Journalists urge authorities to reconsider media law

Abu Dhabi: Unhappy about the new media law, the Journalists Association will present its grievances in an official letter to be sent to the concerned authorities, it was decided on Monday.

An urgent meeting was held on Monday in the capital, chaired by Mohammad Yousuf, Secretary-General of the Journalists Association and a number of editors-in-chief of daily newspapers and members of the association.

It was decided in the meeting to draft a letter to authorities asking them to reconsider the draft law which was passed last Tuesday by the Federal National Council (FNC).

The meeting discussed the journalists' notes on the law which "did not take the Journalists Association's suggestions into consideration in the law which was prepared in 2007," said a statement released after the meeting.

The meeting agreed that the draft law contains many vague articles, not in line with the prevailing vision of openness in the UAE.

"The law should reflect the views and concerns of people working in the media," said the statement.

The journalists who attended the meeting were not happy with the new draft law which will replace the Press and Publications Federal Law of 1980.

"The draft law is mixing up a media law, a law for media activities and another for media-free zones," said Nasser Al Daheri, a column writer, to Gulf News after the meeting.

"The draft law contains 45 articles, 42 of them on journalism and 3 only on media activities," Al Daheri said.

The new law, however, may not reduce the level of the freedom the press has already gained by years of practice, he explained.

He however argued that it did not serve the development of the media.

"[The] media in the UAE is more developed than in some neighbouring countries, but the draft law is not suitable for future developments and would keep the media at the status quo," he said.

According to Al Daheri "it would have been better if the FNC committee which reviewed the draft law had consulted journalists first and taken their suggestions into consideration before passing the draft. Most of the journalists who attended the meeting said they were not consulted," he argued.