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Written By: Fares Anam
Article Date: Mar 29, 2008 - 12:56:05 AM
Increases in technology, such as satellites, make media censorship more difficult.
The Arab Information Ministers held a meeting during the gathering of the Arab League in Cairo on February 12, where many questions were raised concerning an initiative regarding censorship of satellite channels. Ministers present at the meeting signed a document regulating the media and information industries in the region entitled, “Principles and frameworks to organize the proposed broadcasting and reception of radio and television across space in the Arab region.”
Proponents of the initiative believe that it will help improve the quality of the media by removing those channels carrying questionable content and lacking in informative messages. Some of the channels in question are owned by wealthy Arabs with Islamic identity who have been lax in their allowed content.
The document agreed upon by the Arab Ministers focuses on the most important items to the public - the transparency of information and the protection of the right of the public to access that information. It also focuses on the obligation to respect the national sovereignty of each state, respect for the privacy of individuals, and to restrict the broadcasting of any form of incitement of violence and terrorism.
The agreement also stressed the importance of respecting leaders, national symbols and religion in the media. The necessity of a commitment to objectivity, honesty, and respect for the dignity of nations and peoples was also confirmed. Signatory states were granted the right to suspend or withdraw work permits granted to any media that violates the rules contained in this agreement.
A project initiated by the agreement includes the development of new controls by which all Arab satellite stations must abide and will be signed as a supplement of the contract between each station and the state awarding its license. These controls will also be enforced over the free zones and include the adoption of specific penalties for violation of these regulations, beginning with a warning issued to the station and the confiscation of equipment and devices used and followed by the imposition of substantial fines and potential cancellation of the operating license.
Akram al-Hindi, Manager of the English News Department at Sana’a Satellite Channel and correspondent to Press TV and the Saudi English Channel, said that this agreement will extend the freedom of information between Arab channels and will reduce the channels that are not legal.
“The Arabic audience is aware of the beneficial and non-beneficial channels and can differentiate the good ones from the bad ones,” said al-Hindi. “There is only a small audience who watch these disrespectable channels.”
“Arab people are surrounded by the worries of life and rising prices, so they find watching these channels a good choice to relax themselves and find happiness,” he added.
Regarding the pressure from Arab countries on some Arab news channels that claim they are only trying to reveal the truth, al-Hindi said that “They are looking to get rid of such channels because it exposes their [corrupt] political system.”
Satellite transmission has been the most difficult obstacle facing Arab officials since the mid-nineties. It has freed the media from the direct dominance of the authorities, allowing unauthorized content to begin to appear through the satellite stations.
“If this document’s purpose is to reduce the freedom of the media, I consider it a black document in the history of media under the so-called Arab agreement,” said Marwan al-Khaled a satellite news broadcaster. “We, as broadcasters, agreed with this document if it will decrease and delete the disrespectable channels that are owned by Arab people.”
Al-Khaled further added that any hindrance in the distribution of independent news channels that try to open the minds of the Arab people to what is going on in the world would not be acceptable. “We are against that completely,” he said.
Mohammed al-Radmi, a correspondent for the al-Hurra channels, gave his point of view about the document, saying, “I support the document agreed upon by the Arab Information Ministers because it aims to respect the minds of our Arabic audience. The multi-satellite channels serving the Arabic media have achieved their ambition of being respectable among other world channels.”
“Every state seeks the improvement of its political and social fields and some media news channels create problems and crisis. This document is trying to put some pressure on those channels,” al-Radmi said.
Dr. Mohammed al-Faqeeh, a professor of Political Sciences at Sana’a University, made comments on the issue at hand, stating that “These [undesirable] channels have prompted many media people and politicians of the need to regulate broadcasting and it is not unreasonable to leave with an Arab media document for organizing them.”
Al-Faqeeh also stated that there is a need of this Charter of Arab Media Space shared by all parties, such as journalists, media men, owners and politicians so that they can differentiate between the bad channels and the good ones to further their work on the expansion of media freedom in the Arab world.
According to al-Faqeeh, political freedom requires encouraging scrutiny of Arab media with accuracy and objectivity, which should be neutral.
Most of the studies in Yemen and other Arab countries say that the Arab news satellite stations such as al-Jazeera and al-Arabia channels and some government channels are primary sources of news to the public and their main means of getting information. “If this document limits the news media, it is not working properly and will fail,” he said.
Commenting on the possible negative aspects of the censorship, al-Faqeeh asks, “Is it reasonable to leave these swindlers who traffic in people’s morals and their souls? Is it reasonable to leave the channels that inflame sectarian prejudices and sedition among Muslims? These channels still have problems that must be resolved.”
