Al-Jazeera's silence on Lara Logan

By Jonathan Capehart

Writing about the horrifying sexual assault on Lara Logan, my colleague Alexandra Petri stated that "[t]his sort of story has a pernicious staying power...." And that would be true if you're getting your news from American outlets, especially the New York tabloids.

But if you want to know how the Logan attack is playing in the Arab world you'll be sorely disappointed. I was alerted to this by my friend Paul Chamberlain in Las Vegas. "I have an interesting observation for you," he wrote in an instant message. "I am one the many who fell in love with Al Jazeera's coverage [during the Egypt crisis] - Its app is a staple on my iPad - I watch their stream daily." Chamberlain is among those Americans who flocked to al-Jazeera for on-the-ground reporting on the Cairo protests from Arab reporters in the cultural capital of the Arab world.

"I was curious how they would handle the Lara Logan incident," Chamberlain continued. "Go here http://english.aljazeera.net/ and search 'Lara Logan.' " When you do it, your reaction might be the same as mine to Chamberlain, "um.....crickets." There was and continues to be nothing there. Or at al-Jazeera's Arabic-language site. Wow. He did note that BBC, Times of India and Le Monde all carried stories on Logan's assault.

Marc Lynch, professor of Middle East Studies at George Washington University, told Reuters this month, "Al Jazeera has probably achieved a revolution in its perception in the United States through its coverage of Egypt." A perception that is not helped by completely ignoring the Logan assault story.