All for supposedly 'spreading false news'...
This piece is from an Aussie news site, so obviously it will highlight that the journo was Australian. But the bigger story is that - despite the revolution - Egypt is still a long way from being open and free.
Also as an aside, it also sends a big message to the business world: "Don't invest in Egypt - it's not safe for foreigners."
Egypt is a beautiful country with great people. I hope they can overcome this.
I don't think some country's ruler gives a damn about coverage and condemnation, as long as it stops there.
That would be Ukraine, where two Russian journalists were killed recently during bombing of Lugansk.
Regardless, it would be bigger news if a western country jailed an Egyptian for telling false news. Reporters are still sacred for a while longer in the west, and to imprison a reporter goes beyond a chilling effect.
As to why this story rises to the top in the international press, it's because it's a bit meta - when you have free press in your country, other countries can leave the reporting of internal affairs to the local media. The loss of this internal check and balance is an important event on an international scale, whereas, quite frankly, the sentencing of death to Egyptians by their courts isn't.
Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic.
Doesn't say anything so! Moreover, confirms it's off-topic and it's a TV news too.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/election-20...
It's about as intellectually gratifying as the latest world cup results, but maybe not as much as Andrew Talansky's recent victory at the Critérium du Dauphiné, which was accomplished with daring tactics and great racing.
The fact that people voted for it has no bearing on whether it's off topic. If you want a pure popularity contest, the most "intellectually gratifying" thing out there might turn out to be Justin Bieber articles or something like that.
Here is a previous, more complete comment of mine on why politics is bad for sites like this:
So it's "interesting" and important from a current events/politics point of view. But not at all in a "deeper understanding of the world" way. The latter is what Hacker News should be about. There are tons of sites for the former.