Qatar Press Enjoys TOTAL Freedom?
DOHA: The press enjoys total freedom in Qatar. Not a single journalist has been sentenced to jail (in defamation suits) in the past eight years. This was disclosed by Dr Ali Fetais Al Marri, Qatar’s Attorney General, in reply to questions from reporters at a press conference at the end of the UN anti-corruption meet here yesterday.
“The media here expresses itself freely. There are no restrictions,” he said. Al Marri said Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development is included among NGOs and is involved in the fight against corruption. The Foundation in its capacity as an NGO was assigned observer’s status at the UN anti-corruption conference, he added.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&sub...
I don't even know what to say to an absurd story like this...words fail me...
Precisely. Though, to be fair, the reality isn't really all that grim. The rules are: play the game, pretend everything is perfect, keep your mouth shut, grab what you can and - as long as you aren't right at the bottom of the heap - you can have a pretty nice time and in some cases get stinking rich.
The problem for journalists comes if they happen to think there is a social and moral dimension to their work. As long as a writer isn't arrogant enough to think that he or she has some role in changing society (which, God forbid, means making a moral judgement on the achievements, so far, of the leaders of the State), then everything should be fine.
The mantra for reporters here in the early 90s was "nothing bad happens in Qatar". The office censor used to cancel anything suggesting that there had been an accident or a crime. Things have progressed a bit since then.
@ Paul Cowan...basically the story of this town...the public "face" they want the world to see as opposed to the grim realities that exist so this fella's statement @ face value is very much in keeping with that "theme" or dare i say,toeing the line?...
There's more than one way to skin a cat. Jail and defamation cases are not the only punishments known to man. To be fair, the Qataris are nice to journalists (they would, on the whole, rather bribe them than jail them) but the few who don't want to get sucked into the "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" culture are likely to find their articles sitting on the editor's spike and themselves, in due course, looking for other employment.
Controlling the ownership and management of the Press by making it illegal to publish a newspaper without a government licence and insisting that editors-in-chief have government approval ensures very effectively that theoretical "Press freedom" will never be exercised in a very challenging way.
The Attorney General's statement is true in as far as a legal framework for Press freedom exists. But as we all know, there is a difference between the public face and the practical realities that go a long way to contradict it.
While there might be some flexibility in the Arabic local press, I think the English press are yet heavily “self censored”.
Who can blame them with the Advisory council call last year for “Responsible media freedom” and that journalists trying to distort the image of Qatar will be taking legal measures against them
Did anyone mentioned why is Qatari Writer Nora Al saad articles are avoided by Local dailies & end up being published electronically only!
ROTFL!!...oh stop please,you're killing me!!!...what does one even say in response to a statement as absurd as this?...& this guy is "Attorney General" no less,although quite honestly,does that title alone not speak for itself?...would you take a guy with his title from this town seriously?...
"Not a single journalist has been sentenced to jail"
yeah,,coz in first place they are not allowed to publish what they want.
~noms~
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"Before God we are all equally wise ' and equally foolish" - Albert Einstein
on friday i guess and i cant find the topic now.
It was discussed before and classified as a hoax.