Media coverage, 11 Jan

Things are moving rapidly, and international media is beginning to wake up to the scale and persistence of the movement. Here are a quick few updates from coverage today. Will update with more info from social media sites later this afternoon:

* Yesterday's death toll is being revised constantly upward. The government figure has gone from 7 confirmed dead yesterday to 20 today. Union sources - which have so far been solid - are saying the number is more than 50. Photos and videos of the dead are making their way out through social media.
* The instability is having a marked effect on the Tunisian economy. The Tunindex collapsed yesterday amid the unrest. Bloomberg coverage here
* The journalist's union - historically a very moderate, pro-government organization - yesterday assembled at their Tunis headquarters to protest the regime's crackdown on coverage of the protest movement. Keep in mind, this is the same union that put al-Jazeera on blast a week ago for 'distorting events.' The times, they are a-changin'. Fast.
* The UN has, at long last, stepped in with a bland statement. Ban-Ki Moon spoke this morning, about 'all parties coming together in dialogue.' No prob, chief. Get the gov't to stop shooting first!!!
* Time Magazine, thank God, has changed their earlier headling on this story. Originally, it said that the 'moderate regimes' in Tunisia and Algeria were in trouble. Moderate in what way? Anti-terrorism, sure. Free society, not so much.
* One source is claiming that the opposition parties are calling for a 'national unity government' to be formed. Whether this is their way of sucking up further to Ben Ali; or whether it is the other parties finally finding their guts is not known. But it would present Ben Ali with perhaps one further option: Is he politically nimble enough at this point to loosen restraints on political participation just enough to stop the violence, but not enough to give up control?
* This article in Foreign Policy highlights one of the real problems this movement has. There's not a clear ideology, other than 'we're pissed off!'

(Updates, 10:30 p.m.)
• AFP: US 'concerned' about reports of excessive force.