What you need to know:
- Reader questions are answered by Gulf News editors.
Are you taking action?
Are you reading the comments against the news you are posting on India and Pakistan (“Indian-Pakistan conflict: Why Gulf News will not release pilot video”, Gulf News, February 27)? I don’t know what nationality you are, be a human, stop selling news that escalates hatred among people. There are bad comments. Better stop or block the comments against the post. This might affect in terms of peace. If any comments appear on Facebook, against Gulf News, you are mentioning stricter action. And what about the hatred comments appearing against the nationalism of each other’s country? Let us stay in peace. What world media says, I don’t care but I request that if you will post about escalating tensions between Pakistan and India, understand that we are brothers from one motherland, which has been divided without realising the consequences in the future.
From Mr Mahesh Bhatia
UAE
Gulf News is constantly montioring and reviewing comments to ensure that they stay within the confines of civil discourse. At no point will we ever support bias, propaganda or any kind of hate agenda being promoted. We practise and promote ethical journalism. Nevertheless, as tensions run high between India and Pakistan, and we report the news live, there is an outpouring of strong sentiment. We are getting thousands of comments daily, wherein there might be a slightly delay at the pace at which they are reviewed, and for this we apologise. We are striving to do our best and will push ourselves further.
Unhappy with reporting
It is shameful the way Gulf News is reporting on the India-Pakistan issues. All the headlines are trying to glorify Pakistan, though you have all the facts in front. If you see the headlines, there are no headlines of India’s attack, but Pakistan’s words of retaliation is a headline. This is to satisfy whom? Your journalism will not help peace but it will increases hate.
From Mr N. Daniel
Abu Dhabi
Gulf News does not reflect any bias in its reportage or live coverage. The headlines are news based and not subjective or opinionated. If there are reports of India’s attack, there are also newsbreaks about the counter attacks from across the border. So, we refuse to accept this crticism as it is not in line with the facts of our coverage, which can be verified at any point.
Where are the facts?
I wish to express my discontent on the way Gulf News channels have been covering the India-Pakistan escalation. Now, I do understand that journalism requires certain dynamics of free speech and expression (just and right, with a neutral stance). Unfortunately, most articles covering this story is seen using language expressions that are provocative, with a bias towards one side.
Take for example your article, “Why Pakistan will not retaliate”, using provocative statements such as, “Indians have saved Pakistan the humiliation”, and “the Indians have saved Pakistani government and its powerful army the humiliation of enemy forces venturing inside its territory”. There is an elaborate accusation about the Pakistan narrative, instigating that the country has a clear stance of supporting terrorism. Well, if I may suggest unless the writer Bobby Naqvi was a defence analyst actively working for some government, such accusations should have been backed by clear and concise evidence, which as I remember, has not been published anywhere. Even though it may, I fail to understand the point behind using such provocative language by the writer.
If one reads the articles with a neutral stance (unbiased and just), one might note that the article levers towards praising India’s actions (while detailing every minute aspect related to the strikes), and at the same time moderating the tone of the Pakistan’s part of the coverage and response.
Reading such articles puts one right at the pinnacle of Indian style “masala journalism” that attempts to stir positive sentiments at whichever actions were deemed “as one’s right to self-defence”, glorifying every move, every possible link to the story from the Indian counterpart.
Again, I do understand the nature of journalism (to some extent) but the articles in question here do not reflect what journalism stands for. Hope this message gets across as a message of peace, seeking moderation on how one article intends to express itself
From Mr Farhan S.
UAE
The mentioned article is a comment by UAE Editor Bobby Naqvi - an opinion, hence it is opinionated in its perspective. It was published along with a counterpoint by our Online Associate Editor Ashfaq Ahmed, who weighed in with Pakistan’s perspective. And that is what balanced journalism is about, letting points of views be expressed without stepping out of the bounds of civil discourse.
Offensive comments
I’m writing this to kindly request you to turn off your Facebook page photo comment option. Readers in the comments’ section post hateful and abusive photos towards religion, race and nationality. This may hurt sentiments of people reading comments on your posts. Also, this creates a negative atmosphere. I request you to kindly look into the matter without any delay.
From Mr Nabeel Shoupa
UAE
Dear reader, we have looked into the issue of offensive image posts and are actively looking for options. Our only recourse now is moderation, which is done actively in real time.
Editor’s note: Would you like to raise a query or concern with the newspaper? Is there an issue that you believe needs to be addressed? Something the paper is not doing right or not effectively enough. Write to us at readers@gulfnews.com
