Ethics and press freedom are parallel battles to be fought, journalists say

Dubai: Pushing for ethical journalism and self-regulation does not mean that we will give up our battle to gain more press freedoms as members of the media, said the head of the UAE Journalists Association at the launch of a media initiative in Dubai.

"While we deal with issues of ethics, we're also engaging in a clash of dialogue [with policymakers] to reject the new UAE media law.

"Across the Arab world, journalists unions are working to push for legislation to increase the margins of freedom," said Mohammad Yousuf.

Yousuf was speaking following the launch in Dubai of a new media ethics initiative that falls under the International Federation of Journalists. Attending were journalists unions from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.

Some attendees at the conferences, however, questioned whether ethics in journalism is a pressing issue while "basic human rights are being violated in the Arab world".

Yousuf noted that one issue does not eliminate the other and that "two parallel battles need to be fought".

The IFJ also revealed plans to set up in April an office in Bahrain which will monitor adherence to the ethics initiative.

The annual plan for the initiative, said Yousuf, will include training courses that will be central to its role and each member country will have to host them.

Meanwhile, Yousuf called for the setting up of a local media monitoring council to evaluate the quality of journalism in the UAE.

"The consultative monitoring body should be composed mainly of journalists but should also include legislators and intellectuals and we hope that it falls under the umbrella of the UAE journalists' association," he said.

"Discussions are underway with the concerned authorities and they have so far shown willingness to consider the idea," he said.

The final discussion session titled 'Self Regulation and Accountability of Journalists' included officials from European media monitoring bodies who spoke of their experiences and the importance of monitoring.

Aiden White, the secretary general of the IFJ told Gulf News earlier that the initiative, which is tailored to the region's needs, will include rethinking subjects that have been considered taboo, but would not promote disrespecting faith.

Yousuf said that while no clauses on blasphemy are included, the code of ethics speaks of avoiding sensationalism "which could apply to religion, political affiliation, gender and race".

The ethics initiative does not include journalists unions from Egypt, Lebanon or Syria.

Dubai Israel's recent war on Gaza and its barring of journalists to the enclave regularly surfaced in the discussion sessions that led to the launch of the media ethics initiative by the International Federation of Journalists in Dubai.

Arab journalists repeatedly brought up violations of journalists' rights during the Gaza war and in some cases subtly reprimanded their Western counterparts for what they thought was a less than enthusiastic condemnation of Israel's conduct towards journalists.

Many attendees also criticised perceived efforts by Western media to place the Israeli and Palestinian narrative on an equal footing, saying that equating the aggressor and the victim was biased in itself.

Ali Shumo, head of the Sudanese National Press Council, took the opportunity to address Western media professionals, saying the issue of Gaza would not die.

"What happened to balance?" he said. "How can Western media outlets call an act of aggression a war?"

In one session, a member of the audience called on the IFJ to freeze the membership of the Israeli journalists union, to which general secretary Aiden White responded in the negative, saying Israeli journalists too suffered at the hands of their government and were not to blame for their government's actions.

Some even criticised Arab coverage of the war.

"We should at least have a unified set of terms to use in referring to some organisations in the Arab media," said Atidel Mejbri, president of Kawtar, the training and research centre of the Arab woman.

"All Arab media should refer to Hamas as a resistance movement rather than a militant group," she said.