Shook Ones: Journalists Forced To Hide Out In Egypt

Last night, Anderson Cooper shot his AC 360 from an undisclosed location in Egypt to avoid catching fade again. But Western journalists aren’t the only ones in danger right now.

Military forces secured 18 journalists who were captured by thugs and took them to a “safe place,” Egyptian state media reported Friday.

It was unclear which news organizations the journalists worked for or where they had been taken. CNN could not independently confirm the reports.

Journalists attempting to cover unrest in Egypt reported being beaten, arrested and harassed by security forces and police Thursday, leading to sharply limited television coverage of the protests.

In the latest incident, the Al-Jazeera network said Friday that a “gang of thugs” stormed its Cairo office and burned the facility and the equipment there.

Al-Jazeera said that over the last week “its bureau was forcibly closed, all its journalists had press credentials revoked, and nine journalists were detained at various stages.” The network said it “faced unprecedented levels of interference in its broadcast signal as well as persistent and repeated attempts to bring down its websites.”

Like other networks, Al-Jazeera said it won’t let such obstacles stop it from gathering news.

“We are grateful for the support we have received from across the world for our coverage in Egypt and can assure everyone that we will continue our work undeterred,” a network spokesman said.

Along with Al-Jazeera, other news outlets — including the BBC, Al-Arabiya, ABC News, the Washington Post, Fox News, and CNN — said members of their staffs had been attacked or otherwise targeted. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also reported that staffers were detained.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based advocacy organization, said late Thursday it had recorded 24 detentions, 21 assaults and five instances of equipment having been seized in the past 24 hours. A popular Egyptian blogger was among those who reported being beaten.

The rioting and unrest in Egypt has been going on for 11 straight days now. We hope the people get back to peace soon.