Tunisia Special: What Happens When an Uprising is Ignored? (Shahryar)

Photo: Al JazeeraWhat happens when the media ignores an uprising?

I have been grappling with this question for over a year now. I was one of the first to follow the protests in Iran and write about them. I was naturally angered when I saw the focus of the world shift from an issue as important as democracy in the Middle East to the death of Michael Jackson --- but there’s little you can do.

What appalled me further was how the US media  spent weeks ignoring the protests that forced Tunisia’s president out of the country today. I cannot tell you how many times I searched on New Yahoo! and Google News for stories and found almost none. Wire stories copied and republished only pass the buck.

Americans on social media kept begging for press and broadcasters to take up the coverage. In Europe, France 24 and BBC had coverage almost every day, but this did not change the perception of US media moguls.

Today, as dismayed as I was, I got an answer to my question: What happens when the media ignores a revolution? Sometimes,the answer is: Nothing. The media can help mobilize support for victims of earthquakes like the one in Haiti. The media can also help create an atmosphere where people can feel  that they should care about those overseas. But, when the media refuses to cover a revolution, it really does not carry any impact.

That’s what people in Tunisia proved today by forcing their dictator to jump ship and leave the country. In a few hours, those US outlets who paid no heed will tell you how important it is that, for the first time in decades, a country in the Middle East has forced out an autocrat. Then you’ll have analysts telling you how important it is for US interests that this wave continues or maybe doesn't continue. There will be cute little graphs that Anderson Cooper can pull around on those big computer screens. Hey, it’s all going to be happening!

But this will be too late. The mainstream will not be part of the global wave of online support who witnessed a ground-breakingly inspirational event that will live on in memories for years to come and that could influence views on the Middle East, democracy, and human rights for decades.

But I’m not going to leave my judgement there.

I think millions of Americans who use Twitter, Facebook, Posterous, Youtube and other social media sites were part of the audience that watched this momentous event unfold. Mainstream media outlets may have failed to open  eyes to the yearning for democracy, to show Americans that Arabs aren’t just killers and terrorists, but are also peaceful students who want freedom, jobs, and the right to vote and have it counted fairly. 

But social media did not fail. It succeeded just as it came through for those looking for news about Iran in 2009, bringing the world together and making people feel closer by spreading information about this event online.

I'm afraid that the longer this continues, the more mainstream media will lose credibility and coverage to social media.

Or wait…should I really be afraid? Maybe the fear is for something past. Maybe it should not replace the hope for something present, something far more important than "all the news fit to print".