Arab Media

This is the first debate I've watched on BBC on the 'DOHA DEBATES'. It was a great constructive discussion without any hostility as most debates on TV have been terribly loud and hostile . Thanks to 'Manj' for reminding me to watch it.

The subject of the debate itself was about: "Should Arab journalists should learnfrom the Western journalists?"; meaning whether we should basically get as close as possible to the truth of what we report without the self-censorship and state control.

I was pleased to watch them openly discuss the reality of self-censorship and state control over journalism and how our current media can be misinforming the Western world about the Arab world as being violent/fanatical etc with the choice of topics/story coverages that Arab Media chooses to cover and broadcast. Our current state of our Arab Media was praised as breath-taking when compared to 15 years ago; said an American Media specialist.

Numerous issues were discussed starting from Al-Jazeera broadcasting Qaeda tapes suggesting that they sensationalise the video tapes for viewers just like when the Danish paper were sensationalising the Danish cartoons for readers. A very good point was made when Mona El-tehawy, a columnist for sharq al-awsat suggested that it was self-critical and that it was a result of what we broadcast on al-jazeera or other arab channels e.g. 'allah akbar' and chopping off heads etc or the other violent acts we broadcast as being Islamic. Mona added that Arabs don't know much about how Palestinians live or that some Palestinians live in Israel with Israeli passports etc. She stressed the importance of broadcasting the right topics without or with very little self-censorship.

At the end of the debate, 68.3% voted against the motion: 'This House believes that Arab media needs no lessons in journalism from the West'.

I wish I didn't miss the first part of it. If it's on BBC again, don't miss it. I'm very impressed by the initiatives Doha is making and making space for people to discuss/debate issues in the Arab/Muslim world. In the GCC countries, Qatar appears to be the first one at attempting to embrace true democracy.