Arab Nations Giving Media Greater Freedoms

by Meena Janardhan

(IPS) DUBAI -- The arrest of a reporter accused of hampering a police investigation by reporting on it prompted stronger government protections for journalists in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Complaints of media censorship by both Arabic and English press following the arrest also prompted government officials and some journalists to defend the country's current press freedoms.

Basma al-Jandaly was arrested at the Dubai airport in June because of an article she had written in February about a man who had slashed women in Sharjah, another of the country's seven emirates. The warrant issued by Sharjah police contended that her article in Dubai's leading English daily may have helped the attacker escape by alerting him to their investigation.

The interior minister, Lt. Gen. Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, intervened on Basma's behalf and won her release. The minister also issued a subsequent directive that all UAE police departments must draw up a new mechanism to deal with cases against journalists, and said that the freedom of the press would be "reserved and protected."

"This case has been highly exaggerated," said Ibrahim Al Abed, director general of WAM, the official Emirates News Agency. "It has nothing to do with media censorship. It was just the result of a misunderstanding and was cleared immediately."

But the interior minister's directive comes at a time when leading academics and professionals in the country have started using the media to call for democracy, insisting that it has become the ambition of every citizen to have a say in the working of the government.

Criticism voiced in the press that the UAE still has an appointed legislature when more than 10 million Arabs in Palestine, Iraq and Saudi Arabia exercised their right to vote and participated in elections would have been unimaginable not too long ago.

"We realize the media here is not as dynamic as it is in other parts of the world. But it is testing and pushing the limits of freedom every single day," said N. Janardhan, editor of Gulf in the Media at the Gulf Research Center at Dubai.

"Media coverage is definitely more open these days," said Ahmed Raouf, an Egyptian journalist based in Dubai. "For example, press reports of irregularities in the education system saw authorities swinging into action, not against the press but against the offenders -- a sure example that press freedom is no longer a myth but a fast-progressing reality."

Change will come slowly, he said. "We must remember that these are extremely conservative countries that are changing their mindsets and opening up for reforms."

Ibrahim al-Abed said the official news agency has 'refused to let any stories pass through us for approval, leaving it to the responsibility of the concerned news organizations. In the past 30 years of my service here, there has never been a case of us preventing the entry of any journalist into the country. Also, never have we taken punitive action against any media person."

New media, including satellite television and the Internet, has forced Arab governments to compromise, he said.

"What's banned in local print, TV and Web sources are available through foreign sources. As a result, while the Arabic media, which has Arab journalists, has always been more forthcoming on local issues, the English media, with non-Arab expatriates, is fast aping their counterparts," he added.

A range of prominent figures from the political, economic and media fields will participate in a conference Dec. 5-6 titled "Arab and World Media: Getting it Right."

"The conference's main objective is to enhance interaction between Arab and international media organizations and bridge the gap between them, to make uncovering the truth the only priority for them," said Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Al Faisal, head of the organizing committee.

In an interview to a local English daily, Osama Ahmed, a reporter with the Al Bayan Arabic newspaper daily, said: "The only difficulty I face currently is that some officials do not deal with the press with transparency, as they always hide the truth or refuse to comment on issues of public concern. Although the level of press freedom in the UAE is acceptable, more freedom and transparency was required to help the media play its vital role in the development of the country."

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE minister of information and culture, stressed the need for a re-assessment in the media sector and called for legislation that guarantees access to information.

"I am not talking here of mere amendments, or of cosmetic changes, but of a complete re-assessment that takes into account the developments in information technology and changes in the speed and ease of the flow of information," he said during a conference in the country's capital Abu Dhabi in January.

"If there has to be a law, what is required is legislation that guarantees free access to information and that prohibits any denial of access, except as they can work efficiently in the new information age," he said.

Janardhan at the Gulf in the Media center said media are reporting on issues such as unequal pay scales at workplaces, poor working conditions for blue-collar workers, labor disputes, rising cost of living, environmental concerns, crime, and inaction of local municipalities and police departments.

"These are issues that act as a barometer to judge how free the press is. The media spares nothing now," Janardhan said.

The Dubai government set up the Dubai Media City in 2001, billed as enabling media organizations to work in a free and open atmosphere without fear of restrictions.

"Freedom of the press is measured by political openness and since there is limited political freedom, the other areas of openness get overlooked. Yes, there are instances of people being reprimanded for writing 'objectionable' and 'sensitive' pieces, but censorship could be more self-imposed than government-enforced," Janardhan said.

In an interview with Time Out magazine in Dubai, senior Reuters journalist Rawhi Abeidoh says, "Journalists are always afraid that writing something will get them in trouble, so they start ignoring facts and figures because they're worried about upsetting someone high up."

Many journalists say the 1980 UAE Printing and Publishing Law stands in the way. Article 81 states that news that causes harm to the national currency or causes damage to the national economy is prohibited, and has the provision to treat cases relating to criminal and civil defamation.

Ibrahim al-Abed defended the law.

"This criminal aspect of this law has never been used," he said. "Moreover, the information and culture minister has asked the Press Association to examine the law and come up with suggestions for change. Hence, it will be the journalists themselves and not the authorities who will ensure the revamping of the law."