The Listening Post

The weekly media watch programme on Al Jazeera. Subscribe to our newsletter

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

On the show this week:

• South Africa’s anti-migrant movement - built online, amplified by mainstream media

• Post-earthquake in Venezuela, officials are tightening their grip on information

• Governments say social media bans will protect children but critics say they are solving the wrong problem

Watch now ▶️ https://t.co/sc8pFNXLj8

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

“This is not an organic movement. It is inauthentic behavior online…coordinated and amplified by people with a political agenda.”
— Herman Wasserman
.
Watch our full report on how xenophobia went viral in South Africa ▶️ https://t.co/2FSJP0TBGw

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

Twin earthquakes that have killed more than two thousand people in Venezuela have exposed the state’s failures and officials have imposed tight controls on journalists trying to cover the story.

@TariqNafi reports.

[Nicholas Muirhead @nic_muirhead]

Our show this week on @AJListeningPost looks at how xenophobia went viral in #SouthAfrica.

There is a lot of speculation over who might be funding these movements but ultimately they wouldn't get far if they didn't tap into real frustrations.

https://t.co/aCZhPRfzgN

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

“You can find content on prime-time news channels or online, that trivializes or relativizes the seriousness of the dictatorship’s crimes for a young audience.”

— Sol Montero on the Javier Milei-led media campaign to rewrite the history of Argentina’s brutal military dictatorship.

Full report ▶️ https://t.co/rzTW0CjEmW

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

A controversial luxury resort backed by the Trump’s family has sparked weeks of protests in Albania and with much of the country’s media is looking away, protesters have become their own reporters – using independent journalism and social media to shape their own narrative.

@ryankohls reports.

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

On the show this week:

• Can Andy Burnham survive a media landscape that keeps drifting to the right?
• Albania’s Flamingo Revolution and scant domestic media coverage it’s getting
• Javier Milei’s attempts to rewrite the history of Argentina’s military dictatorship

▶️ Watch now https://t.co/RdEQWHv2Xc

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

“I have since paid for the ad-free version of every streaming service just to be spared from all of the Ozempic and Wegovy ads.”

@yrfatfriend and @StephanieYeboah spoke with us about GLP-1 drugs and the effect of their prevalence in media.

Full report ▶️ https://t.co/MsB3jA0JRl

Produced by @meenakshirv and @vanessatsehaye

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

The UK government’s plans to ban under 16s from social media are driving ahead and many other countries including France, Canada and Spain are considering similar policies.

But are they targeting the wrong age group?

@rgizbert1 reports.

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

Trump says it’s a breakthrough; Israeli media call it a disaster.

@rgizbert1 and @meenakshirv unpack the narrative battle around the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran.

Full discussion ▶️ https://t.co/45BK2tjTLR

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

On the show this week:

• Don’t call it a peace deal: The precarious memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran

• Infantino, Trump and how far FIFA is willing to go to sell the sport

• How Ozempic’s rise is re-writing media narratives about health, bodies and beauty

Watch now ▶️ https://t.co/RKQWflXsZW

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

The number killed is almost beyond comprehension.”

— @sharifkouddous on the continued targeted killing of journalists in Gaza throughout the ‘ceasefire’.

Watch the full interview by @meenakshirv

▶️ https://t.co/5vrgwG6XN9

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

On the show this week:

· Trump's Meet the Press walkout and what his backing of the Ellison family's CNN bid tells us about his media doctrine

· Belfast burns: how a stabbing video became fuel for an international far-right mobilisation

· As Gaza disappears from global headlines, the journalists who remain are still working. Sharif Abdel Kouddous of DropSite News speaks with us

▶️ https://t.co/8QSbs1Ui6v

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

The biggest ever World Cup kicked off across the US, Mexico, and Canada this past week, but it’s sharing headlines with controversy as US immigration policy collides with football’s global spirit.

@meenakshirv reports.

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

A violent knife attack in Belfast has become the latest flashpoint in the cycle of online-fuelled outrage in the UK, with violent protests spreading across the country.

@elettrascrivo has been following the story.

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

Trained exclusively on black feminist and de-colonial texts, AfrofeminasGPT is a chatbot designed to challenge racism in AI.

But, being built on the same OpenAI model that it seeks to reform, can it ever truly be independent?

Watch @elettrascrivo's full report ▶️ https://t.co/3pVFXxUfcv

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

On the show this week:

• Israel’s de facto occupation of southern Lebanon - and the US allies who are unhappy about it, but doing very little
• Two prominent American commentators are banned from entering the UK. The official reason: vague. The timing: notable
• AI systems learn from history - and history has a bias problem. Meet the woman trying to build something different.
• Barak Ravid of Axios and the pattern of White House leaks

Watch now ▶️https://t.co/1BQCpMjbJm

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

Since Israel's war on Gaza began, the UK has seen mass demonstrations, growing public opposition to Israeli policies and increasingly polarised debates over free speech.

In response, authorities have introduced tougher protest measures, expanded surveillance powers and taken a harder line on activism, prompting concerns among critics that the space for dissent is narrowing.

This week, two prominent US commentators, Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker, found themselves at the centre of that debate.

@meenakshirv reports.

[The Listening Post @AJListeningPost]

While much of the reporting on Cuba comes from abroad, an outlet called Belly of the Beast reports from within the country itself.

Liz Oliva Fernández spoke with us about they manage to do journalism during rolling blackouts, resource shortages and an escalating US pressure campaign.

Full report ▶️ https://t.co/NJDwkvuHBH