Ethiopia Cracks Down on DW, West Sees No Hypocrisy
The irony here is so thick you could carve it. Ethiopia, like many nations, flexes its sovereign muscle against foreign media. But while DW bemoans the crackdown, the New York Times recently fired contributors for merely signing a letter critical of Israel. The BBC has seen similar patterns, with journalists suspended for expressing pro-Palestinian views on their platforms. It appears 'press
freedom' is a conditional concept, highly dependent on whose ox is being gored. Governments, whether in Addis Ababa or Washington D.C., have a curious way of defining which narratives are 'journalism' and which are 'propaganda.' One might wonder if the concern over Ethiopia's media control would be quite so pronounced if DW's coverage aligned perfectly with state department talking points. How
many times has the Global South watched Western media complain about limited press freedom abroad while simultaneously policing dissent at home?