Journalists become the story in Egypt

International and social media coverage may have resulted in improved prison conditions for detained journalists.
Journalists from the foreign correspondence organisation participate in a protest demanding the release of four Al Jazeera correspondents outside the Egyptian Embassy premises in Kenya's capital Nairobi February 4, 2014. Three of the Qatar-based television network's journalists - Peter Greste, an Australian; Mohamed Fahmy, a Canadian-Egyptian national; and Baher Mohamed - were detained in Cairo on Dec. 29 and remain in custody, Al Jazeera said. REUTERS/George Philipas (KENYA - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS MEDIA
Journalists from international press organizations participate in a protest demanding the release of four Al Jazeera correspondents outside the Egyptian Embassy premises in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, Feb. 4, 2014. - REUTERS/George Philipas
Shadi Rahimi
@shadirahimi
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CAIRO — In his second letter penned from an Egyptian prison, Australian journalist Peter Greste wrote, “Journalists are never supposed to become the story.” But due to unrelenting pressure by family members and supporters, he and colleagues netted in the state’s crackdown on the media have become an international story — which appears to be helping to improve their treatment in prison.

“The conditions that they are being held in now are much better than before. Definitely a result of foreign media pressure,” tweeted the family members of Greste’s detained colleague, Mohamed Fahmy, from his Twitter account on Feb. 5.

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