The index, prepared by Reporters Without Borders (RWB), issued yesterday ranked the UAE at 65 this year, ahead of all other Middle East countries except Kuwait at 63.
“The authorities have displayed a tendency to be more open-minded and, in some cases, initiatives have been taken with a view to liberalising press laws,” the statement said.
“But self-censorship continues to be widespread in the Press in these countries.”
Hajar Smouni, the head of RSF Middle East and North Africa (Mena) Desk, welcomed the directive issued by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, that journalists in the country would not be jailed for reasons related to their work."
~Excerpt from an article in Khaleej Times, UAE fares well in World Press Freedom Index by Zoe Sinclair, 17 October, 2007.
In an article, "UAE upholds press freedom", it was quoted:
"Essam Eisa Al Humaidan, Dubai Attorney-General, praised Shaikh Mohammad's decision as appropriate and timely. But he cautioned journalists that it encourages them to search for the truth more and practice self-censorship without affecting the profession." ~Gulf News, September 25, 2007
Gulf News in another article, "Journalists' body hails decision" carried a quote by Mohammad Yousuf, Chairman of the UAE Journalists Association:
"Yousuf urged journalists to commit to the profession's principles, especially the truth, credibility and accuracy, and also asked them to abide by the ethics of journalism while considering the society's traditions and values. He also called on media men not to violate others' rights, not to deliberately raise personal issues or violate the society's system of values." ~ Gulf News, September 26, 2007
noun [U]
control of what you say or do in order to avoid annoying or offending others, but without being told officially that such control is necessary:
These writers knew that unless they practised a form of self-censorship, the authorities would persecute them.
~Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
1 comment:
Press/Media laws esp in the Middle East are always confusing. Its a real dilemma for the journalists - should we publish or should we not? They have to see if the story affects their organisation or its sis-concerns, its advertisers (Cant upset them, definitely not! How will the paper run otherwise? We dont even have much stories, if it wasnt for them - cant depend much on Daily Mail or Reuters for the feed, you see..!!)
Kuwait on 63? Not bad. Their Press laws of 1963 were revised last year. But even the 2006 ones does seem to have loop-holes in them.
The new laws say that a journalist will be jailed only if the judge decides, political dailes can be published (something which limited the 60s laws to 5 dailies alone) but there are 'vague' articles/statements made which say that a journalist will be jailed for reasons which are not acceptable by the law of the state. Now what falls under this category - one really cant know.
Havent got the exact Constitution laws with me to see how they are defined (or if they are defined AT ALL). - N
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