UAE | Media
In the UAE journalists can work freely: RWB
The world media watchdogs agree on the lack of freedom and the prevalence of restrictive policies which stifle the ability of journalists and publications in general to report and inform freely, objectively and professionally.
- By Abdul Hadi Al Timimi, Abu Dhabi Editor
- Published: 23:41 January 19, 2009
Abu Dhabi: The world media watchdogs agree on the lack of freedom and the prevalence of restrictive policies which stifle the ability of journalists and publications in general to report and inform freely, objectively and professionally. Those organisations have bitterly criticised and highlighted cases of censorship and punishments to journalists.
However, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) believes that the situation in the UAE is far better than that in other countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
In its 2008 report, the organisation hailed the role of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, towards journalists and the media.
The Paris-based organisation said although most parliaments in the Middle East have not passed media laws on press freedom, "the only encouraging sign" was Shaikh Mohammad's statement in September 2007 "that he favoured a new press law." The report also pointed out the landmark judgment of the Appeals Court which "struck down a prison sentence against two journalists for libel".
RWB refers to incidents of intervention on journalistic coverage.
The RWB report states two journalists were freed by the Dubai Appeals Court after being sentenced on September 24, 2007, to two months in prison for defamation.
The report also includes an example from Ras Al Khaimah where a journalist was arrested for irreverent comments and was sentenced to a year in prison. But he was later granted a reprieve.
In its latest report, RWB acknowledged the expansion in the Arab world's media over the past decade and the proliferation of satellite TV stations in Arabic. Some of the influential ones have been based in the UAE, such as Al Arabiya. It pointed out the freedom that such TV stations enjoy in Dubai.
The organisation believes that "press freedom in the Gulf states varies, but journalists there have similar problems". They include violations, the practice of self-censorship and "the red lines not to cross."
RWB also points out to a new trend of journalism, the internet, which appeared in the Gulf around 1999 and to a similarly new aspect of censorship and "upsurge in online repression". It attributed that to new pressures that the media all over the world had come under since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in 2001 after which "anti-terrorism and "post-9/11" laws put investigative journalists in very delicate positions."
However, it believes that despite much censorship, the internet has enabled "journalists [in the Gulf, including the UAE] to work more freely and has enabled ordinary citizens to talk about their problems through online forums and blogs."
An assessment of the trends and the policies confirms that that repression had shifted to the internet "as the blogosphere becomes a worldwide phenomenon, predatory activity is increasingly focusing on the internet," where "online free expression is also curtailed."
Reporters Without Borders and other watchdogs have referred to several restrictions on foreign journalists who work for the Gulf press, including exit visas and permission from the employer.
It is, however, highlighted that "the formalities are far fewer in the UAE, "where journalists can usually work freely" in the country.
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