No official censorship of the local media: NMC chief affirms

posted on 01/05/2008: 32 views

In the three decades since the Khaleej Times was launched, the Dubai-based daily paper has grown to become a major component of the UAE's English language media, making a substantial contribution to the dissemination of information throughout the country's English-speaking communities and overseas, H.E. Saqr Ghobash, Minister of Labour and Chairman, National Media Council (NMC) said Wednesday.

'I am pleased to congratulate the Khaleej Times on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of its publication. I wish the paper well in the years ahead,' Ghobash said in a message to the Khaleej Times on this occasion. 'The development of our mass media in the Emirates has been an important part of our development over the years, and will continue to be so in the future.

In that process, of course, it is important that the English language media, like its Arabic language counterparts, makes a continuing and dedicated effort to attract more Emiratis, both men and women, to take up the profession of journalism, and I look forward to seeing a further enhancement of that process,' he added.

'As the body charged with the regulation of the country's media, the National Media Council has a mandate that includes promotion of Emiratisation, and we shall observe progress towards that objective with interest. As regulators, it is also our aim and objective to encourage the further development of our mass media, in all ways.”

'In the United Arab Emirates, we have always sought to encourage the promotion of press freedom, and we are pleased to note that there has never been any official censorship of the local media. It is our view, however, that there is more that the media itself needs to do to meet the role it should be playing,” the Minister said.

'Our newspapers, whether Arabic or English, have a specific function to perform - that of educating, as well as entertaining, readers, and of contributing to the progress of the country by identifying shortcomings in the performance of Government and other official institutions. 'We hope that in the future, the Khaleej Times, as well as other newspapers, will seek to carry out that function within the framework of a desire to contribute positively to the future growth of the Emirates, an objective to which we are all committed,' he concluded. – Emirates News Agency, WAM

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