Good piece on Kipp, via Communicate, on the intimidation of the media, and press self-censorship in the region.It’s like the worst kind of lion taming. Brutalize the animals until they behave, reward them when they do (perhaps with corporate press awards), then unveil your act to the public. “Look, the lions are not restrained. They balance on balls because they want to.”
The crowd politely applauds, but they long ago stopped paying attention to the program – and its corporate sponsors. What they really want is for the animal to bite the lion-tamer in the ass.
I'd like to say this is all the fault of the authorities, but I'm not sure I believe that. This blog is written anonymously - should it need to be? Most of the comments on the Dubai Media Observer blog are anonymous. If more journalists were prepared to speak up, go on the record, and back their colleagues, there might be some progress. Truth is, most expats are content to bumble along knowing they'll move on if the pressure gets too much.
1 comment:
I like the analogy.
Spot on about expats' mindset. There's a door we're all keeping open if things get really bad here.
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