denial of that falling in raged many. Weeks before the strike they took out so they manning the government needs new fuel to crush nationwide protests killing hundreds of people and one need only look at the subversion of saddam and his image. To see that not everyone is buying into what one is selling the state is aware of its own fundamental illegitimacy in a modern world that you have a group of octogenarians few logins drooling over massively young generation. And they dont even have a memory of the iran revolution or not to 7779. 00 and even if they did they couldnt care less so they want to generate and sustain a Younger Generation for posterity that will keep this lawmakers their public life to what degree this is successful you can see it in the anxiety of the way that they are projecting what some sort of the launcher the pictures the larger the posters the longer the graffiti is and the frescoes the more sign of the fact that they realize that the time of this iconography has really passed it doesnt stop. And finally be turned back to where like in most major protest movements anthems of change are the beat on the street the local music scene has been simmering on the ground for years and now better to see musicians like the minsk based group naca are responding to the National Mood take brokenhearted boy a song with lyrics drawn from the work of the me of metal a of one of his most famous dissident poets its a bit of a tidy it against those standing by the president its been played at many of the demonstrations and on you tube alone its had hundreds of thousands of views we leave you with this excerpt of the song and well see you next time here at the listening post. A Little School will. Believe. You. But listen. Oh youre going. To. Boot. My. Mom. Be the hero the world needs. Washing. I know i Maryam Namazie nandan our main story this hour Afghanistan Government a go she has in the taliban have sought out his story talks in an attempt to end decades of war the unprecedented meeting in the Country Capital follows months of delays and obstacles but have also been prisoner releases on both sides in a gesture of goodwill at stake during these talks a permanent cease fire the rights of women and minorities and how taliban fighters will be disarmed as all of been generated reports now from doha. After decades of war and conflict of understand finally has a shot at peace