A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Friday, October 1, 2010

Said on Al-Ahram Photoshopping

Here's a condensed English version from Al-Ahram Weekly of an interview with Al-Ahram Chairman Abdel Moneim Said defending the Photoshop of Mubarak. Said is a serious man, long with the Al-Ahram Center for Strategic Studies, but I feel he's defending an outpost that has already been overrun here. He also avoids the question of how Al-Masry al-Youm's circulation compares to Al-Ahram's.

It reads as defensive, self-justifying, and with a bit of tu quoque (other newspapers do it! But note he cites a doctored photo of the Sheikh al-Azhar in the Coptic Pope's robes, clearly a satirical commentary, whereas moving Mubarak in front of Obama looks like tampering with reality.)

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