VZCZCXYZ0003
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMK #1116/01 1721117
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 211117Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY MANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5061
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RHBVAKS/COMUSNAVCENT  PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANAMA 001116 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR R, NEA/ARP, NEA/PPD, 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KMPI KDEM BA POL REFORM HUMRIT
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT COMMITTEES WARN NEWSPAPERS ABOUT 
ANTI-REGIME COVERAGE 
 
REF: MANAMA 0907 
 
Classified by Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 
(b) and (d). 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C)  Several Embassy media contacts have told Emboffs 
that the government recently formed two committees designed 
to monitor the content of print and broadcast media in 
Bahrain.  The chairman of the board of the independent daily 
Al Wasat received a letter from one of the committees 
complaining about specific articles written by three of its 
reporters that, according to the letter, contain statements 
that "could be viewed as anti-regime."  The editors-in-chief 
of the six Arabic dailies were called in for a meeting June 6 
with chair of the Technical Media Committee (and CEO of the 
Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation, BRTC) Shaikh 
Khalifa bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, who warned that the 
government could pull advertising of publicly owned 
corporations from papers publishing anti-regime articles and 
commentaries.  One contact confirmed the initiative but said 
the aim is to improve the professionalism of newspaper 
reporting, which often resorts to unfounded attacks. 
Columnist and talk-show host Sawsan Al Shaer quit her 
television program after segments of a recent program that 
were critical of parliament were edited out of the broadcast 
version. 
 
¶2.  (C) Summary continued:  Minister of Information Abdul 
Ghaffar told the Ambassador June 21 there was no government 
policy to control the media and that freedom of the press is 
an integral part of the King's reform effort.  He denied 
there was an intention to withhold government-related 
advertising from critical newspapers but admitted individual 
ministers might choose to steer some advertising away from 
certain papers.  In our view, these developments indicate 
increasing government concern about media content during this 
period in the run-up to parliamentary and municipal 
elections, expected in November 2006.   Increased monitoring 
of anti-regime coverage may signal an intent to assert some 
measure of government control over the media or, at a 
minimum, encourage greater self-censorship.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Government Committees to Monitor Media Content 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶3.  (C)  Two editors-in-chief and several other media 
contacts reported to APAO that Minister of State for Cabinet 
Affairs Shaikh Ahmed Attiyatallah Al Khalifa established two 
media watch committees under the auspices of his office. 
(See reftel for Shaikh Ahmed's political activities.)  The 
Higher Media Committee and the Technical Media Committee, 
they say, aim to monitor the content of print and broadcast 
media in Bahrain with specific focus on anti-government 
reporting and commentary.  Shaikh Ahmed named himself head of 
the Higher Media Committee and designated Shaikh Khalifa bin 
Abdulla Al Khalifa, CEO of BRTC to chair the Technical Media 
Committee.  Close embassy contacts in the Ministry of 
Information say they have no knowledge of the formation of 
these committees, maintaining that any official instructions 
to publications or broadcasters in Bahrain must come from the 
Ministry of Information, not from Cabinet Affairs. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
"What is the Extent of Press Freedom?" 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C)  In the name of the Technical Media Committee, Shaikh 
Khalifa sent a letter on May 9 to Farooq Al Moayyed, chair of 
the Al Wasat newspaper board of directors, taking aim at 
commentaries by three of the paper's most influential 
columnists, Reem Khalifa, Adel Marzooq, and Qassim Hussain. 
As described by Reem Khalifa, the letter cited by title and 
date specific pieces they had written which, the letter said, 
"carry statements that, reading between the lines, could be 
viewed as anti-regime."  The letter indicated that these 
pieces had crossed the line, asking, "How far does freedom of 
the press go with these columnists?"  Shaikh Khalifa called 
on Al Wasat to come to agreement with the Technical Media 
Committee on "what is the ceiling of freedom." 
 
------------------------------ 
Loss of Advertising Threatened 
------------------------------ 
 
 
¶5.  (C)  Also acting in his capacity as chair of the 
Technical Media Committee, Shaikh Khalifa called a June 6 
private meeting of the editors-in-chief of the six Arabic 
daily newspapers in Bahrain in which he cautioned the editors 
about their editorial policies.  As Al Wasat editor-in-chieQMansoor Al Jamry recounted to APAO, Khalifa said statements 
in the press that could even indirectly be viewed as 
anti-regime, are not acceptable.  Publishing articles or 
commentaries about subjects that the Committee deems 
off-limits would result in the paper losing advertising 
placements from goveQurces.  Shaikh KhaliQ also 
threatened that the Committee would divert the flow of 
advertising for state-owned corporations such as Bapco, 
Batelco, and Alba away from offending publications. 
 
¶6.  (C)  Al Jamry recounted that editors of all publications 
except Al Watan, which is rumored to be close to the Royal 
Court, vocally objected to the plan in the meeting. 
According to Al Jamry, Isa Al Shaiji Editor of the centrist 
Al Ayam and President of the Bahrain Journalists Association, 
told Shaikh Khalifa, "If we apply your rule we will have 
nothing but empty pages in our newspapers."  In the 
discussion, Ebrahim Beshmi, editor of the new liberal 
newspaper Al Waqt, said, "Whoever makes this proposal doesn't 
love Bahrain and doesn't love Bahrainis."  Al Jamry said he 
warned, "Try to do this; the plan will collapse on itself." 
In the face of this criticism, Shaikh Khalifa said the 
Committee was still in the process of establishing criteria 
for when the penalties would be put into effect, and the 
matter warranted further discussion with the editors. 
However, he intimated the Prime Minister was very interested 
in seeing the plan carried out. 
 
---------------------------- 
No Change in Course, For Now 
---------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C)  Privately, several editors-in-chief have indicated 
they will defy the warning.  In a meeting with the 
Ambassador, Al Waqt editor Beshmi said, "Any statements or 
rules should be discussed with the newspapers and implemented 
by the Ministry of Information," and that so far "there have 
been no official instructions to newspapers."  Isa Al Shaiji, 
Editor of Al Ayam, and Younis Ali Faraj, Managing Director of 
the Bahrain Tribune, Al Ayam's English-language sister-paper, 
echoed these sentiments in a meeting with APAO, saying that 
until there were official rules circulated they would 
continue along their present course and the publications 
"would not be turned into a propaganda tool of the 
government."  Al Faraj said the Bahrain Tribune advertising 
staff had begun monitoring government-related advertising in 
several publications to identify variations in placement 
patterns. 
 
¶8.  (U)  The most outspoken of the editors, Al Wasat's Al 
Jamry, published two editorials that addressed the issue of 
press freedom without citing the meeting or moves by Cabinet 
Affairs directly.  On June 7 he commended the government with 
faint praise saying the government "accepts accountability 
and oversight (from the Parliament and the press) by not 
using its authority to undermine them."  He commented, "Good 
governance means not having to fear an environment of 
transparency."  In his June 10 editorial he ties press 
freedoms to King Hamad's reforms.  He draws an analogy 
between the American and Bahraini press, providing examples 
of how the press "saved" American society by "allowing" the 
US government to correct its mistakes.  He calls on Bahraini 
government officials to follow the American example and, 
"realize that it is in fact in the interest of Bahrain to 
support the King in the current movement towards greater 
freedom of the press." 
 
----------------------------- 
An Alternative Interpretation 
----------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (C)  Not all of those in the Bahraini media take such a 
dim view of the motives of the Higher and Technical Media 
Committees.  In a conversation with Pol/Econ Chief, Yousif 
Mashaal, Bahraini entrepreneur and occasional columnist for 
Al Watan, favorably offered that the focus of the committees 
is to provide a much needed review of journalistic 
professionalism in Bahrain, not to stifle criticism of the 
government.  While US papers are attuned to the need for 
balance and proper sourcing in their coverage, he said, 
Bahraini journalists frequently attack the government and 
others with stories that lack facts, logical analysis, or do 
 
not provide a balanced presentation of the issue.  The goal 
of the Committees, in his view, is to improve journalistic 
standards.  Additionally, not all of the editors opposed the 
plan outlined by Shaikh Khalifa in the June 6 meeting with 
editors-in-chief.  According to Al Wasat's Al Jamry, Al Watan 
editor Mohammed Al Banki remained silent throughout the 
meeting.  Anwar Abdul Rahman, editor of the Arab nationalist 
Akhbar Al Khaleej started the meeting with skeptical 
sentiments, but concluded by saying the plan could encourage 
newspapers to help their journalists "see the right path" in 
their reporting. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
TV Talk Host Quits After Program Edited 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (C)  In the only public development in this series of 
events, prominent columnist and television talk-show host 
Sawsan Al Shaer quit her show "Final Word" after two segments 
critical of Parliament were cut from the June 9 program at 
the direction of Cabinet Affairs Minister Shaikh Ahmed bin 
Attiyatallah.  In that show Al Shaer interviewed Afaf Al 
Jamry, a political activist, member of leading Shia 
opposition society Al Wefaq, and cousin of Al Wasat Editor 
Mansoor Al Jamry.  In one of the segments that was cut, a 
critical Al Jamry says that Members of Parliament were 
wasting time debating unimportant proposals such as allowing 
members of the Bahrain Defense Force to grow their beards 
when pressing issues such as unemployment, the lack of 
affordable housing, education reform, and poverty needed to 
be addressed.  As a columnist for Al Watan, Al Shaer 
addressed what she deemed the "censorship" of her TV program 
in a piece intended for publication on June 14.  However, Al 
Watan refused to publish it.  Al Shaer's resignation and her 
views of the editing of her program were picked up as a news 
item in Al Ayam, Al Wasat, and Al Waqt.  In the articles, Al 
Shaer recounts that an unnamed BRTC censor told her after the 
show's airing that Bahrain TV is a government station and 
cannot allow content when it is not approved by the 
government.  Al Shaer is quoted, "There are government 
officials that have not been able to adjust to the era of 
reforms within a constitutional state."  She called on BRTC 
to comply with the spirit of King Hamad's political reforms. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
Ambassador Discusses Issue with Information Minister 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶11.  (C) In a June 21 meeting with Minister of Information 
Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar, the Ambassador raised the reported 
meeting with editors-in-chief and Al Shaer's resignation, 
expressing his concern that these developments might indicate 
government interest in asserting some measure of control over 
the media.  The Ambassador noted that one of the strengths of 
Bahrain's reform effort has been the diverse and increasingly 
lively print media, and hoped this development would not be 
jeopardized. 
 
¶12.  (C) Abdul Ghaffar replied that there was no government 
policy to control the press.  King Hamad has made clear that 
freedom of the press is an integral part of Bahrain's reform 
effort.  He said he was not in Bahrain when the incident with 
Al Shaer occurred, saying he was surprised she had quit 
abruptly without talking to him or BRTC CEO Shaikh Khalifa 
about her concerns.  He noted that Al Shaer's guest had 
criticized Parliament, not the government, and conjectured 
that the censor who cut segments of the program personally 
believed that Bahrainis should be proud of Parliament and 
that the guest's comments went too far.  The four-minute cut 
happened, but it was not government policy.  Abdul Ghaffar 
questioned Al Shaer's motives, indicating she should have 
talked with him about her concerns before quitting.  He said 
the show had not been doing well and had not attracted a lot 
of commercial advertising, and wondered if Al Shaer had done 
this to generate publicity and give her newspaper column a 
boost. 
 
------------------------------- 
No Plan to Withhold Advertising 
------------------------------- 
 
¶13.  (C) Turning to the print media, Abdul Ghaffar said he 
did not think it was the intention of the government to 
withhold advertising from newspapers.  In fact, he stated, 
the government had placed ads in Bahraini papers recently 
following the announcement of an agreement to develop a 
Bahrain-Qatar causeway, as a way to support the papers. 
However, it was possible, he admitted, that individual 
 
ministers might decide to direct advertising for entities 
under their authority away from publications that attack them. 
 
¶14.  (C) Echoing Mashaal's words, Abdul Ghaffar said there 
was an important distinction between positive (constructive) 
and negative criticism.  He said he is criticized all the 
time, more than any other minister.  When criticizing the 
government, the journalist should not give false information 
and should not attack a minister just because the journalist 
does not like him/her.  The criticism should be done in a 
balanced way. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶15.  (C) The formation of the monitoring committees is a 
worrying indication that the government may attempt to assert 
some control over the media during this sensitive period 
leading up to parliamentary and municipal elections, expected 
in November 2006.  That said, the press is willing to take on 
a very broad range of issues, including those related to 
government performance and the royal family, with very few 
red lines.  While the increased government monitoring of 
media content could encourage greater self-censorship in 
editorials and commentaries, the press will continue to cover 
the public comments of parliamentarians, who regularly 
criticize government policies and individual ministers. 
These blasts out of Parliament will likely intensify after 
the elections, which is expected to result in the presence of 
more opposition MPs in the lower chamber.  An unfortunate 
consequence of greater government monitoring of media content 
is that efforts to promote increased editorial independence 
at Bahrain Radio and Television, an initiative supported by 
the MEPI-funded CHUM project, will not be activated anytime 
soon. 
 
 
********************************************* ******** 
Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/ 
********************************************* ******** 
MONROE