CBS Reporter Sexually Assaulted in Egypt by Protesters

[Mark Giardina]

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41607923/ns/today-entertainment/

Just posting this for those who might have forgot that reporters have and will continue to be victims of brutal attacks just to report the news. Pause for a moment and give this lady your best wishes.

 

[searadiofreak]

A horrific outcome for an international reporter. This is a reminder that the job of international reporter is not a puff job. This job requires guts, courage, and a belief that the the job is more important than any outcome. For that, she should be commended. Godspeed to her, and her profession.

 

[BRNout]

A horrible experience that should remind everyone that much of the world is still quite dangerous and that these reporters (among others) who visit those places are truly taking their lives into their hands. Furthermore, through the Egyptian crisis, I've read a lot of opinions from a lot of people and have come to the conclusion that most Americans are naive about how the rest of the world is. Sadly, Ms. Logan was a victim of a portion of that reality. There are a lot of places where looking "western" (i.e. Caucasian) is reason enough for you to be robbed, kidnapped or killed.

Thank God someone was actually able to intervene and probably save her life. I wish her and her family the very best in her recovery.

 

[DToTheJ]

Thoughts and prayers to Lara. You may recall this isn't the first time she had to overcome something - of course, that whole affair thing pares in comparison to this.

 

[Silkie]

Egyptian women pulled the peaceful protesters off the reporter.

 

[Carmine5]

Having filmed angry protesters at a DNC many years ago and being in the middle of the mob (with a Betacam) I can appreciate how scared Lara must have been. I certainly was.

You have to wonder how normally rational people can, under the right circumstances and collectively, change into a single, unreasoning beast capable of committing any unspeakable horror.

 

[MattParker]

In the Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Richard Roeper says, "Anything that even hints at blaming Lara Logan for her attack, is unconscionable. "

Bull! Logan made a name for herself by putting herself in dangerous (or seemingly dangerous) places and situations on camera. This time it caught up with her. Is this reporting or stunting to get attention (and to get noticed, to get ratings, to get promoted)? TV encourages this kind of thing. It's not about reporting news. It's about pictures. This is the network equivalent of local news' "if it bleeds, it leads." Seeing a sexy American woman in the middle of angry mob does not to inform or to provide understanding and insight. But it does inflame the viewers.

Logan has the title of "chief foreign correspondent." Are there other foreign correspondents at CBS any more? If there are, does she supervise them? Sounds like another meaningless title broadcasters love so much. Logan is a "big foot." Something happens and she parachutes (figuratively) in. Maybe we'd be better off with a beat reporter who knows the country, knows the culture and most important, knows the people and the language. Maybe they could really tell us something useful.

Logan deliberately put herself in harm's way. Her presence was provocative (maybe deliberately so). Anderson Cooper got roughed up, so Logan knew the risks (and maybe even felt she had to one-up a competitor). So yes, she is responsible, at least partly. PC hand-wringing won't change that.

 

[BRNout]

Come on Matt, are you seriously blaming the rape victim here? That she invited this violence? With all due respect, I could not disagree more. These people are animals; violent animals.

Sadly, I think that she, like most liberals, was naive about what was happening. As if Egypt's protests were about the same desires as those of Poland, East Germany and Czechoslovakia a generation ago. They're not because this culture is different. And, once things started to go ugly and get out of control, she wasn't prepared and the rest - sadly - is history.

However, I do wonder how this isn't a hate crime. If the reporter were black and was violated like that by a white crowd in a place like the Ukraine, you'd better believe that the storyline would be a lot different. Then again, this incident doesn't fit the "template" as my theoretical example would.

Still, where's the media outrage? The silence is deafening.

 

[The Voice of Reason]

You have to wonder how normally rational people can, under the right circumstances and collectively, change into a single, unreasoning beast capable of committing any unspeakable horror.

That's a question that could be posed to the Germans living in that nation when Hitler came to power from 1933-1945.

 

[MattParker]

Social-psychologists have produced a substantial body of work on mob psychology. It's not the kind of thing TV likes to deal with but any good library can help answer those questions.

Come on Matt, are you seriously blaming the rape victim here? That she invited this violence?

That's not what I said. That seems to be how some want to spin this. The violence was happening. She put herself in the middle of it. The consequences of doing that were predictable.

Blame and responsibility are two different things. I said "responsibility." You and others have said "blame." She is responsible for putting herself in a dangerous situation. The industry is responsible for encouraging and rewarding that kind of foolish and risky action.

And it's curious that the only original source of information about this incident is a CBS press release, which says "sexual assault." Sexual assault in many legal codes can include unwanted touching. It is not clear from the release exactly what happened, nor is there any independent verification of what happened. She was supposedly with a camera crew but either nothing was recorded or maybe they are saving everything for Sunday night at 7pm (this is a sweeps period, after all). Calling it "rape" is jumping to a conclusion without evidence. I don't know exactly what happened and neither do you but it's not as good a story if she was only groped and shoved.

Also notice how differently this story in being played than the Anderson Cooper story earlier. Introducing a sexual angle makes it a much bigger story. CNN could just as easily have made that a sexual issue, too, but Cooper has said he wants to keep his private life private.

 

[Nate Wesley]

Come on Matt, are you seriously blaming the rape victim here? That she invited this violence? With all due respect, I could not disagree more. These people are animals; violent animals.

Sadly, I think that she, like most liberals, was naive about what was happening. As if Egypt's protests were about the same desires as those of Poland, East Germany and Czechoslovakia a generation ago. They're not because this culture is different. And, once things started to go ugly and get out of control, she wasn't prepared and the rest - sadly - is history.

However, I do wonder how this isn't a hate crime. If the reporter were black and was violated like that by a white crowd in a place like the Ukraine, you'd better believe that the storyline would be a lot different. Then again, this incident doesn't fit the "template" as my theoretical example would.

Still, where's the media outrage? The silence is deafening.

Sorry, no black female reporter attacked in the Ukraine. Would you settle for a gay Latino man catching some licks in Bahrain?

"Bahrain Protests: At Least 2 Dead in Crackdown; ABC's Miguel Marquez Roughed Up"
http://abcnews.go.com/International...ndent-miguel-marquez-beaten/story?id=12936124

"ABC's Miguel Marquez Attacked During Bahrain Protests"
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/17/abcs-miguel-marquez-attacked-during-bahrain-protests/

 

[landtuna]

You have to wonder how normally rational people can, under the right circumstances and collectively, change into a single, unreasoning beast capable of committing any unspeakable horror.

That's a question that could be posed to the Germans living in that nation when Hitler came to power from 1933-1945.

It could be a question but the answer would take many pages. The German example is not nearly as simple as explaining how a street mob changes into a full-blown riot in a matter of minutes.