Beirut — “The Lost City”
Lebanon is known as “one of the most Western oriented societies in the Middle East where English and French is widely spoken and Western trends” (Blanford, 2002) followed, it is a challenge to know why the nation has failed to be recognised by the press and global audiences.
Before I begin my blog, it is important to have a shared understanding of what defines a crisis. I shall use Al-Dahash, Thayaparan and Kulatunga’s (2016) definition where it is defined as an “abnormal situation which presents a high risk to business and may trigger rapid public policy changes, since it draws public and media attention and threatens public trust”. I believe this explanation demonstrates and fits with the crisis in Lebanon but challenges it from the lack of media attention.
The country and it’s people have remained optimistic over the past years, hoping for change to happen. However, in 2020 Beruit saw the country reach a tipping point, even with protests from local people since October 2019 no change has been seen.
This blog will attempt to understand why the crisis in Lebanon remains hidden from the British public and why media outlets shield us from this failing society.
The Crisis
Lebanon is a small country found in the Middle East with a population of 6.8 million and neighbours Syria — a country dealing with its own crises. The economic disaster is the leading crisis Lebanon is facing with debts up to $94 billion. In 2018 Lebanon reached its highest GNI (Gross National Income) per capita (US$7,720) since 1990, but began to fall in August 2019 to a GNI per capita of US$7,380 (2019) as a result of the US imposing sanctions targeting Syria’s government and Iran-backed Hezbollah. This trend continued throughout 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. Lebanon’s struggles did not begin there nor did they stop.
After World War 2 the French were given a UN mandate to devise a political system for the Lebanese where power was equally split between the different religions. However, this did not prevent a civil war breaking out across the country in 1975–1990 when a feud broke out between Maronite Christians and Muslims leading to the deaths of over 120,000 people. Although it was a temporary system, the French hoped it would keep the country stable but there have been many more wars and conflicts since.
The crisis in Lebanon reached a climax after an explosion in The Port of Beirut devastated the homes of hundreds of thousands of people leading to more than 190 deaths, over 6,000 wounded and 300,000 people being displaced. Vital infrastructure was also destroyed including businesses, roads and schools.
The explosion was caused by the storage of 3,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate at the port. Even with the knowledge of the associated risks, the chemical remained and was left un-dealt with for seven years. Several months after the horrendous event, the court case continues regarding the decision to keep the chemical at the port for so long and who is to blame.
The Port of Beirut was a key import spot where 70% to 80% of the country’s supplies would come in, but without a fully functioning port food shortages continue to rise. The explosion is said to have caused a loss of 15,000 tonnes of food and the storage silos for 120,000 tonnes’ worth, thus, increasing the fear of food insecurity and distrust in the political elites.
The country’s failing economy has seen food prices double after Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, causing many to enter extreme poverty — rising from 8% in 2019 to 23% in 2020. A historic moment was the request of a $10 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund to help bring the country out of debt, provide safe drinking water and prevent regular blackouts. Previously opposed by the Iran-backed Hezbollah — a Shiite party and militant group.
Critical issues — Why is Lebanon not getting recognition?
Following the explosion on August 4th 2020, UK audiences were exposed to a small number of headline stories discussing the blast, with those that we did see portraying a negative perspective and suggesting the incident was self-inflicted. The articles represented a city that has been forgotten and that needs to be heard, but many readers interpreted the headlines to be portraying a city that has been buried under rubble that cannot be revived and has fallen to political elites and it’s debts. The Lancet comments it is a “trigger for change” to encourage a humanitarian response.
Despite a few front cover stories, there was no follow up addressing the issues faced by millions in Lebanon each day or the aftermath of the explosion and was, therefore, wrongly interpreted by readers as another scaremongering story. Subsequently coming across as a distraction from the Covid-19 pandemic the world has been facing, and hiding the everyday poverty and declining medical care system in Lebanon.
However, it is likely that the media did not want to be involved with the fallout due to the allegiances Lebanon has with other countries such as neighbouring Syria and its strong French connections. This could bring fear that it might consequently escalate the current situation or put their reporters at risk by sharing their experience.
I think it is clear that the media does have sympathy for Beirut and feels slightly responsible due to their failure to raise awareness of the ammonium nitrate storage as a matter of international concern. This may have triggered non-governmental organisations to assign aid to help the population.
The below images show the reports from British newspapers after the event which were not published until two days after (6th August 2020), showing the lack of concern by media organisations.
The first reason for a lack of recognition is that nearly all media in Lebanon was controlled by Palestinian political groups (Naggar, 2020) which meant only some authorised people could share stories. Thus causing an impact for journalists from around the world reporting on the crisis. These restrictions were eased only in recent years and meant independent media organisations could start up and begin reporting.
As a result, citizen journalism began and in a country like Lebanon facing a humanitarian crisis, having the voices of people experiencing the impact is important and vital for change to happen as it allows news to reach wider audiences.
Your location and accessibility can provide different interpretations of citizen journalism, and changes how news is reported by the public providing a broad form of reporting.
However, Rodriguez (cited by Wall, 2019) comments it is often about being in “the right place at the right time” and that it is commonly a one off, blurring the line between traditional and citizen journalism. This might only be applicable to where you live as some places like Lebanon are exposed to frequent newsworthy events. However, it provides a voice to those who are oppressed by political elites.
The revolutionary change meant that Campji, a citizen journalism training group could commence (Naggar, 2020), where content is “produced by, about and for refugees” on everyday topics which is relevant and informative for the audience. Even though content is designed specifically for refugees in camps such as Shatila and Burj al-Barajneh, it is also published on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube which anyone can access. Campji has provided a voice to refugees and trains them to be reporters as well as how to take professional photographs.
The blast that shook Beirut in August 2020 was reported on the founding organisation’s page, DW Akademie, which provided refugees and residents with information immediately with “what we know so far” (DW, 2020). However, citizen journalism or participatory journalism can bring its own issues where facts are not necessarily correct as cross-checking has not occurred. This could mean that it is difficult for DW Akademie and Campji to gain an audience.
Gatekeeping had been prominent for so long in Lebanon that it had potentially led to a distrust in what is shared by both traditional news outlets and citizen journalists as it could appear untrue and fake. However, Lebanon is an academically thriving country where many students are trilingual and has a growing number of students, largely female, enrolling in media based courses at the universities across the country rather than fleeing to Europe or America for education.
In an area with political and economic dispute, young people choose to leave the country to look for commended courses and apply for roles in law or medicine to earn a larger income. Creating education programmes like Campji are key to helping locals gain skills to help them secure a job and escape the poverty that they are in, alongside 30,000 others in the camps.
During a 21st century disaster, it is likely that people will be on their mobile phones and are able to capture the event unfolding and share the footage to their social media or send to traditional news outlets with the hope that they might make some money. Across social media platforms, people have been exposed to videos and photos from citizens showing the devastation from before the event, during and after. These images that audiences are exposed to are far more impactful and provide the aesthetics to allow audiences to feel emotion and connect to those affected.
In October 2019, large numbers of residents became active members of the community protesting announcements by the government to help boost the economy, with many becoming angry that their rights had been taken. As a small country, their struggles were not recognised by the world and relied on themselves to speak out about the issues and the realities of what it is like to live in Lebanon.
The protests began again on the 8th August 2020 where the public called for justice for the lives lost and the homes destroyed. The protests were so powerful once again that the new cabinet appointed in January 2020 resigned, even when locals were faced with the military and security forces to hold them back they persisted.
Many Lebanese have witnessed the protests continuing to unfold into 2021 but only being reported to the UK by alternative media sources. MSN (2021) chose to produce an article on the protests from the 25th January to 27th January 2021 which saw the death of a young male and over 220 injured. Tripoli and other cities in Lebanon are facing many extreme restrictions in the attempt to curb the Covid-19 outbreak by imposing controls on withdrawing money and curfews.
NGO’s
Non-governmental organisations can bring power and strength to communities and allow the world to hear the true stories from the country and its people. Voluntary citizen groups work on different levels to help during a crisis.
Since the explosion and protests, non-governmental organisations including Amnesty International have become key players in actively helping Beirut and ensuring that it is recognised as a country facing corruption. Amnesty International ensures that information is displayed in a simple format to ensure that consumers are aware of the events occurring and the rights being violated by local authorities.
However in Lebanon, a country hidden by the failings of its neighbours’ crises such as Syria and its overwhelming refugee crisis, there may be a lack of resources or funding to provide essential support.
Grassroots is a movement where people are “advocating change at local, national or international levels” (Bettencourt, 2021). They raise awareness to organisations that perhaps have more funding to make an impact or to address the issue, but grassroots can help provide the groundwork and make the issue known. Individual’s skills are also used to amplify stories online through social media.
Amplification of stories online using a large social media following increases the chances of a story being read as so many of us access the news on our phones, and in the current world we live in accessing a print newspaper is less of a necessity. Sharing a story on social media allows others to re-post it on their own timeline sparking awareness and further conversation in the comments box.
The Guardian (2020) shows the differing interaction between the breaking news of the explosion and then how audiences can help the Lebanese population. Unfortunately, there is a lack of interaction in the second image where the story was shared only 95 times compared to the 1,200 shares of the breaking news. Re-sharing a breaking news story can alert other people of the event and allows people to connect with family or friends that may have felt the impact.
However, a post addressing ways to help locals predominantly through donations should receive just as many interactions or even more, particularly as Lebanon is at breaking point. I think this shows that people are far more interested in the drama of a story and having a sense of knowledge than the less newsworthy aftermath.
To conclude Beirut and Lebanon need to have far more help than they are receiving currently. Sella (2020) believes that “the real problem is that over time it (ammonium nitrate) will absorb little bits of moisture and it eventually turns into an enormous rock” which could provoke a huge hazard in the future if a naked flame were to reach it. This would result in a far more devasting explosion. It is important that news media outlets work with organisations in Lebanon to promote and bring the current situation to the attention of global audiences to help fund infrastructure and in turn safeguard the community.
By having more media news recognition across print and digital, it would not only provide visibility for the country, but would help non-governmental organisations to receive funds in order for change to happen, with readers feeling they have made a difference by being exposed to the emotion and devastation felt by residents.
