Links for Tuesday, March 15

By John Ballard

With only an hour left before I have to leave for the day, the best I can do is this morning's reading list and a couple of reflections, beginning with an item I heard on the radio yesterday.

Pew Research reports that for the first time more people are getting news online than from newspapers. TV continues to be the most used source (which may account for the pitiful ignorance of the population at large) but newspapers continue slipping down the list. 

Last year marks the first time online advertising outpaced newspaper advertising. The sector grew 13.9% between 2009 and 2010 to reach a $25.8 billion total. Not all of that ad spend went to online news publications; in fact, search advertising continues to dominate the online ad spend landscape.

We�ve been watching the web�s impact on journalism for quite some time � both how the Internet is affecting newsrooms and newspapers and how it�s changing the way viewers and readers get news. With many outlets beefing up their online and mobile strategies even as print sales decline, the figures from Poynter�s research are nostalgia-inducing and predictable at the same time.

After all, once The New York Times admits print�s days are numbered, it�s pretty much a long, slow and painful downward spiral to the point that the newspaper, like the vinyl record, is a relic for collectors and anachronists.

For now, though, we continue to look forward. Poynter�s research showed that almost half of Americans in a survey said they got at least some of their news on a mobile device or tablet. And as tablet makers, app makers and news outlets continue to perfect the news consumption experience on that form factor, we�ll have a whole new breed to analyze and fret over this time next year.

My personal experience is consistent with this report. I dropped the local newspaper years ago, followed by all our magazine subscriptions except Consumer Reports.

And speaking of newspapers, I just learned online that Nicholas Kristof is speaking at a nearby venue and I have already confirmed a ticket to attend (free).
That is unremarkable. What is remarkable is that I not only learned about it online, but through Twitter via the Egypt Live News feed!
Which is where most of the following links were harvested...

?The Arab Nightmare is Blake Hounshell's FP blog title.
No great insights but a good overview of where things stand in the Middle East.

U.S. influence in the region is fast evaporating, as evidenced by the fact that its ostensible allies -- Israel and Saudi Arabia -- are now flaunting their rejection of Washington's advice: Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly about to debut an absurdly disingenuous peace initiative, and Saudi troops just rolled into Bahrain a day after U.S. Defense Secretary Bob Gates urged King Hamad to compromise and embrace political reform. The Pentagon didn't even get a courtesy call.

?Civil rights and transparency plea for Middle East and North Africa
A plea from Amnesty and Transparency International for more open government in the emerging political environment.

These actions, say AI and TI, should include:

• Repealing laws that limit freedom of expression, association and assembly, which have been used to stifle dissent and limit political participation


• Establishing processes for consultation and access to information that allow human rights activists and all other civil society actors to participate fully and without fear in the building of systems and institutions of government


• Ensuring women�s equality by allowing their full participation in all these processes, and repealing discriminatory laws and policies where they exist


• Building a truly independent justice system


• Reining in the security forces and making them accountable

I sincerely want to be optimistic about the futre, but something tells me to file this one under "ponies on back-order."

?Hamas's New Friend: Egypt
I don't know how to file this one but "agitprop" might be appropriate. The Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas are radioactive terms in today's news environment, both having been ominously termed "terrorist organizations." I take such language with several grains of salt since US drones take out a good many civilians and the quagmires of Iraq and Afghanistan continue to spill more blood than they save. We know Hamas is the little brother of the Muslim Brotherhood but if I were Palestinian living in Gaza I think I would be apt to support Hamas much quicker than the PA alternative. And the Brotherhood has kept a fairly low profile in the public square in Egypt. I'm getting the impression that the Brotherhood may be the Muslim version of Knights of Columbus (or, at worst, Opus Dei).

?An Artist Jailed and Beaten, For What?
This link and the next talk about how artists are still not protected and treated well in the new environment.

?Ramy Esam: The Singer of the Egyptian Revolution
NPR feature by Steve Inskeep, with video.

?Obama's policies anger Saudis
Do tell.  Winnipeg Free Press opinion column.

?Clinton to meet with Egyptian transition leaders
The AP release.

?Littwin: Meanwhile, back in Libya
Delightful overview by Mike Littwin, Denver Post columnist.

So, you institute a no-fly zone, crush a few runways, and watch the Libyan pilots go aground.

What could go wrong?

How about everything?

The lesson of Iraq, as conservative columnist Ross Douthat points out, is that there has been no lesson of Iraq. The disaster there seems to have left no impression.

And so, we're fighting in Afghanistan with no clear exit strategy and with deadlines that somehow don't seem like deadlines and with the problem you always face in places like Afghanistan: There is no good time to get in and there is no good time to get out.

Newt Gingrich says we should institute a Libyan no-fly zone immediately. He doesn't want to wait for the United Nations or NATO. He assumes, I guess, that we'll be greeted as liberators in Libya � if you can, that is, greet fighter pilots midair.

Bob Gates, meanwhile, warns of real difficulties in setting up a no-fly zone, because war, even a no-fly war, is dangerous. And Wesley Clark makes a compelling argument in The Washington Post that a no-fly zone inevitably leads to the deployment of troops.

What else happens when the war bogs down and your side is starting to lose?

~~~~> Gotta remember that quote: The lesson of Iraq is that there has been no lesson of Iraq.

?Male Domination in Egypt is Only Half a Revolution
Mubarak was no saint. But he did a couple of things right if only to placate his Western handlers and sugar daddies. Let's hope the Arab Democrats don't toss out too many babies with the bath water. This last item, together with the two above about the artist and singer, don't look good.

The Mubarak government took some measures to include women in the political process and public life.

It reserved 64 seats for women in the People's Assembly, the lower house of parliament, but women were left out of the Shura Council, parliament's consultative body. A small number of women were appointed to judgeships, but women are not represented on the boards of professional syndicates or trade unions, despite being active in the labor movement.

The participation of women, on an equal footing with men, should be an indispensable part of Egypt's transition to democracy. Much more needs to be done as the government evolves to secure women's participation. Egyptian women's rights activists sense a need to seize this opportunity to call loudly for women to be included in all aspects of the transition.

There are real risks that women will be left on the sidelines, without a voice and unable to help shape a transition to a democratic Egypt.

The stakes are high.

The country could be on the threshold of a social and cultural revolution that will transform the lives of women and men. Or events may pass women by altogether, leaving us again on the fringes of society.