UAE | Media
Media governed by code of ethics crucial to progress, official says
A media free from restrictions imposed through government regulations, but governed by a code of ethics, is essential for regional progress, said the head of the International Federation of Journalists on Sunday.
- By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:15 February 8, 2009
- Image Credit: Francois Nel/Gulf News
- From left: Hussain Ameen, Habib Al Sayegh, Zafar Abbas and Aiden White at the two-day media conference in Dubaiahead of the launch of an initiative on media ethics for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.
Dubai: A media free from restrictions imposed through government regulations, but governed by a code of ethics, is essential for regional progress, said the head of the International Federation of Journalists on Sunday.
"You are not a spokesperson for the ministry of information, or a voice box for any [organisation]. You are not here to make money for your employer," said Aiden White, addressing media personalities from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia at a conference in Dubai.
The conference was hosted by the UAE Journalists Union under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
"Do no harm - everything has an impact. Therefore we have to be responsible, but not in the way that governments want us to be responsible," White said.
He was speaking at a two-day conference in Dubai ahead of the launch of an initiative on media ethics for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, hosted by the UAE Journalists Association.
White said ethical journalism would free governments from the need to restrict or regulate the media, and therefore allow it to operate in a free environment.
White also announced the establishment of a monitoring office in Bahrain that will be tasked with ensuring that media outlets belonging to member unions in the region complied with the ethics initiative.
The initiative is universal and has been adopted by journalists unions in other regions, but only after being tailored to suit the needs of that region.
White said that the way in which the Middle East's ethics initiative differed from those adopted by other region's was by an emphasis on reporting on war, religion, women's rights and children's rights as well as the relationship between the media and the state.
Asked if the initiative would include restrictions on blasphemy, White said that the Bahrain office would look into such issues, as well as non-mainstream opinions considered taboo. "We're not looking to introduce a lack of respect for belief - far from it," he said.
On the new UAE media law, White said that it should not become the subject of confrontation between the media and the government. "The law should be enabling the media, not regulating it," he said.
"The primary concern for journalists in the Arab world is not wages or safety, but ethics. If regional leaders realised this they would not feel the need to sign the Arab League media charter," he said, referring to the document signed by most Arab League members in February last year that imposed restrictions on satellite channels. "This is old-fashioned," he said.
Regulation, he said, was only one of the challenges facing Arab journalism. "Political and sectarian influence as well as self-censorship and low confidence too are threats for journalism."
'Historic precedent set by Israel in Gaza'
"There has not been a conflict in recent history that has [violated the rights of journalists] as much as [the recent war in] Gaza," said Aiden White, general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists.
White was speaking to media personalities at a conference in Dubai ahead of the launch of a media ethics initiative for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.
"We [went to Gaza and] saw what damage is done when a government like Israel's, which calls itself democratic, [restricts] the media," he said.
He said there was a reckless disregard for human life from both Israel and Hamas, who fought the war, criticising Israel for not allowing journalists to report the story.
"We are convinced that Israel violated international law& there has to be accountability," he said.
The head of the Palestinian journalists union responded by questioning whether condemning Israel's practices was enough, saying more should be done to protect Palestinian journalists and hold the responsible party to account if a journalist dies.
He referred to the compensation that Israel recently offered to the family of James Miller, a British journalist who was killed by the Israeli army five years ago, and asked who would compensate the "many" Palestinian journalists who have been killed by Israel.
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