DUBAI, 8 October 2003 — The United Arab Emirates’ information minister criticized the Arab media yesterday for a lack of transparency and objectivity, and called on them to shape up.
Sheikh Abdullah ibn Zayed Al-Nahayan in a hard-hitting speech lambasted the Arab media presentation of the US-led war on Iraq that gave a warped picture of Saddam Hussein’s regime, the nature of the conflict, and the inevitable outcome of the US-led war against Iraq.
“Before the war, the Arab media failed to reveal the true nature of the Iraqi regime... but dealt with it as if it were a peaceful government and portrayed the conflict as simply one between Western powers and an Arab regime ready to confront and challenge them in the name of Arab honor and sovereignty,” he said.
“The Arab media distanced itself from reality and helped mislead public opinion by supplying unrealistic suppositions about the possible outcome of the conflict,” Sheikh Abdullah said in a keynote address at the Arab Media Summit, which opened here yesterday.
Arabs were stunned at the speed of Baghdad’s fall to US troops, and some preferred to believe in conspiracy theories rather than the strength of the US Army, he added.
Sheikh Abdullah said that if the region’s media had made it clear to ordinary people that the military balance was tilted in favor of coalition forces, there would not have been such “panic and frustration” in the Middle East once the war was over.
But the minister said Arab journalists embedded with coalition forces suffered from an equal lack of objectivity because they were able to report only the information they were given and pressure was put on them by the US government and rival media organizations.
“The Arab media must take an objective stand and not allow anything to prevent us from self-criticism and evaluation to achieve a media which informs, not misleads, which explains, not distorts,” he said. “We must accept that there are mistakes and weaknesses in our governments and societies.”
Sheikh Abdullah, a son of the UAE president, also called for responsible journalism, apparently referring to US and Iraqi charges that some Arab satellite channels were encouraging “violence” by broadcasting tapes from Saddam and the Al-Qaeda.
More than 500 of the world’s leading journalists gathered for the two-day conference, at which German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was the guest of honor.
Participants included CNN managing director Chris Cramer, the BBC’s Tim Sebastian, and leading Arab journalists, including Arab News Editor in Chief Khaled Al-Maeena.
In contrast to Sheikh Abdullah’s call for a self-examination and self-criticism of the media, Cramer affirmed that his own channel had adhered to the highest standards of objective reporting.
Cramer, who spent 26 years with the BBC before joining CNN, said he had instructed everyone involved with coverage of the war on Iraq to be objective and accurate.
He said he had told them to be “skeptical” about claims made by all sides, including governments, diplomats and military officers, but “not to be cynical.”
But he added: “Even a trusted world brand like CNN needs to pause and take stock of what it is, what it stands for.”
Gerhard Schroeder, in his opening address to the forum, also took up the theme of Iraq and media responsibility. The German leader made it clear that his country’s offer to help Iraq was independent of its opposition to the war and the US occupation.
Schroeder, who was in the UAE on a Gulf visit that took him to Saudi Arabia earlier, reiterated that Iraq needed “a realistic, well-thought out and time-bound” plan for the handover of power to the Iraqi people.
“Such a plan should include the drafting of the constitution and the holding of free and fair elections with the UN playing a prominent part,” Schroeder said.
He underlined the importance of competition among the new Arabic television channels and also “the challenge to the political leaders who have to accept and deal with criticism that is sometimes not objective.”
“There is a challenge to the media itself. They have to make responsible use of the freedom” they enjoy, Schroeder added.
