Want to hear what happened to The Oz’s Cairo reporter? Wait til tomorrow…
The Australian’s commitment to its print edition is certainly not to be doubted.
But rather than telling the whole story, it carries a one paragraph quote from him, before telling readers: “For John Lyons’ full account and his coverage of the crisis in Egypt, read The Weekend Australian tomorrow.”
This is a classic beat-up by a journo who has a history of such things ( read the chapter on John Lyons in Gerald Stone’s book, Who Killed Channel Nine).
While other journalists like Foreign Correspondent’s Mark Corcoran were beaten, otherwise roughed up and had their equipment smashed, what happened to Lyons? Well by his own account, several “goons” came to his door, he asked them to wait, they said “open it now!”, he did so, they came in evidently looking for broadcast equipment, didn’t find any and then promptly left.
Seriously, is that really “having your room raided”? Nothing was taken and Lyons wasn’t assaulted. The “goons” didn’t break down the door or even threaten him in any way. A non-event that pales into insignificance against the very real and serious assaults on other journalists in Cairo. Does The Australian highlight those? No. Instead we get a beaming John Lyons peering out at us in a stock photo on The Oz’s website. The big hero? Gimme a break. A shameless self promoter? You got it.
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hi Gee Dee, when intimidating goons knock at the door, it is a raid. They made a demand with an underlying threat, not a request. What would you have done in his shoes?
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