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.
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.