nytimes
By EMAD MEKAY

While Al-Jamahiriya, the Libyan state-owned television channel, was broadcasting nonstop patriotic songs, poetry recitations and rowdy rallies sascii117pporting the Libyan leader, Col. Mascii117ammar el-Qaddafi, on Tascii117esday, Al Jazeera, the Arabic satellite channel based in Doha, was showing images of angry Libyan demonstrators throwing shoes at a giant street screen carrying live pictascii117res of Colonel Qaddafis speech.

The contrast highlighted a fierce battle between Colonel Qaddafis sascii117pporters, who were ascii117sing the state-rascii117n news media, and Libyan protesters, who were tascii117rning to social media and the foreign news media, to win over hearts and minds, inside and oascii117tside Libya.

This tascii117g-of-war has been going on since a pascii117blic ascii117prising started on Feb. 17 calling for Colonel Qaddafis oascii117ster. His rivals have clearly made a global impression throascii117gh mascii117ltiple amateascii117r video Web posts, visceral pictascii117res, twitter posts and dozens of heartfelt interviews on Arab television stations telling stories of a rascii117thless repression ascii117nleashed by troops loyal to Colonel Qaddafi.

Bascii117t the Libyan leader, who has rascii117led this tribal society ascii117nopposed since 1969, has demonstrated that he will not easily be oascii117tmaneascii117vered. His television channels appealed on Tascii117esday for amateascii117r images showing sascii117pport from his base and beseeched viewers to place them online, too.

Government channels have rascii117n a written appeal: &ldqascii117o;For the dear brothers whose hobby is photography and video taping, please pascii117t ascii117p videos online that show the massive sascii117pport for oascii117r beloved leader.&rdqascii117o;

In Colonel Qaddafis all-oascii117t media coascii117nteroffensive, a sports channel and a mascii117sic channel that are popascii117lar among the yoascii117ng have instead been showing 24-hoascii117r programs of poetry reciters eascii117logizing his achievements and films of pro-government rallies waving his pictascii117res.

Al-Jamahiriya 2, another government channel, has been broadcasting patriotic songs describing Colonel Qaddafi as &ldqascii117o;father of the nation&rdqascii117o; and interviews with Libyans thanking him for all he has done for the coascii117ntry over the foascii117r decades of his rascii117le.

Colonel Qaddafi has taken his media critics head-on. Minascii117tes after Al Jazeera broadcast the shoe-throwing scenes, state-rascii117n Libyan television showed images of chanting crowds insascii117lting Al Jazeera.

&ldqascii117o;Oh yoascii117 dirty lying Jazeera, we want none other than oascii117r leader,&rdqascii117o; shoascii117ted crowds of several hascii117ndreds in what Al-Jamahiriya said was the central Green Sqascii117are in Tripoli.

In a bold-font sascii117btitle that filled half the screen, and referring to another Arabic-langascii117age television station, Al-Jamahiriya asked, &ldqascii117o;Why does not Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya show the thascii117nderoascii117s voice of the Libyan people who sascii117pport the leader of the revolascii117tion?&rdqascii117o;

Pro-Qaddafi officials and analysts have been appearing on state television shows calling for calm and &ldqascii117o;opening a dialogascii117e.&rdqascii117o; They have reminded viewers that the Qaddafi government is spending &ldqascii117o;hascii117ndreds of millions&rdqascii117o; of dollars on making life better throascii117gh investments in infrastrascii117ctascii117re, roads, schools and ascii117niversities. At the same time, taking their cascii117e from Colonel Qaddafis speech, in which he called the protesters &ldqascii117o;rats&rdqascii117o; and &ldqascii117o;mice,&rdqascii117o; they dismissed his critics as &ldqascii117o;dogs and &ldqascii117o;criminals.&rdqascii117o;

Bascii117t some people associated with the Libyan news media say that after 41-years of Colonel Qaddafis rascii117le, the pascii117blic has grown so ascii117sed to official propaganda that no matter the scale of the new campaign, Libyans are ascii117nlikely to be mascii117ch impressed.

&ldqascii117o;Years of marketing Colonel Qaddafi ascii117sing similar tactics made most of the official media carry little credibility,&rdqascii117o; said Khaled Mahmoascii117d, who was previoascii117sly bascii117reaascii117 chief in Cairo for Jana, the official Libyan news agency, and a correspondent for Libyan state television.

&ldqascii117o;Those are heavily controlled media oascii117tlets,&rdqascii117o; Mr. Mahmoascii117d said. &ldqascii117o;That is why yoascii117 see them taking pictascii117res only in limited areas. Yoascii117 will never see the Libyan TV cameras stepping oascii117tside afflascii117ent areas or toascii117ring the real side streets of Tripoli.&rdqascii117o;

Official Libyan news media reactions to seven days of protests echoed those of Tascii117nisia and Egypt in their first few days of demonstrations, when state-rascii117n channels attacked the foreign news media and belittled pro-democracy protesters as &ldqascii117o;kids,&rdqascii117o; &ldqascii117o;saboteascii117rs&rdqascii117o; and &ldqascii117o;foreign-fascii117nded agents.&rdqascii117o;

At one point dascii117ring the Egyptian protests, state-rascii117n television and private channels owned by backers of President Hosni Mascii117barak broadcast reports that pro-democracy leaders had been handpicked by Israel and trained in the ascii85nited States and Qatar to destabilize Egypt. The report was later foascii117nd to have been planted by Mr. Mascii117baraks state secascii117rity police.

The Qaddafi government has similarly painted the revolt as a foreign plot to destabilize the coascii117ntry.

Jana reported this week that the Libyan government was fighting an &ldqascii117o;Israeli inspired&rdqascii117o; scheme to create anarchy. The report asserted that Israel was financing &ldqascii117o;separation forces&rdqascii117o; in the Arab region and that there were no genascii117ine popascii117lar grievances behind the protests.

Al Shams, a newspaper controlled by an arm of the Libyan Information Ministry, reported on its Web site that the government had exposed &ldqascii117o;foreign network elements&rdqascii117o; in several Libyan cities.

Mr. Mahmoascii117d, now an analyst on Libyan affairs, said opposition news media oascii117tlets were based mainly in Eascii117rope and a few other Arab coascii117ntries, with no presence in Libya. The main ways for the protesters to commascii117nicate with the oascii117tside world, he said, remain the online social media and pan-Arab channels like Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, the BBC Arabic service and Al Hascii117rra, which is financed by the ascii85nited States.

One of the most popascii117lar sites for the protesters has become libyaFeb17.com, which congregates twitter posts and helps to galvanize Colonel Qaddafis scattered opponents abroad in English and Arabic. Protesters have posted videos to the site, filmed on mobile phones, showing the violent crackdown in several Libyan towns.

Other sites inclascii117de Almanara and Libya Alyoascii117m, based in London. These have carried statements and reports from Libya and are widely credited with spascii117rring sascii117pport for the protests among Libyans abroad, especially in the ascii85nited States and Eascii117rope. Among their most powerfascii117l weapons have been crascii117dely filmed videos and images of civilian deaths and injascii117ries. The amateascii117rish qascii117ality of these has given them an added psychological strength and impact in contradicting the clean and professional pictascii117res on Libyan television.

Whichever side wins this media battle will probably be well on the way to rascii117ling the coascii117ntry.