Hetta magazine suspension
Last year, Hetta became the latest online magazine in the UAE to face court for defamation.
The case was brought by the Abu Dhabi Media Company for an allegedly defamatory comment by a reader to an article about the company.
The e-magazine was established in 1996 and enjoys popularity for highlighting issues that print media often shy away from. It considers itself an Emirati nationalist magazine and has a monthly visitor count of 20,000 to 30,000.
The ruling was handed down by the Abu Dhabi Court of Appeals last month, ordering the closure of the magazine for one month, a Dh20,000 in fine for the editor-in-chief and Dh10,000 in damages to ADMC for defamation.
The case was based on an article published by the magazine in its issue No. 55 on May 4, 2009, under the title: "Abu Dhabi TV: Emirati only in name", by Inas Borini.
"The article criticised the way the emirate's TV channels are being administrated. It did not exceed the permitted criticism, but [ADMC] considered comments on the article defaming and filed a complaint to the Public Prosecution," the defendant's lawyer, Abdul Hamid Al Komaiti, earlier told Gulf News.
Ahmad Mohammad Bin Gareeb, editor-in-chief of Hetta magazine, said the ruling contained an underlying message to online publications, including bloggers and discussion forum administrators, that they could also face similar consequences for content they publish online.
"I had a number of supporters email me and post on the website about the implication of this ruling on bloggers and forum administrators," he said, adding that it set a precedent that would affect the entire media sector in the UAE.
"Major companies have budgets to take people to court. Small players don't. Even if a publication is deemed innocent, it would still have to go through the hassle of the court case and the payments. That is going to further discourage publications from criticising officials," he said.
"In other countries, when a media outlet exposes a politician, an investigation is opened on the official in question. Here, we are investigating the messenger and no one asks about the official in question. Why is it that the authorities only take criticism seriously and act upon it when it is highlighted in the foreign press, and ignored when it is published by the local press?" said Bin Gareeb.
Sami Al Reyami, editor-in-chief of Emarat Al Youm, which also faced suspension last year, however said it was important to distinguish between self styled online publications and registered publications.
"Many of these online magazines are not bound by the codes of ethics and style that newspapers are bound by. They are not written by professionals, are unregulated and are not even registered with the journalists association. How can we consider them to be journalistic publications?" he said.
He also added that established publications "take more care before defaming".
Mohammad Yousuf, chairman of the UAE Journalists Association too said that magazines like Hetta could not be considered part of the press.
"We have tried to intervene in cases against websites in the past but have found that most of those involved are not professional journalists and have day jobs that have nothing to do with journalism," he said.
"You often find owners of websites and blogs saying they are not bound by the standards of journalism because they are online-only. But when they get in trouble they often expect to be treated as journalists," added Yousuf.
The standards that govern journalism, such as style guides, codes of ethics and stringent source checking are rarely applied by bloggers and forum owners, he noted.
Emarat Al Youm suspension
On July 5, 2009 the Emarat Al Youm newspaper was shut down for 20 days in accordance with a ruling by the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal and upheld by the Supreme Federal Court, for a case brought by Al Warsan Stables.
Sami Al Reyami, editor-in-chief of the newspaper, and Abdul Latif Al Sayegh, Chairman of the Arab Media Group as publisher, were each fined Dh20,000.
The case stemmed from an article published in October 2006 accusing Al Warsan Stables of giving steroids to horses during a race in Abu Dhabi.
Ali Jaber, Dean, Mohammad Bin Rashid School For Communication at the American University in Dubai, said that such occurrences take place in a regulation vacuum. Without adequate regulation, the media's relationship with the state, the public and businesses is not clear.
"Any development being made in media should be immediately followed by a similar drive to regulate the media. In the absence of this, there is a lot said about this being right or wrong," he said.
Yousuf said the problem lies in the Publications Law of 1980 that is still in effect.
"This is based on an Ottoman law from the 1920s, and most Arab states' publications laws are based on it," he said.
"The suspension of Emarat Al Youm confirmed our biggest fears. What we have said time and again is that absolutely no one benefits from the closure of newspapers. In fact, more people suffer because of it. This is just a form of collective punishment," he said.
Assigning spokespersons
In March last year, the federal government made a move that was initially hailed by the press as a step forward in transparency in government and access to its officials. Each ministry assigned a set of spokespersons who were going to be the only authorised officials to speak on behalf of their ministries.
The move was apparently made to streamline the government's positions and avoid inconsistency. Previously, when such a system was lacking, reporters would approach any official they found to be credible and relevant for their article.
Many of the spokespersons were high-ranking officials at their ministries such as undersecretaries who were previously used regularly as quotable sources, but the new system meant that other officials would now have to refer reporters to the official spokespersons for on-record comments.
Reporters have, however, been disappointed at not receiving cooperation from the officials and in many cases have resumed contacts with officials who are not authorised talk to the media.
Yousuf said the initiative was "a total failure," adding that it was a major hurdle for reporters.
"This started when ministries started using public relations companies as their points of contact. The initial reaction from us was ‘let's wait and see' but this has proven to have failed," he said.
Yousuf added that it was counterproductive for officials to put walls between themselves and journalists because of the ease with which information flowed, noting that it gives way to rumours and speculation.
