We discuss media treatment of the whistleblower and the journalist who brought his revelations to light.

Where in the world is Edward Snowden?

It is the question every news outlet has been asking since the former NSA contractor left Hong Kong, apparently for Russia, possibly on his way to Ecuador via Cuba.

Reporters in Moscow even boarded a Havana-bound flight, only to find an empty seat where Snowden should have been sitting. We can only imagine how their faces dropped when the cabin doors closed.

But while some reporters rack up air miles spinning Snowden’s story as a real life spy thriller, others have turned their attention to the journalist who brought his revelations to light. Former lawyer turned Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald has led the challenge to power that the leaks about suspicionless surveillance represent, and now he, following Snowden, has been the subject of a hostile media reception.

This week’s News Divide looks at media coverage of the developing story of Snowden’s whereabouts and the associated backlash against Greenwald.

We speak to Josh Feldman, editor for Mediaite; Kathleen McClellan of the Government Accountability Project; Peter Hart of FAIR Media Watch; and Erik Wemple, a media critic for the Washington Post.

Our feature takes us to Pakistan as the country’s newly-elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returns to the position he has already held twice. A lot has changed since he left power in 1999. A proliferation of private media outlets means Sharif cannot count on the media muscle he had when the state ran Pakistan’s only TV channel. The Listening Post’s Meenakshi Ravi explores Pakistan’s new media landscape.

In other media news this week: peaceful protests turned violent in Cairo as journalists were attacked by supporters of President Mohamed Morsi at an anti-opposition rally; a Twitter hashtag went viral in Turkey after Ankara’s mayor tweeted allegations that a BBC Turk journalist was working as a British agent; and in Myanmar, the banning of this week’s Time Magazine for its controversial cover story has brought into question the country’s supposed relaxing of censorship rules.

And if you have been wanting to hear more from the elusive Edward Snowden, the Australian satirists behind Juice Rap News have given him the mic for a whistleblower remix of '90s hip-hop track Informer. Knight of the fourth estate Sir Glenn Greenwald also rides in for cameo appearance in our web video of the week.

Listening Post can be seen each week at the following times GMT: Saturday: 0830, 1930; Sunday: 1430; Monday: 0430.







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Source: Al Jazeera