US embassy cable - 05ABUDHABI959

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 000959 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; 
INR/NESA; INR/B; IIP/G/NEA-SA 
WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE 
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA 
USCINCCENT FOR POLAD 
LONDON PASS TO MOC, ALSO FOR GOLDRICH; PARIS FOR ZEYA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, KMDR, TC, PREL, PGOV 
SUBJECT: UAE ARAB MEDIA CONFERENCE CALLS FOR REDUCED 
GOVERNMENT ROLE 
 
REF: ABU DHABI 158 
 
1. (U) The Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and 
Research (ECSSR) held its annual conference entitled "Arab 
Media in the Information Age" January 9-11, 2005.  A common 
theme throughout the conference was the need for Arab 
governments to reduce their roles in controlling the media. 
Despite a large number of American and Arab-American 
presenters, the tone of the conference was decidedly anti- 
American.  Wadhah Khanfar, general manager of Al-Jazeera, 
was hailed as a strong symbol of resistance against both the 
U.S. and Arab regimes.  Several speakers and attendees 
raised ethical concerns about the issue of journalists 
embedded with U.S. forces. End Summary 
 
2. (U) Information Specialist, IRC Director and PAO Abu 
Dhabi attended several sessions of the 2005 ECSSR 
conference. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE 
Minister of Defense and Crown Prince of Dubai and Sheikh 
Abdullah Bin Zayed, Minister of Information and youngest son 
of former UAE President Zayed, delivered keynote addresses 
(see reftel).  Twenty-eight speakers from the UAE, other GCC 
countries, the U.S., U.K., Germany and other countries 
participated.  Some of the more prominent speakers included: 
 
--Dr. Ali Fakhro, Minister of Education, Bahrain 
--Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, GM of Al-Arabiyah 
--Greg Dike, Former CEO of the BBC 
--Wadhah Khanfar, GM of Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel 
--Jean Abi Nader, Arab-American Institute 
--James Zogby, Director of the Arab-American Institute 
--Jack Shaheen, Professor of Mass Communication, University 
of Southern Illinois 
--Dr. Hussein Ibish, an American freelance journalist 
--Michael Hudson, Professor of Arab Contemporary Studies, 
Georgetown University 
 
3. (U) Despite the large number of American and Arab- 
American speakers, the tone during the three-day conference 
was critical of the United States. Information Specialist 
Abu Dhabi witnessed a distinctively anti-American tone in 
the question and answer sessions following each session by 
an American presenter. Conference participants accused 
American media institutions of double standards as related 
to media freedom. They stated that U.S. media organizations 
claim to promote freedom of the media in the Arab world on 
the one hand, but at the same time routinely accuse Arab 
media outlets of promoting hatred and extremism because they 
broadcast reports critical of U.S. policies. 
 
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AL-JAZEERA - HEROES THAT CONTINUE TO DEFY THE U.S. 
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4. (U) Wadhah Khanfar, general manager of Al-Jazeera, was 
one of the stars of the conference.  His lecture on day one 
was one of the most widely attended and well received.  His 
paper, entitled, "Credibility of News Channels: Competing 
for Viewers" addressed the credibility of news channels in 
general, and the perceived high degree of credibility of Al- 
Jazeera in the Arab world, in particular.  In response to a 
question posed by a member of the audience about whether 
media professionals should be neutral in covering all news, 
Khanfar responded as follows, 
 
".out of my experience, I can say that you cannot be neutral 
all of the time.  When I was covering Mosul in Northern 
Iraq, I caught on camera looters and thieves that ran into 
the city's museum, one of the most important museums in 
Iraq. I thought for a moment about whether I should remain 
neutral in covering such an event, but at once decided to 
take a position.  If I had remained neutral, I would have 
had to interview one of the looters and pass his opinions on 
to my viewers.  I could never do this."  He concluded by 
stating that, ".in questions that are clearly black and 
white, you simply cannot remain neutral."  This remark 
elicited thunderous applause by the audience of several 
hundred.  During the discussion following the presentation, 
a member of the audience attributed the on-going 
confrontation between the USG and Al-Jazeera to a desire by 
the USG to include its disagreements with Al-Jazeera in its 
overall war with Arabs and Muslims.  Another audience member 
stated that Wadhah Khanfar and Al-Jazeera have become, and 
continue to be, heroes in the Arab world because they 
represent the only institutions, including corrupt Arab 
regimes, capable of defying the will of the U.S. 
 
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AMERICAN "LIBERATION" OF IRAQ COMMENT ELICITS PROFANITY FROM 
YEMENI OFFICIAL 
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6. (U) Hussein Sinjari, an Iraqi Kurd and president of the 
Iraqi Institute for Democracy, spoke on the Impact of 
Occupation on Freedom of the Press.  He cited several 
examples of positive developments, including an end to the 
repressive conditions experienced by journalists, a "sky 
rocketing" in the number of new, independent newspapers, and 
the absence of censorship.  He also highlighted some of the 
challenges, including partisan interference and unequal 
access to advertising.   At one point during the 
presentation, Sinjari referred several times to the American 
occupation of Iraq as "Iraqi liberation."  In response to 
this reference, a representative of the Yemeni Ministry of 
Information, stormed out of the room, angrily shouting 
profanities at Mr. Sinjari. 
 
 
 
 
 
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EMBEDDED JOURNALISM, GOVERNMENT CONTROL AND ARAB-AMERICAN 
MEDIA SUMMIT 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
7. (U) Throughout the conference, speakers and participants 
hotly debated the issue of embedded journalists accompanying 
U.S. forces in combat zones.  Dr. Richard Caplan, official 
fellow in International Relations at the Oxford University, 
gave a presentation entitled, "Media Credibility in War: 
The Phenomenon of Embedded Reports."  Dr. Caplan asserted 
that while embedded journalism is not new, efforts by the 
DOD to influence and control news coverage was of concern. 
He suggested that by embedding journalists with combat 
forces, the quality of reporting could be negatively 
affected, resulting in a uni-dimensional perspective that 
expresses sympathy and bias toward his/her host forces. He 
also indicated that self-censorship, uncritical use of 
government materials and lack of local knowledge, also 
affect the quality of reporting.  During the ensuring 
discussion, participants expressed concern that the U.S. 
Administration is attempting to control the free flow of 
information from Iraq by not allowing journalists to operate 
independently.  There was a general agreement among the 
session participants, that embedded journalists lose their 
objectivity and are subjected to the ethical dilemma of 
getting too close to the soldiers. 
 
8. (U) Press coverage of the conference focused on 
liberating media professionals and organizations from the 
constraints of government control.  In a report entitled, 
"Do not take us lightly, warn Arab journalists," Addul Aziz 
Al Jarallah, Editor-in-Chief of the As Siyassah newspaper in 
Kuwait noted that, "Freedom is very limited and most Arab 
governments have come to power in other ways than general 
elections.the Arab media as a product of civil society is 
non-existent.we need a long time to remove the impact of 
Arab governments on the formation of the Arab media." 
Abdullah Al Olayan of the Oman Establishment for Press, 
News, Publications and Advertising indicated that Arab 
governments have sought to maintain continuous control over 
their media institutions.  He stated that, "The Arab media 
has remained under the control of their governments in order 
to serve their.goals." He went on to state that he hoped the 
advent of the information age would lead to a decline in the 
influence of Arab governments on the media. 
9. (U) Several leading non-media professionals spoke about 
the influence of Arab media on education, criticizing these 
media institutions for being highly commercialized and 
compromising standards and quality.  Dr. Ali Mohammed 
Fakhro, former Bahraini Education Minister, indicated that 
young Arabs today have diverse sources of knowledge due to 
the Arab media renaissance and cited the need for managed 
and balanced interaction between these sources.  He went on 
to say that the potential negative effects of the Arab media 
on the development and growth of youth are so powerful that 
they threaten to fully counter the benefits of education. 
In an effort to offset this effect, he called for greater 
linkage and coordination between the media and education 
institutions in the Arab world. Dr. Ali Q. Al Shuaibi, 
Director of the Security Awareness Department, Dubai Police, 
warned that the ability of the media to negatively affect 
Arab youth is a "real ethical catastrophe."  He stated that 
the Arab media was heavily influenced by western values, in 
contradiction to traditional Arab values. 
 
10. (U) Jack Shaheen, Professor Emeritus of the School of 
Mass Communication at Southern Illinois University and 
prominent Arabist, called for an international summit to be 
hosted in the U.S., focusing on Arab-American media 
relations.  The summit would seek to defuse Islamic-American 
tensions and help reduce dehumanizing stereotypes.  "It is 
imperative that a.summit take place, one that allows 
Americans and Arab image-makers an opportunity to.exchange 
views.  As a result of the summit, the word, Arab.might no 
longer remain a synonym for terrorist." 
 
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COMMENT 
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11. (U) During the 2005 ECSSR Annual Conference three 
opinions about the Arab media emerged.  Some education 
officials and other non-media professionals expressed a 
backward-thinking perspective attributing concerns about 
commercialism and lack of quality programming to "negative 
Western influences."  They challenged Arab media 
institutions to play a positive role in the development of 
their societies by focusing on promoting core Arab and 
Islamic values, rather than seeking profit and market share. 
In contrast, UAE government officials, (reftel) called on 
attendees to serve as the driving force of media reform in 
the Arab world, blamed Arab governments for stifling dissent 
and called for an end to laws confining the Arab media.  The 
media professionals themselves were strongly critical of 
Arab governments imposing limits on the media and accused 
them of using the media for their own purposes, rather than 
for the benefit of their societies.  At the same time, they 
exhibited strong support for Wahdah Khanfar and Al-Jazeera, 
highlighting the defiant streak among Arab media 
institutions against the perceived efforts of the USG and 
U.S.-based media organizations to undermine Al-Jazeera's 
credibility and wide support in the Arab world. 
 
SISON