Media Freedom Calls for law reform
To celebrate Human Rights day in Doha, PR flunkies at the newly formed Doha Media Freedom Centre (DMFC) have demanded blanket coverage from the local newspapers for their call to action.
Every newspaper tomorrow is going to publish an article saying that their journalists are rubbish, and official censorship does not exist in Qatar.
Sara Kianpour, Head of PR at DMFC, writes: "Nearly all journalists in Qatar would agree there is self-censorship and that cultural tradition favours consensus over inconvenient truths."
"The government ended media censorship in 1995, so the [1979 Press and Publications Law] is outdated and unworthy of a modern country."
"But this will not change the quality of news if journalists themselves (as long as they are allowed to organise and have their own professional bodies) do not take the initiative. This means simply doing their job, reporting accurately, investigating, and looking at both what is working and not working in Qatar."
Well, Sara, you're wrong. Journalists here are pretty good, in the main. The quality of news is poor, but it's not because of poor journalism. If you want decent newspapers, you need to remove the threat of jail for making mistakes, offer professional indemnity insurance, and tell the police to stop detaining our colleagues.
I don't know if it was censored, but it was definitely a mess. We were running it, then it was gone, then it was back, then it was gone
we had four diferent versions of the page by the end of Monday night
So did the newspapers carry this on Tuesday, or was the DMFC censored?
MD, when "The government ended media censorship in 1995" was that not through an Emir's decree?
No I know the score. It's the hypocrisy I can't stand from Northwestern, The Media Freedom Centre, Jazeera. They're quite happy to enjoy their own small corners of freedom while ignoring journalists who produce their daily newspapers.
You hear some extremely racist sentiments from people around town. It's as if they think you need to be born in Boston, London or Melbourne to be a decent journalist. Well you don't. It's just that the outward-pointing media exist inside a diplomatic zone, where local laws don't apply.
Ask anyone on the newsdesk at Jazeera whether they know about the Press Law or the local libel laws. They don't, because they don't need to know them. One journo I met from Jazeera told me that all the local papers needed was a couple of roaches he knew from back in Sydney. Idiot.
Scoop, you make a fundamental mistake: Qatar is a "Kingdom" or "Princedom", not a democracy. There is but one law: the Emir's decrees. Anything else is not worth the paper it is written upon. So, stop complaining. If you can become a "noble" your life will be beautiful (until the ruler changes). Did I really have to tell you that?
The problem in Qatar is one of "chilling effects". An environment that prevents journalistic investigation
There are many examples, but here's one that springs to mind. Every journo in Doha believes truth is not an absolute defence against defamation in this country. You can't name a convicted murderer, because he would be able to sue you and win. Now, for anyone from outside the region, that's just plain stupid.
I'm not a lawyer, but this is what every journalist in the country believes.
There's a related problem with the punishment system. A local hospital can prosecute a journalist for defamation, and if they have a case, the journalist will go to jail. In most other countries, you'd at least need the backing of some public prosecutor to bring a criminal case against a journalist, and in many countries the hospital would need to prove malicious intent.
Simply put, the Press and Publication Law is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to archaic laws preventing press freedom.
"Every newspaper tomorrow is going to publish an article saying that their journalists are rubbish, and official censorship does not exist in Qatar."
The key phrase there is "official censorship".
btw WB, I'm assuming you're a journalist. Do you mind revealing who you write for?