NEW YORK // A media watchdog has criticised Arab ministers for clamping down on the freedom of satellite television news channels to broadcast stories that are critical of "social peace".
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".
The framework, adopted by Arab ministers last year, seeks to forbid content that would have a "negative influence on the social peace and national unity and public order and decency".
Under the guidelines, channels would be obliged to avoid defaming "leaders or national and religious symbols" or present information that contradicts the "principles of Arab solidarity".
Bernstein, whose stories with Bob Woodward in The Washington Post led to the resignation of the US president Richard Nixon, criticised the Arab media guidelines for undermining "free thought and free expression".
"In itself, that is a statement of closed-mindedness," Bernstein, 64, said in an interview. "It is a statement of not being willing to allow people the freedom to express themselves and think for themselves.
"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."
On Tuesday, the journalist and author joined members of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) as it made its annual report on media freedoms public.
The 341-page study, titled Attacks on the Press, details how journalists around the world are routinely intimidated from doing their jobs by everything from threatening text messages to criminal prosecutions.
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.
The document calls on Arab League members to take "necessary measures to deal with violations", which the CPJ said could include withdrawing media licences and confiscating equipment.
The report states Al Jazeera, which is based in Qatar, and other satellite networks that have emerged since the 1990s have provided "millions of Arabs with unfiltered news and political debate" resulting in "remarkable growth in open discourse".
The networks now reach audiences of tens of millions and have been particularly successful in the Arab world because high rates of illiteracy prevent many from reading newspapers.
"Uneasy about coverage of inter-Arab political disputes, terrorism, civil strife and economic hardship, governments are attempting to reassert control over a medium they believe has got beyond their control," the report states.
Governments can decide how to enforce the new strictures. The report also outlines several attempts by Arab judiciaries to prosecute journalists and media organisations.
These include the fine of US$6,000 (Dh22,000) imposed on Hassan Rachidi, the Al Jazeera bureau chief in Rabat, "on charges of airing false news" in June last year, and Egypt's government-owned satellite transmission company, Nilesat, halting broadcasts of the outspoken channel Hiwar TV in April.
Worldwide, the report finds, violent criminal gangs, paramilitaries, drug traffickers and street gangs routinely terrorise journalists in countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.
Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and other countries in South East Asia have followed China's model of controlling the internet and punishing those who get around the restrictions.
The report says reporters in Africa are threatened and intimidated via text messages, and also criticises the control over television coverage of the conflict in South Ossetia by the Russian and Georgian governments.
"Today, the greatest threats to freedom of the press are more insidious than a generation ago because they are intended to induce a climate of fear and self-censorship through systematic violence and emblematic arrest aimed at those who would practice real, independent journalism," Bernstein writes in the preface to the report.
The study also noted that Iraq remained the most dangerous country for the profession, with 11 journalists killed in 2008. That number is down from 2007 and 2006; when 32 journalists were killed in both those years.
The total number of journalists who died because of their work also declined worldwide for the first time since 2001 to 41, down from 63 in 2007.
jreinl@thenational.ae
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
How Beautiful this world is!
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry
Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm
Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. Max Verstappen, Netherlands, Red Bull Racing Honda, 1 minute, 35.246 seconds.
2. Valtteri Bottas, Finland, Mercedes, 1:35.271.
3. Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain, Mercedes, 1:35.332.
4. Lando Norris, Great Britain, McLaren Renault, 1:35.497.
5. Alexander Albon, Thailand, Red Bull Racing Honda, 1:35.571.
6. Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain, McLaren Renault, 1:35.815.
7. Daniil Kvyat, Russia, Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda, 1:35.963.
8. Lance Stroll, Canada, Racing Point BWT Mercedes, 1:36.046.
9. Charles Leclerc, Monaco, Ferrari, 1:36.065.
10. Pierre Gasly, France, Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda, 1:36.242.
Eliminated after second session
11. Esteban Ocon, France, Renault, 1:36.359.
12. Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, Renault, 1:36.406.
13. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Ferrari, 1:36.631.
14. Antonio Giovinazzi, Italy, Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari, 1:38.248.
Eliminated after first session
15. Antonio Giovinazzi, Italy, Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari, 1:37.075.
16. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari, 1:37.555.
17. Kevin Magnussen, Denmark, Haas Ferrari, 1:37.863.
18. George Russell, Great Britain, Williams Mercedes, 1:38.045.
19. Pietro Fittipaldi, Brazil, Haas Ferrari, 1:38.173.
20. Nicholas Latifi, Canada, Williams Mercedes, 1:38.443.
Company%20profile
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