I’m no expert in Egyptian affairs.
However, having watched 16 hours of live images from Cairo via Al Jazeera yesterday, I have come to understand some things.
One is the distinction between Egyptian protestors, undercover police, police, and army.
Today’s 150,000-circulation daily El Periódico de Catalunya led with a photo of an army vehicle rolling through the streets of Cairo with the caption “protestors confront Egyptian army on the streets of Cairo”.
Whilst it’s hard to identify undercover police because they look very much like protestors, there’s no difficulty differentiating the police from the army. Running battles did take place between protestors and police, but the people always viewed the army as potential allies.
The caption on El Periódico de Catalunya is patently incorrect. In the photo, the people are not confronting the army, they are cheering, they have arms raised in celebration, and at the moment the photo was taken, they are full of hope that the army will side with them, not against them.
This story is potentially as significant as the fall of the Berlin wall.
If the media gets this wrong, how much else do they get wrong?