VZCZCXRO2119
PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHMS #0587/01 1621233
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111233Z JUN 07 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY MUSCAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8374
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUSCAT 000587 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY (ADDING CAPTION) 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/ARP NFRANCESCHI, NEA/PPD DBENZE 
DUBAI PLEASE PASS TO MPELLETIER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KPAO PREL PGOV KMDR MU
SUBJECT: OMANI MEDIA CHALLENGED BY CYCLONE REPORTING 
 
REF: MUSCAT 581 
 
MUSCAT 00000587  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; please handle accordingly. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (SBU) The profound limitations of Oman's media, public and 
private, have been thrown into high relief by the challenge of 
reporting the approach, onset, and aftermath of Cyclone Gonu between 
June 4 and the present.  While basic information regarding the 
storm's arrival was disseminated on a relatively timely basis, the 
near-total lack of reporting capacity, ingrained cautiousness 
regarding all aspects of officialdom, and almost comically 
optimistic slant to both print and broadcast content has ensured 
that misinformation and rumor flourish. Of concern to Post is the 
resulting inability to disseminate emergency information to American 
citizens via mass media on a timely basis. END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------- 
ALL NEWS IS GOOD NEWS 
--------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The approach of Cyclone Gonu was reported on state 
television and radio in general terms beginning Monday, June 4. 
State and private papers on Tuesday, June 5 carried prominent 
storm-related reporting, although little of the kind of 
precautionary warnings and specific advice one might expect with a 
potential Category Five cyclone approaching.  As the cyclone hit 
Muscat on Wednesday and Thursday (June 6 and 7), media access for 
most Omanis was interrupted, with newspapers suspending publication 
or receiving extremely limited distribution (Embassy officers saw 
the first copies of the Wednesday, June 6 papers, for example, when 
they were delivered on Sunday, June 10) and the temporary cessation 
of local television transmission.  During the storm, Arabic-language 
radio alternated between calls from listeners describing the 
situation in various areas of the country, blandly encouraging 
statements from government entities, and music.  English-language 
radio relied almost entirely on uninterrupted pop music, with 
minimal commentary or reporting. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Oman TV delivered its most valuable service in the 
immediate aftermath of the storm on the evening of Wednesday, June 6 
and morning of Thursday, June 7.  While still providing limited 
actual news coverage, the station did broadcast extensive footage of 
those areas of Muscat then reachable by station personnel, in an 
apparent attempt to minimize the number of people out looking at 
storm damage for themselves. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Initially, neither TV nor radio news provided significant 
concrete information.  Neither Arabic nor English TV news, for 
example, reported the shutdown of the municipal water system until 
the morning of Saturday, June 9, more than eighteen hours after taps 
ran dry.  Media messages were highly inconsistent, with new 
information being incorporated piecemeal or not at all.  A 
comparatively detailed interview on the status of water service was 
broadcast a single time on Arabic radio at noon on June 9, for 
example, but its information never fully woven into subsequent 
reporting.  English and other non-Arabic transmissions for the 
country's 600,000-plus non-Arabic speakers were practically 
non-existent.  As of June 10, there was still no media information 
on water quality or the continuing need for conservation measures in 
those areas in which service was restored.  The situation was best 
summed up by one frustrated blogger, who posted a comic list of 
post-storm statistics that ended "number of times authorities cursed 
for lack of information on the radio = 10,222,576,127,441." 
 
------------------- 
SITUATION NORMAL... 
------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  All outlets relied heavily on respectful interviews with 
a limited number of officials, principally the Inspector General and 
the Director of Public Relations of the Royal Oman Police (both of 
whom were relatively effective, if not forthcoming with detail). 
Also prominently featured were recitations of official statements - 
lists of meetings held to discuss the crisis and general information 
on measures taken (that water-distribution stations had been set up, 
for example, although  for the first twelve hours there was no 
consistent mention of where).  Oman TV's news on Saturday, June 9 
returned to an almost surreal "normalcy" by leading broadcasts, as 
state news does daily, with reports on recent diplomatic messages 
received and sent by the Sultan and by turning after only a few 
minutes to international news. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Prominent in all coverage beginning June 9 were themes of 
self-reliance and community cooperation.  TV updates were titled 
"Volunteering and Coming together", with callers reporting on work 
they were carrying out at sites around the city.  Anchors and 
 
MUSCAT 00000587  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
commentators reinforced the need for Omanis to show that the 
Sultanate could rebuild on its own, and callers praised efforts 
under way and the display of resolve being shown by Omanis. 
Muscat's new private radio station, Hala-FM, proved unexpectedly 
responsive to local needs, adding caller segments and comparatively 
useful updates to its all-music format. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
"PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!" 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The display of unity and optimism was not, however, 
without occasional glitches.  Sources report that Minister of 
Commerce and Industry Maqbool bin Ali Sultan was briefly caught off 
guard on live television when, after his announcement that supplies 
including rice were available on the local market, he was asked 
"what use is rice when there is no water?"  In an unprecedented 
moment on June 9, a caller to Oman TV showed surprising nerve in 
asking why nothing had yet been heard from the Sultan. [NOTE: as of 
June 11, not only the Sultan, but the entire royal family and the 
cabinet have been notably silent and invisible since the advent of 
Gonu.  END NOTE.]  A radio caller also pushed the boundaries of 
acceptable local public discourse in complaining about the 
Muscat-centric coverage that has provided relatively little 
information on other hard-hit areas.  Even the somnolent 
English-language daily "Oman Tribune" decried the decision not to 
seek international assistance (Reftel) in an online editorial 
(headlined "We Shall Overcome") that said, "We wonder why we should 
not ask for help when we need it." 
 
¶8.  (SBU) By June 10, likely at least in part as a result of acerbic 
online commentary, some government statements had taken on a 
defensive tone, asking for patience and that officials "be given the 
benefit of the doubt" in regard to the effectiveness of relief and 
recovery efforts.  Embassy contacts report increasing notice being 
taken of the lack of comprehensive coverage of the storm's 
aftermath, especially of potentially inflammatory issues such as 
alleged incidents of looting, as well as of detail on basic safety 
and public health issues such as the large areas of standing water 
in some neighborhoods and the lack of trash pickup. Early coverage 
on June 11 remained inconsistent, with banner headlines such as 
"Relentless efforts start bearing fruit" and "Ministry of Health 
handled situation efficiently" contrasting with smaller stories such 
as "Watch out for waterborne diseases". 
 
------------------------------- 
HURDLES IN GETTING OUT THE WORD 
------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  On Sunday, June 10, the two English-language papers that 
resumed publication, the state-owned "Oman Observer" and the private 
"Tribune", carried an Embassy statement on consular services and 
information for American citizens.  Both agreed to waive the usual 
requirement that Embassy releases first be cleared via dipnote. 
National English-language radio, however, carried only a fragment of 
the statement, removing any language that made it specific to 
Americans or that included Embassy information.  [COMMMENT:  Oman's 
media bureaucracy creates serious obstacles to rapidly disseminating 
consular information by either TV or radio, a serious public 
diplomacy concern that Post will attempt to address as part of our 
post-Gonu response. END COMMENT.] 
 
GRAPPO