“Israeli Foreign Ministry is trying to counter the rise of Lebanese blogs”

Update: this is an old article. For some reason it surfaced on my google news today. Still, I should have checked the date before posting it. Sorry.

I’m very flattered but this article in the Columbia Journalism review is an eye opener.

The outpouring of first-person accounts coming out of Lebanon via newly constructed blogs and mass emails has managed to give a human and sometimes charismatic face to a country oft beleaguered by war but unable until now to disseminate with speed and savvy Lebanese narratives of what is happening in that country.

..which apparently is threatening the Israelis. Here’s what they are afraid of:

Simultaneously, the Internet has allowed Lebanese and other Arab voices to be accessible to English-language consumers, especially those not satiated by the MSM’s coverage of the conflict. With these new ways of communicating — blogs, forums, mass emails — being heard is no longer dependent on wealth and power or even on volume, membership in political parties, or in armed militias. The convergence of these dynamics has meant readers are hearing the unfiltered voices of regular yet diverse folk — voices that have often been eloquent, artistic, reflective, even academic, a notable difference from the hysterical, wailing, or angry masses the MSM tends to capture on the “Arab Street.”

So they decided to take action on an official level

Now, to counter these voices, the Israeli FM is urging supporters of Israel to go to the Web site, Give Israel Your United Support, and download the “Megaphone” software, developed by an Israeli company to alert subscribers to internet polls, “problematic” articles, and online debates which the Ministry would like Israel supporters to “talk back” to.

Who needs the approval of government when the enemy is scared of you?

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