A free media?Thank you, Mr. President [Archives:2005/829/Opinion]

By Raidan Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf
[email protected]
For The Yemen Times
Of all the ups and down that face Yemen today; the freedom of the press is witnessing the rise of a better day, The president repeatedly stated his commitment for tolerance and differences of opinion, and today he proves it, again, giving the democratic process and freedom of press in Yemen another tribute with the freeing of a journalist, Al-Khaiwani.

There is no doubt that the media plays an important role in our lives and on the Yemeni street as we have seen during the past few weeks; the recent anti-tax demonstrations in the Yemeni cities have stained Yemen's image as a stable and attractive investment location, confirming the influence the media has on the Yemeni society and the regional and global audience.

This influence is almost monopolized by non-independent, either governmental or opposition media, exchanging arguments and pointing fingers at each other ignoring the most important role the media should play in the development of the nation; creating awareness and educating the people.

The Yemeni society is less sophisticated than most societies in the rest of the democratic world, with an illiteracy rate of over 50 per cent and a poor education system. The ignorant Yemeni citizen becomes subject to the manipulation of the media; was it government media deceiving the facts or opposition creating illusionary crisis. This is something that has to be changed.

The most influential media in Yemen is controlled by the government, such as TV, radio, and widely-circulated newspapers. This adds great responsibility in educating the public and creating awareness about the important issues the society needs to know and implement for the development of the nation. But in spite of this huge responsibility, governmental media has done very little in this regard, even less than the opposition media.

Governmental media has to understand that its role isn't limited to glorifying the regime's milestones or cover-up for its faults; its contribution should exceed this mindset to bridging the gap with the audience and tackle issues that are relevant and most needed for the development of the nation.

These include the importance of family planning and danger of population growth, efficient use of scare resources such as water and other utilities, educating the public about the current economic affairs and the importance of maintaining and respecting law and order, and various rights of the Yemeni citizen.

This need is evident through the recent demonstrations taking place in a number of Yemeni cities in objection to the tax reforms. As a result of non-awareness of the subject; most of the demonstrators had no idea how these reforms will benefit the country, in fact, they were misled by all kinds of rumors and press articles, as the governmental media with the biggest influence, allowed such a scenario to take place by not doing enough to clarify the subject and educate the public.

I sincerely believe that the role and responsibility of media in building great and positively – active societies is enormous. History books tell us that unproductive and uncompetitive societies are systematically swept away by productive societies with no exception.

So I ask the question, what good is a free media if it doesn't contribute to the development of the nation?
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