There isn't a national censor, Fulbar, just an unwritten understanding that you shouldn't write anything that:
a) upsets the government
b) upsets an advertiser (or your company will be really angry with you)
c) upsets a family of any significance
This is reinforced by the fact that hardly anybody is "authorised" to speak to the media. The police won't tell them anything, without a written request to the PR department, hospital staff aren't allowed to talk to them (there is a PR department there to ignore requests for information).
Businesses obviously only want to push promotional information to the media and know that if they refuse to talk about a problem the press can't go to - for example - the Ministry of Commerce to find out if some problem is under official study, because nobody at the ministry will be authorised to speak.
Are projects delayed? No comment. What does the purchase of bank's assets by the state mean? It is a sign of the State's commitment to economic progress. Did a fatal pile-up happen on the roads today? Send a written request for information to the police PR department, who will consider whether to make any response. Is it true that firm X has not paid its workers in three months? Sent a written request ...
Whether the press freedom centre shuts (which it won't) or not will have no relevance at all to your question about whether buildings are built to the correct safety standards, whether financial institutions are sound, or whether food or drugs standards are being properly implemented (as for Qatar Airways, remember that they are subject to checks in places like New York and London - they can't affort to be banned from foreign airspace for failure to apply international standards).
The only way to know for sure about implementation of food, drugs and building safety standards is to have a government which is open at all levels to discussing these issues with the press, together with the action taken. Why, exactly, was Turkey Central Restaurant shut down a couple of weeks ago? As far as I know, the only info is the "non-compliance with health standards" sticker on its door.
What I don't understand is why you say in one post that you don't think press freedom is of any importance in a little place like Doha, then you say you want to feel assured that safety standards are properly applied. That's exactly the sort of thing press freedom is for, along with exposing abuses of people's rights, overlooked hazards and anything else that should be rectified.
There isn't a national censor, Fulbar, just an unwritten understanding that you shouldn't write anything that:
a) upsets the government
b) upsets an advertiser (or your company will be really angry with you)
c) upsets a family of any significance
This is reinforced by the fact that hardly anybody is "authorised" to speak to the media. The police won't tell them anything, without a written request to the PR department, hospital staff aren't allowed to talk to them (there is a PR department there to ignore requests for information).
Businesses obviously only want to push promotional information to the media and know that if they refuse to talk about a problem the press can't go to - for example - the Ministry of Commerce to find out if some problem is under official study, because nobody at the ministry will be authorised to speak.
Are projects delayed? No comment. What does the purchase of bank's assets by the state mean? It is a sign of the State's commitment to economic progress. Did a fatal pile-up happen on the roads today? Send a written request for information to the police PR department, who will consider whether to make any response. Is it true that firm X has not paid its workers in three months? Sent a written request ...
Whether the press freedom centre shuts (which it won't) or not will have no relevance at all to your question about whether buildings are built to the correct safety standards, whether financial institutions are sound, or whether food or drugs standards are being properly implemented (as for Qatar Airways, remember that they are subject to checks in places like New York and London - they can't affort to be banned from foreign airspace for failure to apply international standards).
The only way to know for sure about implementation of food, drugs and building safety standards is to have a government which is open at all levels to discussing these issues with the press, together with the action taken. Why, exactly, was Turkey Central Restaurant shut down a couple of weeks ago? As far as I know, the only info is the "non-compliance with health standards" sticker on its door.
What I don't understand is why you say in one post that you don't think press freedom is of any importance in a little place like Doha, then you say you want to feel assured that safety standards are properly applied. That's exactly the sort of thing press freedom is for, along with exposing abuses of people's rights, overlooked hazards and anything else that should be rectified.