H H Sheikh Mohammed issues directions against detention of journalists
H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, issued a directive on September 25 to the relevant authorities not to detain any journalist because of his journalistic work. This was announced by sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of National Media Council (NMC), who stated that sheikh Mohammed had issued his directives to the relative organizations not to imprison any journalist because of journalistic task, emphasizing that there are other procedures to be taken in case of a certain violation by any journalist but imprisonment is not included. He added that sheikh Mohammed had issued his directives to the cabinet to speed up its steps towards issuing press and publication law in the light of the amendments made by the NMC in collaboration with relevant organizations.Concluding his statement, Sheikh Abdullah commended the imitative of Sheikh Mohammed which reflects his deep belief in press freedom and manifests his due care for journalists and means to provide them with the best working environment that enables them to carry out their mission efficiently (Courtesy WAM)
New York Times top editors resign following plagiarism scandals Iraq Media March 28 2004
Reporters Without Borders calls on the US Army to investigate death of Iraqi ABC cameraman
Reporters Without Borders has called on the US Army to open an immediate investigation into the death of Iraqi cameraman Bourhan Mohammad al-Louhaybi, who was shot in the head while working for the American ABC television network. The cameraman was killed while covering clashes between US forces and groups of armed Iraqis in Falluja, 50 kilometres west of Baghdad on 26 March. The international press freedom organisation, which expressed shock and anger at his death, said that a doctor at Falluja general hospital had told Agence France-Presse that the bullet that killed the cameraman was "identical to those we have seen in other cases of people wounded by US soldiers". More
Exodus of journalists from Muscat due to lady editor's harassment... At least twelve journalists have left a leading publishing group of Oman because of alleged harassment from a lady editor with the help of the publisher. Oman is notorious for harassing journalists and its publishing groups are equally notorious for promoting psychopancy, nepotism, and unprofessional journalism. Twelve staff leaving a medium publishing group in 12 months shows that something is stinking in the publishing house which publishes a newspaper, magazines and other publications.
In this case, the affected journalists are victims of the lady editor's arrogance and inefficiency. They also allege an unholy editor - publisher nexus. The media house is notorious for appointing good looking girls as journalists, editors and reporters. The lady editors often get the latest posh cars and other facilities, while majority of efficient journalists are treated like slaves. A lady proof reader can become newspaper editor! Editor takes bylines for the editorial pieces written by other staff and pretends to be a celebrity writer. The first editorial of the new newspaper was written by another lady journalist, but it appeared as the signed editorial of the Lady Editor. Even the speech delivered during the launching ceremony was written by another lady journalist, but the entire credit went to the celebrity!
Lady journalists are always at the risk of....being subjected to harassment by their senior editor. Not only the editorial staff, but even the marketing staff who are not in the editor's good books are forced to leave. The editorial columns are written by the family members !!!! Oman has many newspapers which follow unprofessional way of promotion and demotion.
Observer Terminates British Editor Maurice Gent
MUSCAT - Maurice Gent, the Managing Editor of Oman Daily Observer has been removed from the coveted post that he has been holding for the last two years. New
Iran: Press Crackdown Intensifies
(New York, January 15, 2003) — Human Rights Watch today deplored Iran’s closure of two leading independent ewspapers on Saturday and called on the authorities to permit them to reopen without delay. “Iran’s remaining independent press has been a key public forum, such as the public debate about parliament’s efforts to limit the power of the Council of Guardians,” said Joe Stork, Washington director of the Middle
East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. MoreTHE RIGHT TO INFORMATION – A CLEANSING EFFECT
E.C. Thomas*
The fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression is meaningless without authentic requisite information about issues and subjects on which opinions are to be formed and expressed. The right to information is, therefore, implicit in the right to free speech and is as much fundamental. Parliament has now enabled the citizens to exercise their fundamental right of free speech and information. - More
John Lopez Receives Threatening Calls Muscat - January 15, 2003 John Lopez, Senior Journalist Muscat has been receiving anonymous threatening calls from unidentified sources after he wrote a controversial report two days back in a local English Newspaper about the imminent change in the dealership of a leading international auto brand. The story in the Times of Oman gave both sides version and there is no need for any parties involved to become so furious as they are doing now. The paper also carried an apology saying that the "the first story was baseless"
The story created a sensation in the automobile market, which is already undergoing a total reshuffle. As part of lobbying and counter lobbying to retain and acquire new business, two leading groups are apparently engaged in a cold war and the journalist has accidentally got involved in it by publishing the report which suggested that one group is losing a prestigious brand to its busienss rival.
KM understands that the reporter received anonymous calls and the callers identified themselves as calling from a printing press. However, when he called back the same number it was realized that the caller was anonymous.
Ordinary reporters are at the receiving end in India also. However, in the Gulf countries, they are totally at the mercy of the big corporate houses, read big advertisers, who dictate terms to journalists. Even though the Indian journalists like John Lopez are working in such a situation, there is no organisation or association to represent their problems. It is learned that the Omani journalists are planning an association, but it is not known whether the expatriate journalists will be part of it.
Already KM has reported about the threatening calls and anonymous letters received by Adarsh Madhavan and other journalists in Muscat after they reported some sensitive stories. Media freedom is said to be improving in the Gulf countries, but these instances prove that journalists are easy prey to corporate dictatorship and sometimes the newspaper managements may not support the journalist. This is not the first time that John is getting into trouble for reporting some news.
Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City Communications Infrastructure
Dubai's Technology 'Free Zone' home to one of world's largest commercial IP Telephony systems
10th July 2002DUBAI, keralamonitor.com-- Avaya (NYSE: AV), a leading global provider of voice and data networks to businesses, announced the completion of the communications infrastructure of Phases 2 and 3 of Dubai Media City (DMC) and Dubai Internet City (DIC) respectively, making the free zones home to one of the world's largest commercial Internet Protocol (IP) Telephony systems.
United Arab Emirates annual Report 2002 Despite the opening of the only "free zone" for the media and the informatics sector in the Gulf countries, the authorities keep the media under constant pressure.
In early December 2001 Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan was re-elected as head of state by the supreme council for five years. In January Dubai Media City, a "free zone" for the media and companies in the informatics sector, was launched. The Arabic satellite television channel Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC), formerly based in London, set up in the zone. Despite the authorities' commitments in 2000 to give more freedom to the media, self-censorship is still practised by journalists, for fear of sanctions. In particular, journalists avoid mentioning subjects related to religion, morals, "friendly countries" or members of ruling families.Top
After being criticised by Arab governments, the television channel Al Jazira was attacked by the US government for broadcasting interviews with Osama bin Laden. The press in the emirate enjoys relative freedom compared to other Arab countries.
Al Jazeera Marks New Era in Middle East Journalism
After the 11 September attacks on the United States and US air raids on Afghanistan, the world discovered Qatar through its satellite television channel Al Jazira. The channel was one of the rare media, owing to its permanent office in Kabul established in 1998, still to be present in the Afghan capital before the fall of the Taliban. Known for the quality of its programmes, its professionalism and its independence, "the CNN of the Arab world" is the channel with the largest audiences in the Arab world. In recent years it has been criticised by many Arab countries (e.g. Morocco, Mauritania, Egypt, Tunisia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia) which are uncomfortable about the tribune it affords for opponents of all kinds. In October it was the United States' turn to criticise the channel. On 10 October state secretary Colin Powell said that Al Jazira "gives a lot of time and attention to certain vitriolic and irresponsible declarations" and denounced the "inflammatory rhetoric" of the Qatari channel. The day after the US air strikes the channel had broadcast statements by Osama bin Laden. A few days before that, Colin Powell had asked Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Emir of Qatar and the channel's main shareholder, to use his influence to force the channel to change its coverage of events. The managing director of the channel, Mohammed Jassem Al-Ali, replied that the editorial staff would continue "in the same professional direction that Al Jazira had set out on" since its foundation in 1996 "as a medium offering a margin of freedom in the Arab world". The press in Qatar enjoys relative freedom compared to other Arab countries, even if certain topics concerning the emirate are still taboo.
A journalist attacked On 6 June 2001 three men armed with sharp instruments burst into the head office of the newspaper Al-Watan and assaulted the editor-in-chief, Ahmed Ali. The journalist was taken to hospital but his condition was not serious. Ahmed Ali is known for his caustic articles about the government. A few weeks earlier he had criticised the energy minister's plan to make users pay for water and electricity which were normally supplied free of charge. In the end an out-of-court settlement was reached with his assailants, relatives of the energy and industry minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr Al-Thani, foreign affairs minister, took the initiative in this settlement. It was the first attack of this kind against a journalist since Qatar's independence in 1971.
Pressure and obstruction In mid-March 2001 Louai Mohammad Abdallah, a US citizen of Arabic origin who wrote articles on an Internet site, was sentenced to two years in jail followed by banishment. We was accused of creating a page on a web site on which he "insulted symbols of Qatar". Louai Mohammad Abdallah is still free. His lawyer has appealed.
Like other Gulf countries, Bahrain enjoys some press freedom. Yet self-censorship is still practised widely. A noteworthy event during the year : a journalist lodged a complaint against the information minister.
In February 2001 a "National Charter" providing for democratic reforms was adopted by referendum. It specifies that freedom of expression "should be guaranteed by the constitution". Despite noteworthy improvements in human rights in recent years, a lot still needs to be done as far as freedom of expression is concerned. For the first time ever, late in the year a journalist lodged a complaint against the information minister. The minister had previously banned the journalist from practising his profession after he had been charged for "betrayal of national unity".
Like other Gulf countries, the emirate enjoys some press freedom, even if self-censorship is still widespread. This tiny country has four dailies, two in Arabic, Al Ayyam and Akhbar al Khaleej, and two in English, Gulf Daily News and Bahrain Tribune.
Pressure and obstruction
On 11 November 2001 charges were laid against Hafez El Sheikh Saleh, journalist with the daily Akhbar al Khaleej and contributor to the Arabic newspapers Ach Charq and Al Quds el Arabi. The journalist's writings were "incompatible with the spirit of the National Charter and the constitution", according to the justice minister who accused him of "betrayal of national unity". The journalist believes that the real reason was an article published in the Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star in which he wrote that the emir's recent visit to the United States "had cause much consternation" in Bahrain and the Gulf countries. The journalist is known for his particularly critical articles regarding the Shiite majority in the country.
On 4 December Hafez El Sheikh Saleh counter-attacked by lodging a complaint against the information minister, Nabil al-Hamer, for prohibiting him from practising his profession. The minister had also banned the journalist from travelling abroad. In late November the authorities prohibited the Arabic daily Azzaman, published in London, from being printed in the country because it had violated the press and publications law. The newspaper was accused of publishing a series of articles criticising the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamed bin Khalifa Al Thani.
Gulf Media Special
Asia Pacific -World's Largest Prison for Journalists - Annual report Asia 2002
"The crime of blasphemy, punished by the death penalty, has become a sword of Damocles hanging above the media" Indian Reporters banned in Pakistan. Pakistan annual media freedom report 2002
Source: Reporters Without Fronters Annual Report on Media Freedom.
Liberalisation of the Indian Press
13 Journalists Killed in different parts of the world in 2002
- Middle East Media Monitor
- Media Monitor Reports
- Asia Pacific -World's Largest Prison for Journalists
- India annual media freedom report 2002
- Pakistan Media Freedom
- Media Freedom in the Americas Threatened by Anti Terrorism Campaign
Independent Media Vital for Development, World Bank
The media industry, whether public or private, plays an important role in any economy by garnering support or opposition for those who govern, by highlighting or failing to do so the views and/or sins of industry, by providing a voice for the people or not doing so, and by simply spreading economic information.Full Report Top
Journalists Deserve Better Treatment from Society, Community Leaders
Malayalis all over the world respect newsmen. In the Gulf region, journalists are not respected the way they are treated in other parts of the world. The society at large is still not prepared to give due respect to journalists. In this respect, even the behaviour of some of the Gulf based Indian community organisations and their leaders need much to be desired. No professional journalist would like to get a larger than life image or expect to get undue respect. But senior journalists like Prasad Panicker, editor of Times of Oman deserve better treatment.. Full Report
Gulf Media Monitor
- Times of Oman Versus Indian Social Club Malayalam Wing
- Gulf Madhyamam, Malayalam News, Gulf News, Khaleej Times totally Neglected -Kerala Monitor.com, it is all rubbish, which we don't read-Bahrain Will have the First Independent Journalists Association in the Gulf - Times of Oman Versus Indian Social Club Malayalam Wing- Gulf Madhyamam, Malayalam News, Gulf News, Khaleej Times and keralamonitor.com totally Neglected, New Breed of Self Proclaimed Journalists? Meet the Minister without my permission? No way? -New Breed of Journalists take the front seat -
Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City Communications Infrastructure
Dubai's Technology 'Free Zone' home to one of world's largest commercial IP Telephony systems. Read
- Vajpayee govt slammed for assaulting Press
- No political hand in Shivani murder: Delhi Police
- Pramod Mahajan is the alleged murdered of Shivani Bhatnagar.
- Investigate Irfan Hussains Murder.
'The Week' Tabloid Newspaper may enter Oman's minstream news media soon
Muscat - November 5, 2002 The media scnenario in Oman is all set to witness the launch of a third English tabloid from a leading publishing group, which has already got a few business magazine to its credit. Full Report
- Tehelka sets investigative reporting standards in Indian media.
- On 6 May, police in New Delhi arrested six armed men suspected of plotting to assassinate Tarun Tejpal and Aniruddha Behl, respectively editor-in-chief and investigative reporter for the online news site tehelka.com.
- With some forty thousand publications, a hundred private television channels on cable, and hundreds of FM radio stations, India is one of the world's leading countries in terms of pluralist press and is a promising market.
- One hundred and sixty journalists arrested
Anxiety at police raid on media house
Two journalists jailed
On 1 January 2001 at least two journalists had been behind bars in Kuwait since 1991.
Fawwaz Mohammed Al-Awadi Bessisso and Ibtisam Berto Suleiman Al-Dakhil were sentenced to death in June 1991 for working for the newspaper Al Nida, the propaganda organ of the Iraqi occupation forces. A total of 17 journalists were arrested and sentenced for "collaboration with a hostile country". Death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. The trial failed to meet international standards : hasty court martial, secret witnesses, absence of debate, allegations of torture, etc. Despite pressure from human rights organisations, these two journalists did not benefit from the 25 February amnesty (the anniversary of the liberation of Kuwait).
Pressure and obstruction
In April 2001 the Kuwaiti embassy in Lebanon informed Mona Chatila, owner and editor-in-chief of the fortnightly Al-Tadamon al-Arabi wal-Douali, that the latest issue of her newspaper had been seized at Kuwait City airport. The information minister furthermore banned this publication in the emirate. The authorities refused to renew the accreditation of the newspaper's Kuwait correspondent, Oulfat Farid who also worked for other publications.
Lastly, they informed Mona Chatila that she was prohibited from visiting Kuwait. A photo of Saddam Hussein and his son Oudai had been on the front page of the last issue of Al-Tadamon al-Arabi wal-Douali. The fortnightly had its head office in Cyprus but its editorial offices and its printers in Lebanon.Top
sA journalist killed
Hudaya Sultan al-Salem, owner and editor-in-chief of the political weekly al-Majales and the first woman journalist in Kuwait, was murdered on 20 March 2001 in her car. According to the police, a police officer, Ziab Khaled Al Azmi, admitted to killing the journalist because she had written an article about the women of his tribe, Al Awasem, and the traditional music played in that tribe, Khamari. The journalist had written that the movement of the dance was "entirely sexual temptation and suggestion". But in the first court hearings in May the officer pleaded not guilty. According to AFP the journalist may have been killed because she had complained to the emir about having been ill-treated after publishing an article criticising the police.
In the same issue she had written an article on Bedouin tribes, saying that they provided many policemen for the country, who were incapable of doing their jobs. She was also involved in many lawsuits following complaints by her employees for financial reasons. On 1 January 2002 the case was still under way.
Arabia Friday Newspaper celebrates second anniversary Gulf Media Monitor News Contact us editor@keralamonitor.com Biju Abel's Asianet Gulf Round Up: Human Side of Arabian Journalism V M Sathish Writes about his bitter journalism experience in Muscat Jeevan TV celebrates its 1st Anniversary "Jeevan Ananthapuri Event" inaugurated March 30 2004 Seminar Home
Reflections on Media and Human Rights in the Gulf Region : a case study of Oman
By V M Sathish M.A.M.Phil * “Human Rights” is a much used jargon by the Middle East media as every newspaper, TV channel and Internet sites prominently report the rampant human rights violations by Israeli forces against Palestinians. Due to historical reasons and a religious frenzy created by the century old Arab Israeli issue, human rights, read Palestinian rights, captures the headline of the media almost every day. However, on domestic issues including human rights violations and the journalists’ role in society, a number of subtle measures are adopted to keep the media within strict control.
Political power in the Gulf region is based on the outdated monarchical system which is non-existent in major part of the world. Despite showing a façade of gradual democratization process which includes limited freedom of expression and free elections, the media remain strictly under the state control. There are unwritten rules governing media organizations and journalists follow self censorship, which implies that they do not cross the limit. The main theme of my paper is the contradiction between the declared and actual media policy followed in the region, focusing on my five years personal experience as a journalist in the Sultanate of Oman, which is ranked among the top list of countries which curtail press freedom. I am not looking into major issues of media freedom in the region, but focus only on certain human rights issues which affect the Indian expatriate community living in the Gulf region.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: A PERSPERCTIVE M.KUNHAMAN ( Professor of Economics, University of Kerala ) More
HUMAN
RIGHTS AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: A PERSPERCTIVE
M.KUNHAMAN
( Professor of Economics, University of Kerala )
Conflating human development and human rights in discourses, a heterodox and welcome intellectual project of relatively recent origin, is by now very popular. It is ironical that more and more violations of human rights are occurring even as there has been a proliferation of agencies and mechanisms for protecting and promoting such rights. Similarly, there has occurred a proliferation of development agencies focusing on human development; yet, deprivations are taking place at an incredible pace. More
MEDIA PRACTICES AND RIGHTS CONSCIOUSNESS IN SOUTH ASIA : A Preface to the Critique
T.G. Suresh ( Jawaharlal Nehru University , New Delhi ) Anil G. Nair ( Hindustan Times , New Delhi )
The way mass movements take shape in the contemporary world may look paradoxical. On the one hand, there are resistance movements challenging the national political establishments and increasingly radicalising popular consciousness. New solidarities are formed, social alliances are created and collective actions are imagined all over the world to fight against the unjust wars, predatory capitalism and other forms of reaction in a scale and intensity not witnessed since Vietnam . The most striking feature of these waves of collective social dissent in the Americas , Europe and Asia is the reinvention of peoples’ rights. In other words, they are inspired by a profound sense of rights, freedom and democracy and are provoked by rights violations. These movements seek to redefine the concept of rights, understood more in terms of sovereign political community in Iraq , right to live in the homeland in Palestine and right to livelihood in the case of Muthanga. What we witness today is a spectacular rainbow of resistance movements against unpopular regimes and their wars, conquests and exploitation of nations, peoples and resources. And the idea of rights and freedom have become so central to these solidarities that cut across nations, race, religions, languages and cultures. More
Compubase Gets Education Ministry Approval for ICDL Training
Detained journalist's wife missing, says Reporters San Frontier
ABIDJAN, 4 September (IRIN) - The lobby group for media freedom, Reporters sans frontieres, has said the wife of Hassan Bility, the Liberian editor who has been held incommunicado for more than two months by the government, went missing two weeks ago. It said Bility's wife, Maria Nyenetue, left the capital city, Monrovia, on 20 August to try to see him, after apparently receiving word from him that he was in Klay, 50 km to the northwest, and needed some money. More
French Malayali gets Prestigious Award 
Subhash David, Paris
Watch this space. New York Times covers up for lies on Iraq warTwo most senior journalists pay price for humiliation heaped on paper by scandal Tony Blairs Spell is Busted: Own party denounces lies
North Africa and the Middle East Censorship and self-censorship journalists still under dictators' heels
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Guide of the Islamic Republic of Iran and King Fahd ibn al-Seoud of Saudi Arabia have been denounced as predators of press freedom by Reporters Without Borders.
- Bahrain annual Report 2002
- Kuwait annual Report 2002
- Qatar annual Report 2002
- Saudi Annual Report
- UAE Media City not Enough for freedom.
- More Media News from the Gulf
- Gulf Newspapers/ Agencies
- Report a media blunder
- Gulf Media Reports
Media Personality Suchetha Dalal
C.L.Jose Gulf News 
Sharief P.M. Gulf Madhyamam 
John Observer 
Manoj Times of Oman 
Naser Malayalam News New Media 
Xavier Kavalam
Saudi Arabia annual Report 2002
King Fahd ibn al-Seoud has been denounced as a predator of press freedom by Reporters Without Borders.
The authorities of this closed country tightly control the media. Criticism of the government, the royal family, the heads of foreign states or the religious hierarchy is liable to a prison sentence.
After the 11 September attacks the international media were focused on Saudi Arabia. The kingdom was criticised by US media for its half-hearted efforts to fight terrorism. This was an opportunity to "discover" a regime that international organisations had been denouncing for years for multiple human rights violations. As regards the press - consisting of ten dailies and dozens of magazines -, the kingdom has implemented a policy that allows each major region one daily. For example, Al Madina is published in Madinah, Oukaze in Jiddah, Al Riyad in the capital, and so on.
The 1982 royal decree on the press and publications forces journalists to practise strict self-censorship. Any criticism of the government, the royal family, heads of state of friendly countries or religious leaders is liable to prosecution and imprisonment. Since its introduction into the kingdom in 1999, the Internet has been under close surveillance by a department of the "King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology" which screens all sites consulted and blocks those not in keeping with moral standards or Islam.
Yet with increasing numbers of satellite dishes - it was Saudi Arabia that launched the first Arabic satellite TV channel, MBC, in 1991 in London - the authorities have had to give the press a bit more rope. Saudi Arabian media have thus started publishing news that was previously censored. Journalists now address subjects such as bad treatment of domestic servants or increasing unemployment.
In September the English-language daily Arab News published an article on a woman who was able to save her husband's life by driving him to hospital. The information was presented in a positive light even though the law strictly prohibits women from driving.
King Fahd ibn al-Seoud has been denounced as a predator of press freedom by Reporters Without Borders.Top
The year 2001 was marked by the murder in March of Hudaya Sultan al-Salem, Kuwait's first woman journalist. On the whole the media have a relatively wide margin of freedom, even if a repressive publications law still exists.
In 2001 Kuwait celebrated the tenth anniversary of its liberation from seven months of Iraqi occupation. As the only monarchy in the Gulf to have an elected parliament, the country has to manage tense cohabitation between liberals and Islamists. At the end of December 2000 a member of parliament with staunch Islamist convictions proposed censorship of Internet sites as well as television channels of a pornographic nature received by satellite. He also asked for a "ban on the sale and promotion of equipment for reception from certain satellites which transmit pornographic, indecent and immoral programmes", and a requirement for Internet access providers to "prevent the entry of programmes of a pornographic or immoral nature".
Although journalists in the emirate have far more freedom than their Saudi Arabian neighbours, the press and publications law is nevertheless severe. In terms of this law any writing that "by allusion, slander, sarcasm or denigration dishonours God, the prophets or the companions of the Prophet Mohammed" or "which soil public morals", are punishable. Amendments replacing prison sentences by fines, under examination since 2000, have still not been passed. An article in the penal code provides for prison sentences for propagation of "opinions that include sarcasm, contempt or denigration of religion".
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