CAIRO, Egypt - Journalists are reportedly being attacked by angry mobs today in an attempt to keep them from reporting what is happening on the ground in Cairo.
It is the pro-government mobs using sticks and their fists who have been seen attacking the media.
Associated Press reporter Hadeel Al-Shalchi said in a Twitter message on Thursday that two New York Times reporters had been arrested.
The Washington Post reported their Cairo bureau chief and photographer have been arrested by the Egyptian interior ministry.
"We have heard from multiple witnesses that Leila Fadel, our Cairo bureau chief, and Linda Davidson, a photographer, were among two dozen journalists arrested this morning by the Egyptian Interior Ministry," the Washington Post said on its website.
The cameras were rolling when CNN’s Anderson Cooper was attacked on the air. The news footage shows Cooper being punched as many as ten times and trying to break their camera.
It was on Wednesday when ABC correspondent Christiane Amanpour was attacked while reporting on the air. When demonstrators started to yell they “hate America” and started to smash her car, she immediately left the area for safety.
AL-Jazeera said on a news scroll that two of its correspondents had been attacked by "thugs."
The Toronto Globe and Mail said on its website that one of its reporters, Sonia Verma, said the military had "commandeered us and our car" in Cairo. "
Assaults on journalists for the AP, CBS, the BBC, Danish TV2 News, Swiss television, Turkey’s Fox TV and Russia’s Zvezda TV, have also been reported.
The New York Times said security forces and pro-government gangs were even hunting down journalists at their offices and in hotels where many had taken refuge.
Watch Anderson Cooper being attacked by pro-government thugs who he said slugged him at least 10 times. Click Play
Sources: MSNBC, The Associated Press, New York Times
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