Alexa, I agree that coming here and trying to turn Qatar into some vague approximation of a Western country is arrogant and potentially disastrous. But the government has officially acknowledged that a free press and transparency in business and governance are ideals they want to embrace. If that is what they are asking us to provide then it is our job to do our best to provide it.
Qatar is in a constant state of flux. The media is at the heart of a battle of ideas and aspirations that will go on for a very long time.
Ngourlay - Roth's statment about coming to make a better tomorrow is valid enough. The trouble is that he decided to make himself a propaganda weapon against press freedom by parroting the government line (and, of course, in an orgy of self-flagellation the papers duly printed these insults to their integrity). As with Menard, one has to conclude that Roth is either deeply naive or thoroughly mendacious (neither of which are good advertisements for a journalism school). He should have done his research before making statements - there are plenty of journalists around who could have told him how things work.
Fubar, as I understand it there is no prohibition against publishing the names of companies who violate the law. GT did it in the mid-late 90s. However, firms can sue for harming their reputation and the fact that something was true is not seen as mitigation. The No.2 of one of the Arabic papers told me he would not print names because he had no confidence that he reporters would get the story right (sad but true). In addition, these companies or their owners often have advertising tie-ins with the local papers.
Alexa, I agree that coming here and trying to turn Qatar into some vague approximation of a Western country is arrogant and potentially disastrous. But the government has officially acknowledged that a free press and transparency in business and governance are ideals they want to embrace. If that is what they are asking us to provide then it is our job to do our best to provide it.
Qatar is in a constant state of flux. The media is at the heart of a battle of ideas and aspirations that will go on for a very long time.
Ngourlay - Roth's statment about coming to make a better tomorrow is valid enough. The trouble is that he decided to make himself a propaganda weapon against press freedom by parroting the government line (and, of course, in an orgy of self-flagellation the papers duly printed these insults to their integrity). As with Menard, one has to conclude that Roth is either deeply naive or thoroughly mendacious (neither of which are good advertisements for a journalism school). He should have done his research before making statements - there are plenty of journalists around who could have told him how things work.
Fubar, as I understand it there is no prohibition against publishing the names of companies who violate the law. GT did it in the mid-late 90s. However, firms can sue for harming their reputation and the fact that something was true is not seen as mitigation. The No.2 of one of the Arabic papers told me he would not print names because he had no confidence that he reporters would get the story right (sad but true). In addition, these companies or their owners often have advertising tie-ins with the local papers.