We examine Fox News' role as President Donald Trump's media mouthpiece. Plus, media strangled in Eritrea.

On The Listening Post this week: As the heat is turned up on US President Trump and his associates, Fox News' role as the president's media mouthpiece becomes clearer. Plus, media is strangled in Eritrea.

Fox News and its Donald Trump coverage

The special investigation into the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with Russia has delivered its first indictments.

This week, three of his former advisers were charged with federal crimes, including tax evasion, conspiracy against the US, and lying to the FBI about contacts with alleged middlemen for Russia.

We look at the polarised coverage and conservative media's attempts to sidestep the story.



Contributors:

Matt Gertz, senior fellow, Media Matters for America

Erik Wemple, media reporter, The Washington Post

Reed Richardson, contributor, Fair Media Watch

David Lawler, deputy newsdesk editor, Axios

On our radar

Kurdish media under fire in Iraq, with one journalist murdered and two channels forced off the air.

Myanmar arrests foreign journalists working for Turkey's state-owned broadcaster TRT, for attempting to bring a drone into the country without a license.

In Russia, newspaper Novaya Gazeta plans to arm its reporters to protect them from attacks.

Reporting Eritrea from the outside

Freedom of the press is virtually non-existent in Eritrea, with state-run media the only news outlets available within its borders.

As a consequence, Eritreans have come to rely on a news outlet operating in exile from France, Radio Erena. The station also offers a lifeline to 5,000 Eritrean refugees who risk kidnapping and death in fleeing the country every month.

The Listening Post's Nic Muirhead reports on Radio Erena, the Eritrean news outlet on the outside trying to make a difference.



Contributors:

Meron Estefanos, host, 'Voices of Eritrean Refugees,' Radio Erena

Abraham Zere, executive director, Pen Eritrea

Biniam Simon, editor-in-chief, Radio Erena

Source: Al Jazeera