Welcome to Layalina Productions

The Layalina Review

VOL. V NO. 4, January 30-February 12, 2009

New Code of Ethics for Arab Media

A journalism ethics initiative led by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) will be discussed by journalist associations and unions of the Middle East and North Africa during a two-day conference in Dubai this week, reports Gulf News. The initiative is eventually expected to be adopted into a non-binding law by journalist associations and unions.

The conference will feature prominent international, Arab and UAE media personalities who will highlight several media-related topics with a focus on ethics and the importance of a commitment to an ethics code.

The initiative is a non-binding and voluntary program "that will attempt to regulate journalistic practices in areas of accountability, ethics, equality and objectivity," among other things.

Journalists from across the Middle East and North Africa are expected to attend the event. The news site notes that a number of UAE newspapers adopted a similar voluntary code of conduct last year but faced criticism from the UAE media agency for not abiding by it.

Mohammad Yousuf, head of the UAE Journalists Association, explains that "while abiding by the new initiative is entirely the media outlet's responsibility, a monitoring committee will be launched at the same time and will be comprised of members from the IFJ from various countries." He added that the initiative will also cater to specific Middle Eastern journalist standards and regulations.

Yousuf commented that new trends and challenges in journalism, such as the role of bloggers, will be added to the program. However, he noted that bloggers did not fall under the same accountability category that governs responsible reporting and therefore could not be accepted as journalists.

Aiden White, head of the International Federation of Journalists, considers this initiative to be essential for regional progress, reports Gulf News in another article. According to White, ethical journalism would free governments from the need to restrict or regulate the media, and therefore allow it to operate in a free environment.

White further discussed the establishment of an office in Bahrain that "will be tasked with ensuring that media outlets belonging to member unions in the region complied with the ethics initiative."

He added that the Middle East and North African media ethics initiative differed from other regions of the world in terms of reporting on war, religion, women's rights and children's rights as well as the relationship between the media and the state. Religious and taboo issues are also taken into account.

White reassured, "We're not looking to introduce a lack of respect for belief." He also stressed that the aim of the law was to enable the media, not to regulate it or to provoke confrontation with the state.

Regulation is currently the only challenges facing Arab journalism. "Political and sectarian influence as well as self-censorship and low confidence too are threats for journalism." Referring to Gaza, he criticized Israel's ban on foreign journalists to report from Gaza and denounced the numerous violations committed by both the State of Israel and Hamas.

Arab media rules have also been recently criticized by media watchdog for clamping down (PR.IV. 5: Satellite Regulations Spark Controversy.) on the freedom of satellite television news channels to broadcast stories that are critical of "social peace, reports James Reinl for The National. Carl Bernstein, the veteran journalist famous for stories about the Watergate break-in, spoke out against a pan-Arab regulatory document for television and radio broadcasting as a "statement of closed-mindedness".

"Laws that try to inhibit free thinking and free expression are inimical to the human condition at its best. I don’t think you need to be a journalist or to have had any experience of Watergate to say that." The satellite television framework, called Principles for Organising Satellite Radio and TV Broadcasting in the Arab Region, was approved by a 22-member council of Arab information ministers last year.