Meditations on journalism, cyberactivism and my research

Covering the kidnapping - what we in the media called arrest - of Philip Rizk, an AUC student, blogger, freelance journalist, documentary filmmaker and Gaza activist was an interesting opportunity to see whether the mechanisms and processes I've identified in my research on cyberactivism actually exist, and to trace how and why my research findings may or may not play out in real life. In fact, being inside the Arab media is a interesting ethnographic exercise of participant observation - seeing how my news organization, journalists and editorial decisions play out in relation to the efforts exerted by activist networks. OK, so what do I mean.

Basically, last week Philip Rizk (whom I know from Cairo) was spirited away by the Egyptian police after he was 'detained' on his way back from a solidarity march for Gaza. As Sarah Carr, a Daily News journalist and blogger who frequents the same circles as several of Egypt's activist bloggers, reported he was surreptitiously taken from the police station right from under his lawyers noses and kept incommunicado for nearly six days until he was released. But why was he let out but another blogger, who was not a dual citizen of a Western country, and 70 Muslim Brotherhood activists also jailed for demonstrating in support of Gaza, not released and their stories nearly absent from the Western and even Arab media? The reason is because of the very cyberactivism I have been researching and writing about for the past few years, and which has by now become a well-oiled, sophisticated process of contention that involves activist networks using new media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and websites to harness the power of old media like the New York Times, Reuters and AFP to put the pressure of the spotlight on the Egyptian government, activate human rights advocates at international pressure groups like Amnesty and Reporters Without Borders and compel Western governments to make a statement.

I found out about Philip's arrest on Facebook on Sunday, when Sarah Carr updated her Facebook status to read Philip Rizk arrested. A few hours later the story came in on the AFP wire. By then there was a Facebook group, which included an Amnesty letter writing campaign, shortly thereafter friends set up a website in English AND Arabic devoted to his release (Free Philip Rizk) was set up and several activist bloggers had written about Rizk's arrest.

The Facebook updates and the group started by Rizk's family provided journalists with the latest information about hm and the tribulations of his family (whose house was broken into by police) and support of lawyers etc. Twitter messages from activist bloggers gave followers the latest updates. The blogger activists who gained so much experience organizing Campaigns to free others in their ranks over the past four years had the process down to a science, activated their networks within hours, and effectively managed to broadcast their message to the international media, amplifying their voices and strengthening their ability to put pressure on the Egyptian government.

By Monday the New York Times' Michael Slackman in Cairo had picked up the story along with other leading newspapers and media outlets like Democracy Now picked up his story. Hardly any media, with the exception of my reports for Al Arabiya mentioned the other arrests (as Gamal Eid explained to me, Muslim Brotherhood arrests are a normal occurrence and therefore not news - but I would add that they don't speak English or have the same access to journalistic networks that their activist counterparts have).

Philip Rizk has been freed, but only because of the concerted effort made by activists and journalists on his behalf. Other Gaza activists remain in jail. They are not dual citizens, they have not had a worldwide campaign reaching out to the media on their behalf. That's why I wrote my coverage of the whole situation the way I did.