(NewsYemen) Dec 11, Sanaa The first Yemeni female to announce her intention to nominate herself for presidential elections questioned the neutrality of the official press, which ignored publishing anything about her candidacy.
Despite being widely covered by the non-governmental press, none of the official newspapers had a story about Sumayya Raja’s plan to run for president.
She couldn’t comprehend that the government was behind the newspapers’ attitude in this respect. She said the newspapers may have taken their own stand in this issue and were not instructed by the government because that "contradicts the official position of the regime in supporting women’s rights."
Raja was not the first presidential hopeful to complain about bias in the official press. In fact, the official media also ignored almost all opposition figures expected to nominate themselves for presidency.
The official media also ignored reporting on the opposition’s reform initiatives, including a comprehensive reform plan presented last month by the six largest opposition parties.
It is unclear whether not handling opposition news is a public policy or is based on individual decisions by the editors of the different official media organs.
Samir Al-Yusufi, the Editor-in-Chie of Al-Jumhuria official daily said he learned about the opposition’s initiative from the foreign press. He said there would have been no problem in publishing a story about it.
Al-Yusufi blamed opposition parties for ignoring the official media. "We have not received the news and no invitation to attend the press conference was sent to our newspaper. We also did not receive any news about Sumayya Raja." he complained.
The problem could also be technical, journalist Nadira Abdulqudoos of the 14-October official daily said. Abdulqudoos criticized the policies of her newspaper by noting that "official media continues to represent the opinion of the regime" and is "used to pound the opposition on every occasion."
She said the official press needs to reform its policy and be more professional. "Readers aren’t stupid! We see them looking for news in the opposition press more than the governmental newspapers, which are looked at with suspicion." she said.
Mohamed Jassar, the Editor-in-Chief of Ray News, agreed with this view and said the government seems ready to negotiate anything except the absolute loyalty of the official press to the regime. "It is a taboo zone, to which no one is allowed access despite all the official rhetoric about the regime’s commitment to democratization." he said.
Raja and other opposition figures will be better off if the government converts the official media to public enterprises and allows private media to emerge. "This will allow all political parties to reach the masses without restrictions," Jassar noted.
