Social media changes UAE landscape

The last few paragraphs of my column in Gulf News today on the latest press freedom rankings which saw the UAE decline because of Internet filtering and other factors:

One overriding message from the Arab Spring is that technology has provided a powerful tool for the free flow of information. Old approaches towards regulation and control are still effective, but Facebook, Twitter and YouTube increasingly allow for messages to circumvent restrictions.

Indeed, some of the conversations once reserved for the blocked Al Hewar website are now taking place in plain view amid the UAE’s vibrant Twitter community.

Aided by new technology, the trend towards more communication and less ability to control appears to be inevitable. But, how governments choose to respond to this new reality is still up for debate.

Perhaps next year’s press freedom rankings will help us answer the question.

This column meshes nicely with my other published pieces on press freedom and freedom of expression in the UAE. Click on the links to read “Civl courts should handle defamation” and “UAE journalists need more legal protections.”

On the effects of state-led media in the UAE

Just stumbled across this interview with Dr. Sulaiman Al Hattlan, an academic and journalist, with astute observations about the media in the United Arab Emirates. Read this part of the interview:

In the Arab world, however, journalism started as a party voice or as an official voice to governments. Hence we have various issues. First, we can’t differentiate properly between media and advertising, between propaganda and reporting, between public relations and journalism, between opinion and news, or between news and analysis.

Second, there is a lack of independence in many Arabic media corporations, which were originally attached to governments or influential personalities in their societies, and that continue to serve political or commercial interests. Moreover, there is an important cultural matter, namely the absence of critical spirit and self- criticism in our culture.

Finally, with the arrival of New Media and citizen journalism, that allows for all to express and to have their input in building the general public opinion, we are witnessing such a mixture of criticism and blunt accusations, that the reader has difficulty in discerning between the actual responsible and constructive criticism and the one based on rumours and lies. So, in a climate like this, the challenges within the media sector are increasing. It is my sincere wish that we should somehow try to accelerate our steps towards building a civil society based on the concepts of polite conversation, the respect of others’ opinions and the importance of accurate information.

Yes. What an eloquent summation of the problems with the media system in this region.

UAE press ignores coalition statement on activists’ trial

The Washington Post and other international news outlets just published this Associated Press article detailing the condemnation of the UAE’s trial against five activists here:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A coalition of international human rights organizations on Thursday accused the United Arab Emirates of violating international legal standards by prosecuting five jailed campaigners for political reforms in the oil-rich Gulf country.

The statement by the 7-member alliance marks the highest level international pressure over the trial. The charges could carry long prison terms.

The activists, including a prominent blogger and an economics professor who has lectured at the Abu Dhabi branch of Paris’ Sorbonne university, were charged with anti-state crimes after signing an Internet petition calling for constitutional changes and free elections.Political activity is severely restricted in the UAE, an alliance of seven semiautonomous states, each ruled by a sheik who inherits the post. There are no official opposition groups in the country, and political parties are banned.

The UAE has not had street protests like those that erupted this year across the Middle East, including in neighboring Bahrain. Authorities moved aggressively to keep demands for political change, inspired by the Arab Spring revolts, out of the Gulf federation that includes the glitzy city-state Dubai.

The five activists were arrested in April and charged with insulting the UAE’s rulers and endangering the country’s security. If convicted on all charges, they could face decades in prison.

A verdict is expected Nov. 27. The defendants have no right to appeal.

The decision of the English-language press to ignore this story shows the type of self-censorship prevalent in this country. While journalism in the UAE has certainly improved in the last few years, it still suffers from huge ethical lapses such as the avoidance of contextual reporting on this trial. The main newspapers have run articles after each court appearance, but they have devoted no space at all to the controversy surrounding the arrests. The press has ignored important aspects of the case such as this denouncement from human rights groups and a statement from one of the activists detailing alleged abuses in jail while awaiting the trial.

This abdication of journalistic duty is important to note. As I detailed in my recent research on media literacy in the UAE, what a press outlet chooses to cover has profound impact on the knowledge of media consumers. The people of the UAE deserve to know about the context surrounding this trial, and the press does them a terrible disservice by ignoring crucial elements of the story.

Of course, everyone in the United Arab Emirates expects no less. The rules about “red lines” coverage are well documented in the UAE and throughout the Arab world. Still, journalists in the UAE should limit their self-congratulations for progress in the country, while collectively agreeing to ignore such an important topic.

Our FNC forum allows for public discussion of recent elections

About 200 people attended our recent Federal National Council election symposium organized by my College of Communications and Media Sciences and the Konrad Adenhauer Stiftung, a German foundation. Above is a picture of coverage from the local Arabic newspaper, Al Ittihad. The English-language newspaper, The National, also covered the event.

We discussed the role the media played in the elections as well as ways to increase awareness of the Federal National Council, the deliberative body for which elections were held. Two newly elected members of the Federal National Council, Sheikha Eisa Ghanem Al Ari or Umm al Quainn and Salem Mohammed Al-Ameri of Abu Dhabi, joined several other Emirati observers for a discussion of the Sept. 24 elections which was marked by low voter turnout.

Some main points:

1) Many observers called for the FNC to have greater powers — and the leadership of the country has indicated that plan is in the works. Dr Ebtisam Al Kitbi, of UAE University, said that the FNC should be able to hold government ministers accountable.

2) Nasser Al Skaikh, a businessman and FNC candidate, hammered home the point that the news media needed to cover the FNC sessions, not just the elections. Many Emiratis still have no idea what the FNC is or what it does. He stressed that if the media did a better job covering the current FNC session, then the next elections in 2016 would feature better voter turnout.

3) Diana Hamade, a lawyer and legal rights activist, pointed out that the television coverage of the elections was virtually non-existent. Some warned that television news shows may have avoided covering any candidates, for fear of running afoul with National Election Committee campaign speech rules. She and other members also stressed that schools and universities needed to help educate citizens about the FNC. Public affairs commentator Mishaal al Gergawi stressed that Emiratis are largely politically unaware.

4) FNC member Salem Al Ameri denied that tribalism played a role in his elections, despite the fact that three of the four candidates elected from Abu Dhabi were members of the Al Ameri tribe. He said that he used advertising and social media to reach his audience.

5) We discussed the urgent need for more Emiratis to take journalism positions in the UAE. Although no firm numbers are available, the vast majority of UAE journalists are ex-pats. I spoke after the forum with three Emirati journalists from Al Bayan who told me only 5 percent of their staff were Emiratis.

The best part of the conference for me was the ability for my Emirati students to see a group of UAE nationals discuss important issues in a public forum. For most if not all of them, this was the first time they’d been exposed to this sort of event. Many of them told me they were thrilled to take part and looked forward to future forums. (And surely some of them attended only because I offered extra credit.)

I will post some videos of the event at some point in the future — may take a while to edit them. Later this week, I plan on working with my students to create a Storify document that highlights the best Twitter posts from the forum hashtag, #CPA11.

Thanks to the fine folks at Konrad Adenhauer Stiftung, the German foundation that helped us organize the event.

How to define ‘news’ in UAE

This photo shows the recent front pages of four UAE newspapers — The National, Gulf News, Khaleej Times and Al Bayan (Arabic). Three of the four papers featured a photo of His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid visiting with other leaders of the country while The National chose a picture of events in Libya.

The decision in which artwork to run shows how different newsrooms hold different values about what is “news.” I tell my Emirati journalism students that editors weigh potential news based on many criteria including relevance, usefulness and impact. It’s a subjective decision but the choices news producers make have a great impact on society. This example should lead to some good discussions in my journalism classes this semester.

Reflections on our RMAS conference

Our Role of the Media in Arab Societies at Zayed University in June was a resounding success. Journalists and experts from the region gathered to discuss the impact of media in the Arab world, the difficulties of reporting in this region, and the effects of the new media landscape on these issues.

Click on the video above to watch segments from our night panel that featured Emirati columnist Mishaal al Gergawi, CNN Arabic’s Caroline Faraj, the Brookings Institute’s Shadi Hamid and Al Arabiya’s Najib Bencherif. We had a lively debate about self-censorship in the Arab press, the proper role of journalists in the region and even discussed whether reporters should strive for objectivity. I plan to use this video and the other sessions to launch classroom discussions with my journalism students.

On the day of the conference, we were honored by an invitation from Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. He invited us to his palace and spoke to us about the importance of our conference. Sheikh Nahyan said that new technologies meant the media can no longer control messages completely. He illustrated this point by mentioning that cell-phone photos of him at a recent event had quickly spread over social media.

The official state news agency, WAM, quoted the Sheikh as saying: “This technology will change the world.” And he added “that it would also help to make Governments more responsive.”

Sheikh Nahyan went on to say that the media owed it to the public to promote “understanding and tolerance.”

Well said.

Oblique reporting on public decency laws in the UAE

This article from The National highlights a problem that needs to be addressed in this country — rigid public decency laws. However, the article contains a couple of glaring omissions that should be noted.

The first two graphs read:

Public decency laws need to be reformed so that punishments can more accurately reflect the severity of the offence, several judges have said.

Sentencing guidelines for such offences leave no room for discretion, they said, warning that a misinterpreted hand gesture could lead to an expatriate being deported.

The article goes on to lay out specific criticisms from judges about the law’s failure to allow for judicial discretion. Anyone found guilty of a public indecency must be deported, no matter the situation. More serious crimes such as burglary do not necessarily end in deportation.

However, the article does’t name the judges who have complained about the laws. It merely cites “one lower court judge,” a “second judge,” and a “higher court judge.” The article does not explain why they chose to grant anonymity to these judges nor offer any information about their identity (e.g., jurisdiction or type of court). These criticisms would carry far more weight if the names of the three judges were included in the article. If the judges didn’t want their names used, then the article should have stated this clearly and offered a reason for their reticence.

But an even larger omission is the biggest case surrounding this issue right now. Earlier this month, British surgeon Dr Nunoo-Mensah was arrested in Dubai on charges that he made an offensive gesture to another driver. Dr. Nunoo-Mensah says he was simply raising his hands in frustration. The British press covered the case widely. According to this report in a Ghana newspaper, the doctor was released after two week’s in custody. His father is the National Security Advisor to the government of Ghana.

The avoidance of mentioning Dr. Nunoo-Mensah’s case points to the subtle self-censorship that pervades the UAE press. Drawing too much attention to the case must be considered taboo, so The National tackles it obliquely from a different angle. Perhaps this is the best they can do, given the realities of reporting in the UAE. But hopefully, a future article could address the case more directly and without the critical judges obscured by a veil of anonymity.