The absence of professional standards in journalism has made the Arab press lose the trust of its readers. The Arab press is no longer a source of news in the field of politics, economy or culture. That role is now played by the foreign press, which has self-respect. The absence of press freedom in the Arab world has made the media lose its vital role, turning it into a strange line of work that cannot be explained or described. It has thus become something completely different from its historical role.

One cannot explain or define the Arab press, including the one in the Gulf states. Day by day, the press is becoming more distant from the role that was set for it when it was founded in the early 18th century in Britain and France.

Many of my colleagues in the field of journalism also feel that the Arab press suffers from a major problem. However, they too are not able to explain exactly what it is. The absence of two things is the root of the problem: Professionalism and freedom of expression.

For the sake of clarification, the differences in production methods and the modern technology utilised by the Gulf press for the purpose of publishing and distribution are not being considered here.

My primary focus is on the absence of professionalism, which leads to huge mistakes in the media’s work. It is true that the Arab press is part of the Third World’s press and it cannot compete or be compared with its counterparts in Europe or the US. Perhaps the Arab press could benefit from advanced western media and build on expertise accumulated during the past few decades. It is worth noting that the first Arabic newspaper was published in 1828 in Cairo. It is useful to highlight mistakes that occur due to the absence of professional standards, without specifying the names of the daily newspaper in which these mistakes were committed. What is unfortunate is that these mistakes are still occurring in most Arab newspapers and TV stations.

I read the following statement in an Arabic newspaper: “The state begins carrying out vengeance against the rioters ...” This is a disaster, simply because there is no country that carries out vengeance attacks against its citizens and neither is it supposed to. A country is keen on upholding and implementing the law in a cautious and precise manner and uses legitimate violence only when necessary, as per laws and regulations.

The media plays a positive role in some advanced countries, where it influences the decision-making process. An official institution would leak news pertaining to a certain resolution. The press then gauges public opinion on the decision. This allows the official institution to decide whether to go ahead with the resolution or make some amendments to it. While in the Arab world, the common man only knows about these resolutions once they are published in the newspapers, which indicates that the Arab media has no role in the decision-making process.

Another newspaper carried a story with the headline: ‘Islamic preacher arrested on charges of murder.’ The question here is what is the relation between being an Islamic preacher and the killing? This means that the journalist who wrote this headline is giving a religious colour to a criminal offence. Logically and ethically, people who engage in Islamic Dawah and Christianity missionary work do not kill. Although each rule has an exception, terms such as ‘Islamic preacher’ or ‘Christian evangelist’ should not be used to give the issue a sectarian colour.

I read in another Arabic newspaper a story with a terrible headline, written in a very racist manner. The headline said: ‘Six Coptic outlaws arrested’. It should have read ‘Six Egyptians arrested for violating laws’. This makes one wonder which college such journalists have graduated from and what sort of training have they received.

I also read in newspapers and listened to radio newscasts about the so-called illegal immigrants in some countries. The headline read: ‘10 bodies of illegal immigrants recovered from the Mediterranean Sea’. Using the term ‘illegal immigrants’ was meant to give a criminal tinge to an unorganised process of immigration, which puts immigrants on the list of criminals who should be punished. Such acts are even against International Convention on the Protection of the Rights Of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families — an agreement signed by most countries. So, journalists should not use the term ‘illegal immigrants’ if they have self-respect.

In conclusion, words, terms, adjectives, labels and sentence structures used in print and audio-visual media influence and shape the awareness of community members. This requires journalists and media professionals to pay more attention to what they write, read and say.

Openness to the outside world and bringing cultures and civilisations closer together will benefit the Arab press. It will be able to achieve more success than its counterparts, due to ongoing events in the region. The world is rife with political and economic issues, including those in the Arab world, which is also facing local crises. Some of these crises can make the work of the Arab press more challenging, as it will be exposed to more unavoidable challenges. The only way to achieve development is to confront challenges and overcome them.

Mohammad Hassan Al Harbi is a writer and journalist.