Young Libyan Finds a Voice in Covering Revolution
BENGHAZI, LIBYA — Malik Muhammad al-Mabrouk sat two weeks ago in a darkened corner of the Uzu Hotel cafe lounge, the screen of his propped-up iPad illuminating his face. Notepad, pen and cellphone at the ready, and wearing his trademark beige photographer’s vest, he was preparing to interview a former opposition leader who recently returned to Libya after 30 years in exile. Nothing unusual for a working journalist, except that his deadline was also his bedtime: Malik is 14 years old.
In May, Malik founded the Brega News Agency as a platform for the articles he wrote during the 2011 revolution that ousted Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi from power. He now leads a team of 10 volunteer reporters covering Libyan news, publishing articles and photographs on the BNA Facebook page. Malik is moving into television as well, posting video interviews on his Brega97 YouTube channel, and on a new television station called the Benghazi Broadcasting Network.
In the Uzu, which he uses as his de facto office, Malik spies his cameraman for the coming interview. Soft-spoken and taciturn in normal conversation, he unleashes a commanding river of Arabic across the room, instructing the cameraman that the interview starts in an hour, so he should not wander off.
“My goal is to be an agency like Reuters or A.P., but at the moment we just have the Facebook page,” he said. “We don’t have any money. Hopefully we’ll soon have a Web site.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/world/middleeast/young-libyan-finds-a-voice-in-covering-revolution.html?_r=1