In a region under threats, Bahrain journalists embrace fight against sectariansim
To those who read the Bahraini newspapers from afar, the reports in most cases seem confusing, at best boring. No matter what the subject matter is about, it is very difficult to understand why everything that is happening in Bahrain, be it in the parliament, at the university, at the trade unions or at the mosques, has a political overtone and a sectarian aspect. Reporters and columnists often offer a limited perspective of the events from a narrow political or confined sectarian prism that makes it almost impossible for anyone out of Bahrain to understand what is truly happening.
For Bahrainis, by contrast, the news coverage and the columns make sense. As their country is inexorably getting steeped in the sectarianism plaguing the region, many journalists, for various reasons, have detached themselves from the neutrality and other professional standards expected from them and have waded into writing reports or columns that look at every single national, regional and international issue from a point of view that unashamedly reflects political inclinations and religious affiliations.
“Enough is enough and we should now put an end to this behaviour before it kills the meaning and purpose of the press in Bahrain. There is no point in talking about free press if it is tainted with sectarianism and serves to deepen divisions between the people,” Eisa Al Shayji, the chairman of the Bahrain Journalists Association, tells Gulf News. “As journalists we have to stand together to make sure that we are not used by anyone to promote their goals. We must also unite against anyone who deviates from our common and shared objectives and seeks to promote sectarianism,” he says as he lights a cigarette.
Three weeks ago, the BJA launched a campaign “Journalists Against Sectarianism” to coincide with the international press freedom day.
A reception, hosted by the information minister and to which all Bahrain-based journalists were invited, was an auspicious occasion for the society to put on a high glass table an eight-point petition against sectarianism. Jehad Bu Kamal, the minister, was the first to sign, followed by 225 journalists, almost two thirds of the total media corps.
“The petition has become a necessity because of the developments in the local press over the last few months. We have noted that several articles and columns were openly calling for the supremacy of Sunnis over Shiites or of Shiites over Sunnis. These are new and alien concepts that we as people with decades in the media field utterly reject and that we shall fight to the end,” says Eisa, a Sunni married to a Shiite, and who is also the editor in chief of Al Ayam.
Dozens of journalists say that their opinions and views converge with those of Eisa on the need to fight sectarianism, and most were quick on May 3 to sign the petition launched by the BJA. They too are baffled by how the media in Bahrain, with promising outlooks and advanced tendencies, has lapsed into the miasma of sectarianism instead of vehemently confronting it and confining its outreach.
Up to 2002, Bahrain had two newspapers in Arabic and two in English.
Akhbar Al Khaleej is Bahrain’s oldest newspaper alive. Launched in 1976, the newspaper has always had a strong pan-Arab line that has often caused it altercations and problems with several local and international figures, the latest of which was with Iraq’s foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari who before addressing a press conference in Manama in April asked the Iraqi head of mission and his deputies to take the reporter from Akhbar Al Khaleej out of the room.
“The minister is not happy with the ideology and the editorial line of the newspaper and wants to send a message to Anwar Abdul Rahman (editor-in-chief) and Sayyed Zahra (deputy editor from Egypt) for their anti-Iraq stances,” the reporter was told as he was shown the way out.
Akhbar Al Khaleej is a strong supporter of the Bahraini government and the business community. Some of its journalists and editors are non-Bahrainis, but it has a good mixture of Sunni and Shiite reporters.
Al Ayam was founded in 1989 by a group of journalists with strong liberal tendencies. The newspaper has a wide reporting of local, regional and international issues, but has waded into controversy over its rapports with religiously-oriented political societies. Its long-standing bitter stand off with the Islamic Menbar, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, has resulted in cases that are pending with the public prosecutor. Al Shaiji is currently facing two cases for articles published in the newspaper.
Most of the staff is Bahraini, a strong mixture of Sunnis and Shiites. The editor in chief is Sunni while the editor and most of his assistants are Shiites.
When Al Wasat came into being in 2002, it was perceived as a new breath of fresh air. The paper, under the editorial leadership of a former London-based opposition figure, Mansoor Al Jamri, quickly set to alter the media scene and assert new angles of looking at events and new perspectives at reading press releases.
Taking advantage of the reforms launched by King Hamad and the resulting greater liberty to tackle issues, Al Wasat stretched the perceived limits of freedom of expression and did not hesitate to report on “negative” events or to take different views.
Al Wasat senior editors like to say that their newspaper did to the Bahraini media what Al Jazeera did to the Arab media scene: bold coverage and daring columns. The newspaper slowly became the forum for Shiites even though the editors say that their aim is to give all people, regardless of their affiliations and social status, a louder voice in everyday events.
Al Jamri, thanks to his close insights into mainly the British media, has quickly acquired impressive skills and wanted to steer his team into establishing a benchmark for professional journalism in Bahrain. The newspaper has several Sunni reporters, but most of its staff is Shiite.
Soon afterwards (2004) Al Meethaq came into being, aspiring to enrich the media landscape in Bahrain. The initial steps were fraught with financial and editorial difficulties and the newspaper could never take off, getting very few ads to help it survive.
Al Watan followed in December 2005. Launched with great fanfare, the newspaper soon established itself as the forum for Sunni Islamists and for Islamist MPs. Its editorial line is blatantly against Al Wefaq, the political and religious formation with 17 members in the lower house of the bicameral parliament. Since Al Wefaq is closely connected with the Shiite establishment headed by Shaikh Eisa Qassem, the newspaper often featured direct attacks on the society’s attitudes inside and outside the parliament and on the religious establishment supporting it. Paradoxically, some of the journalists who take the anti-Al Wefaq stances are Shiites.
In February 2006, Al Waqt became Bahrain’s sixth daily newspaper. Relying heavily in the beginning on the Lebanese school of journalism, the newspaper sought to have a neutral line vis-à-vis the religious groups and distanced itself from the sectarian approach followed by some of the other newspapers. However, it has emerged as a staunch supporter of the liberals of Waad, the leftist political formation that ran in the 2006 elections, but did not win any seat.
The newspaper has bagged two Arab awards in recognition of its investigative reporting, but two years after its launch, it is still struggling to secure enough ads.
Gulf Daily News and Bahrain Tribune, the two dailies in English, are community-based newspapers with coverage of local, regional and international events, but without any clear support for any of the political or religious formations that have mushroomed in Bahrain since the launch of the reforms in 2002.
When word spread about a seventh newspaper in Bahrain in Arabic with a total population of one million, including 500,000 foreigners who did not read Arabic, the question that everybody asked was “Can Bahrain accommodate so many dailies?”
A study requested by King Hamad, keen on preserving standards, and conducted by the Bahrain Journalists Association concluded that the market for advertisement in print media was heavily limited although it did not rule out the possibility for a new daily.
However, the one question that begged answers was where to find qualified journalists and reporters who could consolidate the existing standards.
Bahrain has no school for journalism, and until recently only the University of Bahrain offered degrees in journalism and public relations. The degree heavily depended on theories with little attention to hands-on experience. Many of the students took the course because it was not overtly challenging and they could graduate without major difficulties, although the situation has now changed and the university has shifted its focus on practice.
The lack of adequately trained journalists meant that many of those who were hired by newspapers have limited or no experience and have difficulties upholding professional journalism standards and are prone to mixing facts with fiction, description with emotions and neutrality with affiliations. The result is often journalists who put affiliation and sects first.
“After 2002, the press market has been wide open, but, unfortunately, it led to the proliferation of sectarian journalists. We need to be truthful with ourselves and admit that we do need to look into our actions so that we can reassess the merit of the press corps,” Adel Marzooq, editor at Al Wasat and deputy chairman of the Bahrain Journalists Association. “It is about time that we as journalists had some kind of introspection and started asking whether the press has assumed its role and fulfilled what has been expected from it.”
Adel believes that journalists should be bound by a code of ethics that will preserve the standards of the profession and avert any form of sectarianism.
“All newspapers should think putting the nation and national interests first and should sacrifice neither for the sake of obtaining exclusive news or even securing advertisements,” he said.
Several activists attribute the emergence of the pronounced sectarianism in the press to the increasing influence of political societies that are based on sects and on excluding those whose ideas do not converge with their ideology.
Salah Al Jowder, an activist who has close ties with Sunnis and Shiites, says that the press should be neutral in dealing with political and religious societies because of their sectarian bias.
“There is a need to dismantle the existing societies because most of them are sectarian in their core and promote sectarian agendas. Unfortunately, their discourse and communiqués are often in the press, while the liberal societies that can help with the fight against sectarianism do not get enough coverage in the newspapers. This simply means that there is no real message in the press that promotes national unity and disregards sectarian tendencies,” says the activist who has a weekly column in Al Ayam and delivers Friday sermons.
The first ominous signs of sectarianism in the press appeared in 2006 during the electoral campaigns.
On November 20, five days before the nation went to the polls to elect 40 MPs, the Bahrain Journalist Association issued a statement warning journalists to remain neutral in their coverage and not to be biased in their reports.
The participation of Al Wefaq, the largest political and religious formation in Bahrain, in the elections after it boycotted them in 2002 heightened the tensions and fueled inflammatory statements.
“Journalists should exercise the highest levels of professionalism and not engage in unethical practices,” the association said.
Award winner journalist Ghassan Al Shihabi was bitter in his article on November 21.
“Our newspapers which used to be open to all have now become party newspapers, limited to party lines. We have lost the newspaper that catered to all and gave something to all the people keen on reading something as close as possible to reality without any colouring,” Ghassan wrote.
“There are newspapers that received money so that they could side in their coverage with specific candidates and defend them. There is a newspaper that resents a specific movement and is always ready to attack its options, highlight its mistakes and ignore its achievement. A third newspaper wants to give the impression that it is balanced when in fact it uses positive words and pictures to enhance a group, but opts for loaded words and misleading analysis about the group that it does not support. A fourth newspaper totally obliterates all the movements that it does not like and sheds light only on the group of candidates it supports,” Ghassan wrote.
A report prepared by the International Media Support (Denmark) about the coverage of the 2006 elections in the Bahraini press and circulated by the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights on May 3, 2008 concurs with Ghassan’s conclusions.
The study found that Al Waqt devoted 31% of its coverage to liberal and leftist societies, including 24% to Waad, and 20% to Islamist societies.
Al Wasat devoted 30% to Islamists societies, including 23% to Al Wefaq, and 13% to liberal and leftist societies.
Al Ayam’s coverage was 21% for Islamist societies, and 22% for liberal and leftist societies. Waad (15%) and Al Wefaq (13%) topped the list of the societies covered by Al Ayam.
Al Watan had 35% of its coverage for Islamist societies, including 14% for Al Asala and 13% for Al Menbar. Liberal and leftist societies had only 6%.
Al Meethaq devoted 29% of its coverage to Islamist societies, including 22% to Al Wefaq. Liberal and leftist societies had only 3%.
The report concluded that “the media in Bahrain has failed to play an impartial role in 2006 elections of the Council of Representatives” and that “the national newspapers lack impartiality and professionalism.”
The tension generated by the elections and the clear cut divides between the candidates alongside sectarian lines backed by religious leaders considerably helped with the emergence of sectarianism in the public speeches and the statements published in the newspapers.
But it is mainly the debates and positions in the lower house, where 31 of the 40 seats were held by Sunni and Shiite Islamists, that fanned sectarian coverage in the press.
Columnists used their inches not to focus on national or social issues, but to blast MPs often from the other sect.
Statements by Shaikh Ali Salman, the head of Al Wefaq, are vividly highlighted in one newspaper, but totally ignored in another. Remarks from MPs representing the Islamic Menbar are splashed across six or eight columns in one daily, but disregarded in another and derided in a third. Newspapers often rush into either praising their favourite MPs or finding fault with them.
For journalist and columnist Abbas Bu Safwan, the problem does not lie with the ideology of the newspaper or its editorial line.
“We do suffer from a blatant lack of professional standards and from the interference of some people in what columnists write. A newspaper can stick to its editorial line in promoting a political movement, but it should not obliterate other movements or attack or deride them under the guise of democracy,” he says.
Journalist Nader Al Matrook agrees.
“Defending a sect is not wrong. But claiming that it is better than the others or attacking other sects is not acceptable, and newspapers should avoid this terrible pitfall,” he says.
Sameera Rajab, a Shiite journalist married with a Sunni and who has been at the centre of several controversies, believes that the press is guilty for not upholding ethical standards.
“Some of our newspapers often try to distort facts or alter statements from people or formations that they do not like. Their aim is to marginalize everyone who does not agree with them, which is part of their sectarian tendencies and those of their young reporters,” she says.
Ibrahim Bashmi, the editor-in-chief of Al Waqt is disappointed.
“Competition in such a critical sector can be dangerous. There is a real war to secure ads and to attract journalists from other newspapers. Our real issue is now how to move from this unhealthy rivalry to a competition based on professionalism, genuine quality, respect for readers, presenting credible reports and enhancing journalists’ aptitudes,” he says.
But Bashmi insists that the sectarianism plaguing the Bahraini press is not a consequence of the competition.
“The problem is that some newspapers have chosen to promote sectarianism. The press is the mirror of society with all its differences and sects. Unfortunately, some newspapers have become party newspapers, representing one sect or political ideology. This is not the press we should have,” he says.
Bashmi, a 30-year press veteran is upset by the new practices followed by some newspapers.
“We need to rectify the situation. Any debutant reporter should first acquire all the essential skills and learn how to field a report before they get his or her name on a story. However, we now find that every novice reporter has a byline. The situation is worse with columnists. Anyone who writes a column should have special qualities, including a vast experience and impressive knowledge and cultural levels. Writing a column is one of the most challenging and demanding tasks and I, for instance, and despite my 30 years in journalism cannot write a column easily. Unfortunately, today, so-called columnists have mushroomed, ominously affecting the standards of our journalism,” he says.
Mohammed Al Banki, the editor-in-chief of Al Watan, blames the lack of competent Bahraini journalists for the deterioration of standards and emergence of sectarianism.
“We notice that freshly graduate students are appointed section heads and within one year allowed to write columns. We even have journalists with an experience of one or two years who deliver lectures or take part in conferences. The problem is that most of these young people are affiliated with political groups. So when we have people who have limited press experience but long political and party experience, then we have an issue with priorities. How can someone who is in charge of the public relations or magazine of a party or political formation and at the same time work for a newspaper be neutral in his coverage, reports or columns?” he says.
Al Banki suggests that newspapers work on improving standards and on setting priorities.
“Some of the newspapers are perceived by the people as pro-Sunnis or pro-Shiites and that has to change in order to help foster national unity. A newspaper has the right to address whomever it wants, but it should appeal to their minds, not instincts, to their brains, not emotions. We should not hide the truth. Every newspaper has its readers, but a newspaper should not simply disregard others as if they did not exist,” he says.
Sawsan Al Shaer, one of Bahrain’s most widely read columnists, blames the lack of expertise and experience for the deterioration of journalism standards and the emergence of sectarianism.
“Quite often, speed comes before credibility. Many journalists do not ever verify their stories and rush to publish them, especially that there is no real supervision or safety net. The editor-in-chief usually relies on the editor who relies on his assistants who in turn rely on the section heads,” she says.
“Reporters do not exert efforts to write a comprehensive story where various aspects, details and background are mentioned. Many of them are merely content to have their bylines on the front page and do not care about the credibility or professionalism of their reports,” she says.
According to Sawsan, a free press is vital not just when it serves the bottom line, but when it does not.
“With the stretching of freedom, we have more a better environment for freedom of expression and journalists can write their views without fear. But this freedom has been abused and many journalists believe that they are free to insult or offend others. This has led to a deplorable state of chaos which in fact exists very clearly in all forums, demonstrations, rallies. Moving from a society that has no genuine freedom of expression to an open society is not easy; however, we cannot remain idle and need to work on consecrating a culture of mutual acceptance and tolerance. As the press reflects society where sectarianism is encouraged even in the parliament where for example positions are decided according to sects and not merit, we end up with a sectarian press,” she says.
With the overwhelming majority of Bahraini journalists signing the BJA petition “Journalists Against Sectarianism” and with all the editors-in-chief denouncing sectarian tendencies, the question that wants clear answers is: How could sectarianism find its way into the newspapers and tarnish their reputation?
Sidebar: Journalists Against Sectarianism
We the undersigned journalists, writers, columnists and media people, within our celebrations of the International Day of Press Freedom on May 3, pledge to honour the charter “Journalists Against Sectarianism” and wish to affirm the following:
- We pledge to defend the freedom of expression as the principal condition for successful media and a significant achievement accomplished after long struggles.
- We believe that the media in Bahrain are institutions aiming to consecrate democracy, freedom and justice and that the media professionals are the core of the noble principles that should be part of sectarian conflicts.
- We reject any report, feature or column that has a sectarian implication or an attack on religious and sectarian freedoms.
- We respect all religious and moral values and do not promote any sect against another.
- We seek to serve sheer truth, freedom and pluralism while we emphasise social bonds and foster understanding and comprehension.
- We clearly refuse any media or press product that includes religious extremism or fanaticism.
- We pledge to respect our professional and moral standards in our reports and columns.
- We pledge to unify our efforts for the sake of national unity and social cohesion and pledge our allegiance to the National Action Charter, democratic reforms and press conventions.
