8/12/2019 Why Does Journalism in Qatar Look More Like PR_ _ JustHere

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Why does journalism in Qatar look more likePR?

Journalists and the print media have sometimes been on thereceiving end of scathing criticism. But not all the criticism iswell-founded or justified. JustHere spoke to some seniorreporters and editors to understand the constraints they have towork under. In the late 1990s, two workers were crushed to death in the construction of City Center. A journalist who covered theincident was taken to court and threatened by several businesses that had vested interests in the project. In 2005, a leading monthly magazine in Qatar did a story on public transport in Qatar with a cover headline that readWaiting for a lift. It was considered too strong, so the owner of the publication stopped the press and insisted on itbeing changed. A few years ago, a journalist from Qatars leading English daily was held for an entire day in police custody. It wasRamadan. Someone who took offence at a report he filed had reported him to the police. However, the newspaper heworked for refused to send him any help at the police station. The journalist, fresh off the boat, spoke no Arabic, andhad to depend on his colleagues to get him out.

Andrea Busfield, who served as Deputy Editor of the Gulf Times in 2008, says: I have worked in the newspaper industryfor mor e than 15 years for local and national newspapers in the UK, for NATO in Afghanistan and for the Gulf Times inQatar and I have to say, I found Qatar to be the most challenging in terms of retaining any sort of journalisticintegrity the constraints imposed on journalists are very real, and nothing I had come across before, not even inAfghanistan, compares.

Every journalist who comes here wants to do their best, and then you realise that you are put in shackles almostimmediately, says a senior reporter* with another local daily. I came here after covering the crime beat in one of theleading cities of the world, and after 5-6 years of banging my head on the wall, I gave up. Every time I ask the DohaCentre for Media Freedom what protection wed receive, they evade the question. They are more concerned about

journalists in Syria and Iraq.

VaniSaraswathi

On March25, 2013

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I found Qatar to be the most challenging in terms of retaining any sort of journalistic integrity

6 Comments

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T GS censorship journalism media freedom Qatari newspapers SOCIAL MEDIA IN QATAR

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The issue is not even about jailing journalists, because that doesnt happen much. Its about not being allowed tofunction. You can work as much as you wish on stories, but at the end of the day, the will of the editor or, worse still ,the advertising manager will prevail. Forget social or poli tical issues; we are not even allowed to comment on customerservice in the leading banks or telecom providers in Qatar. Theyd pull the advertisements if we did, he says.

Its not just the advertisers. The boards of these newspapers resemble a Whos Who of the business community. Whichmeans that every single one of those businesses receives immunity from adverse comment in the press.

There is no journalism, just glorified PR in 99.9% of cases, says a journalist from a competing English daily who hasworked here for over a decade. While criticism of journalists and the media in Qatar may be justified, unless you are in

the field you wont understand the restrictions within which they work, he adds. Of course there is self-censorship. Ihave been here for over a dozen years, and I know what can be printed and what cant. Its a vicious circle, he agrees. Itstarts with being stopped from doing things, and progresses eventually to the point of not even trying.

Busfield adds: As many reporters working for Qatar newspapers are also non-nationals, there is a very r eal fear of deportation. Therefore, journalists in Qatar tend to self-censor rather than put themselves in the fir ing line. And who canblame them? The wages are minimal for most. Therefore, there is lit tle to be gained from f iling court or crime stories,which would make up the bulk of most national newspapers. Qatars image has been sanitised.

Busfield concludes that journalism in Qatar is not a vocation, but a means to an end. It comes down to money, likemost other businesses in the region. Western journalists grow fat on their inflated salaries, and other reporters mostlyfrom India earn enough to get by better than they would do at home.

One of the methods of State control involves a criminal charge of bringing Qatar into disrepute, says the ex-Deputy

Editor of the Gulf Times, which has been interpreted and grossly abused on occasion to keep reporters and newspapersin line. During the year I worked in Qatar (2008) I witnessed this very real threat to a reporters liberty being invoked. Iwont go into details of the case out of respect and consideration for the reporter involved, but the charge was whollyunfair and designed to intimidate not only the reporter but also the editorial executive. This is a real shame, and the endresult is a shackled press that churns out world news plucked from the wires, with a smattering of local advertorials andcommunity announcements.

contd on Page 2

Copyright 20 13 JustHere Qatar. Reproduction o f material from any JustHere Qatar pages without written permission is strictly prohibited.

Comments

March 25, 2013

Arvind Nair

Apparently, nothing has changed over the years. There was speculation that I was blacklisted because I quotedcertain department heads for my stories, rather than the head of PR at the Ministry of Interior.

May 8, 2013

@FatimaMnr

MT @florentdsouza Why does #journalism in #Qatar look more like PR? http://t.co/yhnG4M5uLZ via@JustHereQ cc @omarc @vanish_forever

May 15, 2013

@msheshtawy

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Why does journalism in Qatar look more l ike PR? http://t.co/aBLDU11l4d A brilliant article by@vanish_forever

May 15, 2013

@Hammonda1

Why does journalism in #Qatar look more like PR? the most extreme example of a Gulf-wide problem

http://t.co/qloBmLwOoJ

June 10, 2 013

Jassim Al Romaihi

Great piece. Thanks for sharing.

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