ONE of the measures of change in the media scenario in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries is their coverage of two wars in the region in about a decade. When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, it was days before some of Saudi newspapers reported the event, which they referred to evasively as "tension" in the region. In contrast, since day one, regional newspapers splashed reports on the US-led attacks in Iraq in 2003 on their front pages.
While many may attribute the difference in the response of the regional media to the fact that the 2003 war involved a Western superpower against an extended regional entity, there is no doubt that it is one of the changes in the way some regional governments have been handling the media in recent years.
Normally accused of toeing the official line at the cost of objectivity, the war against Iraq enabled the regional media to overcome government – and often self-imposed restrictions. This is partly because regional governments are caught in their own trap’ – neither can they allow the Press a free rein, nor can they completely check the flow of information and news. It is difficult to hide anything by controlling the media because of the technological advancements made by local television stations and the increasing availability of Western channels. Add to it the advent, accessibility and reach of the Internet, and you have a situation where news cannot be restrained easily.
The media in the GCC countries is certainly not as dynamic as it is in many other parts of the world. But it is testing and pushing the limits of freedom every single day. On the ground, it is fashioned in a style that suits non-democratic governments who do not appreciate the evaluation or criticism of their policies and performance. While the media largely adheres to government diktats in the domestic context, there is a perceptible difference in the way it approaches international issues and events of local interest in the international arena. In fact, the limits of freedom have been stretched to such a point that certain outlets are viewed as a "headache" by many others.
That is not to suggest that domestic issues are ignored by the media. In fact, the media spares nothing now – stories pertaining to terrorism, unequal pay scales at the workplace, poor working conditions for blue collar workers, labour disputes, traffic woes and a lack of coordination between and inaction on the part of municipalities and police departments, rising costs of living, environmental concerns, crime (national and expatriate), etc., are all increasingly finding space.
However, while political consciousness has increased due to the flow of information, there is still a long way to go before the media begins to influence politics in the way that it does in countries where there is absolute political freedom.
The most controversial aspect of media developments in the Gulf is the war of bias involving both regional and international forces. While there had been a steady improvement in the outlook of the outside world toward the region in the past, that reflection was damaged by the events of 9/11. Yet, in attempting to convey greater truth, each side seems to be trying harder to win hearts rather than minds and have both have gone overboard in this endeavor.
The war in Iraq has accentuated this blame game. In much the same manner as how Iraqi and US-led forces made claims and counter-claims on the battlefront, the Arab and Western media has also engaged in a war of accusation and counter-accusation. But the growing maturity of the people as information consumers can be judged by their refusal to digest without question whatever information is relayed to them.
A comparison between the regional and Western media reveals that the local media didn’t perform as badly as perceived, given the former’s limited experience in covering wars. Although there is no denying that the regional media lacks objectivity, the same holds true for the Western media. The most common refrain heard is that if the US media had been more objective in its assessment of the threat posed by Iraq and the existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction, war might have been averted. Thus, the media on both sides was caught up in an ideological battle, one that revolved around nationalism, and in which probing domestic failures was seen as unpatriotic.
There are also problems of perception with the language barrier playing an important part. While most Arabs have very little knowledge of English, Westerners know even less Arabic. And, the little that they know of each other’s media is rooted in negative portrayals.
In this context, it is worth asking a fundamental question – can news reporting be objective? The answer is an emphatic no. How then do we evaluate the integrity and source of the news? It would be better to understand that the truth and reality of news reporting is both subjective and biased. While objectivity is an ideal that the media theoretically strives to achieve, it is a difficult and elusive concept. Even so, a source that is open about its biases and offers a forum to divergent viewpoints is more trustworthy than one that alleges it is fair without demonstrating it. There are several serious challenges facing the regional media – traditional and shallow presentation still reigns, as does excessive praise. Most importantly, there is also an inadequate coverage of the many dimensions of social existence other than political drama.
The media also confronts problems in three key areas: first, the scope of freedom that the citizens of the GCC countries demand in order to better express their concerns; second, the ownership and management of media outlets, which remain linked to government interests and, third, the impact of a set of punitive measures imposed against some media organisations or their staff. The Gulf media is subjected to two kinds of external pressure, most of which emanates from the US: directly questioning their approach and indirectly exerting pressure to curtail damage to the external power’s interests.
In order to tackle these problems, a comprehensive review of media regulations in the Gulf region needs to be conducted and followed by recommendations for changes that would better match the requirements of the times. It is important to propagate the spirit of criticism and openness; and cooperation to introduce the regional media to the world in a positive fashion.
Dr. N Janardhan is the Editor of the Gulf in the Media at the Gulf Research Center, Dubai
